Deck Replacement in Westbrook, Maine

A deck built on a Westbrook house in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s, the decades when much of the city's post-1960 housing went up, may now be past its useful life. Common problems include ledgers nailed rather than bolted to the house without flashing, footings that are too shallow and heave each winter, rusted hangers, and railings that do not meet today's height and spacing rules. On multi-family buildings, stacked porches and rear decks that serve as the second exit from upper units need to be solid, because tenants rely on them year-round.

Cardinal Exteriors does not repair or patch decks. It replaces them completely, from new footings set to the city's four-foot frost depth, to new framing with flashed ledger connections, to code-compliant guards, stairs and handrails. A replacement needs a building permit from the Code Enforcement Department, using the application for renovations, alterations, sheds and decks, and the job is inspected during construction. The new deck surface can be composite, PVC, cedar or pressure-treated lumber, priced in a fixed written proposal before work begins.

The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates about 9,580 housing units in Westbrook, with a median year built of 1975. The stock splits into two eras. About a quarter of homes were built before 1940 and roughly 37 percent before 1960, while close to a quarter were built in 2000 or later, reflecting the city's recent growth. Only about 44 percent of units are single-family detached houses; the rest are duplexes, apartment buildings, condominiums and other attached housing. Around 61 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. The older layer includes the mill housing inside the Cumberland Mills Historic District and wood-frame homes like the 1914 Vallee Family House on Monroe Avenue, a clapboard American Foursquare with a hip roof and full front porch.

Westbrook's Code Enforcement Department at City Hall, 2 York Street, issues building permits. The department publishes a building permit application specifically for basic renovations, alterations, sheds and decks, and enforces the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code: the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Existing Building Code. Inspections should be booked 48 to 72 hours ahead, and a permit lapses if work does not start within six months. The city also has a Flood Hazard Permit for work in mapped flood zones, and lots near the Presumpscot River may fall within Maine's mandatory shoreland zone, which covers land within 250 feet of a river.

Westbrook sits a few miles inland from Casco Bay at an elevation of about 105 feet, so it misses most of the direct salt spray that coastal towns deal with but gets the full weight of southern Maine winters. Portland, on the city's eastern border, averages about 69 inches of snow a year, with seasons ranging far above and below that, and nor'easters regularly bring a foot or more with strong wind. Away from the ocean's moderating influence, nights run colder, frost goes deeper and freeze-thaw cycles work hard on roofs, flashing and deck footings. The city's own code office sets foundations at four feet below grade for frost protection, a useful benchmark for any new footing.

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 Westbrook exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.