Deck Replacement in Scarborough, Maine

Scarborough added thousands of homes in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and many of the pressure-treated decks built with them are now at the end of their useful life. Common signs are soft or split boards, posts that have shifted on shallow footings, railings that flex, and a ledger bolted to the house without flashing, which lets water rot the rim joist behind it. Decks from those years were also built to older codes, with guard heights, baluster spacing and ledger connections that fall short of the current standard.

Cardinal's deck work is new construction only, so an aging deck is taken down and replaced from the footings up rather than patched. That means new footings set below frost, a properly flashed and fastened ledger or a freestanding frame, new joists and beams, and code-compliant stairs and guards, with a building permit from Scarborough Code Enforcement before work starts. Where the lot sits in the shoreland zone or a flood hazard area, the replacement may need to meet those rules as well, which is worth confirming early. The new deck can be composite, PVC, pressure-treated or cedar, and the proposal is a fixed price in writing.

Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put Scarborough at about 11,100 housing units with a median year built of 1988, a young housing stock for a town settled in 1635. About 30 percent of homes date from 2000 or later and roughly another 31 percent from the 1980s and 1990s, so a large share of houses are reaching the age when original roofs, builder-grade windows and first-generation siding come due together. About 24 percent went up between 1960 and 1979. The older layer is thinner but distinctive: about 16 percent of homes predate 1960 and about 8 percent predate 1940, including the summer cottages of Prouts Neck, many of which have changed little in more than a century. Roughly 69 percent of homes are single-family detached, about 77 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and some 850 units are held for seasonal use.

Building permits in Scarborough go through the Code Enforcement division of the Planning and Codes Department, which applies the 2021 Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code and its residential code. The town's code FAQ says anyone who intends to construct, alter or repair a building must first obtain the required permit, so new decks and deck replacements are permitted before work starts; ask the office about roofing, siding and windows. Lots near the shore, marsh or rivers fall under Shoreland Zoning Ordinance 405C, and any development in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area needs a flood hazard permit, a condition of the town's membership in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Scarborough faces Saco Bay and the open Gulf of Maine, and much of the town sits close to sea level, with an average elevation of about 20 feet and a high point of roughly 215 feet on Beech Ridge. Houses at Prouts Neck, Pine Point and Higgins Beach take wind and salt spray straight off the water, and winter nor'easters bring high winds, driving rain and snowfalls that often top a foot. The Portland International Jetport, a few miles away, averages close to 69 inches of snow a year, though totals swing widely from one winter to the next. Homes along the marsh sit on low, open ground where wind crosses the flats. Everywhere, repeated freezing and thawing works water into joints, sills and shingle edges.

When an old deck is soft, wobbly or pulling away from the house, a full replacement is treated as a new build: the old deck comes off, the footings and framing are built new, and the new surface, railings and stairs go on. That is the only way to deal with hidden rot at the ledger and frost-heaved footings, and it is how Cardinal Exteriors approaches it. It lets you change the size, shape and material at the same time.

• The existing deck is removed and disposed of, and the house wall behind the ledger is inspected.
• Rotted rim or sheathing behind the old ledger is repaired and the wall is flashed.
• New footings go below frost; new posts, beams and joists are framed.
• New decking, railings, stairs and landings are installed in the material you choose.
• Permits are pulled where required and the site is cleaned up.

• Soft or spongy boards and joists
• A ledger pulling away from the house or rust-streaked fasteners
• Posts that have heaved, leaned or rotted at the base
• Railings that wobble or are lower than today's code expects

• Removal and disposal of the old deck
• Repairs to the house wall behind the ledger
• New size, height and shape
• Decking and railing materials
• Footing type and site access

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our deck building page, and the details of this service are on the deck replacement overview.

Back to the Scarborough exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.