Deck Repair Perth in Perth & PerthshireRepairing, Restoring & Refurbishing Failed Garden Decks

Marshall & Co provides specialist deck repair services across Perth, Dundee and the wider Perthshire region. Whether your deck has rotten boards, a sagging substructure, loose balustrades, lifted fixings, or just looks tired and neglected, our deck repair team can restore it — usually for a fraction of the cost of a full replacement.

Deck failure in Perthshire is almost always caused by one of four things: poor original construction (cheap fixings, undersized substructure, no ventilation), poor drainage (water sitting on or under boards), lack of maintenance (oils never reapplied, debris left to rot), or simply age (timber doesn't last forever, even when installed perfectly).

Our deck repair process starts with a proper diagnostic — we lift boards, inspect the substructure, check the fixings and identify the root cause. Then we give you an honest assessment: repair, partial rebuild, or full replacement. Sometimes the right answer is to walk away from a deck that's beyond economic repair — and we'll tell you when that's the case.

This service forms part of our wider work as an experienced deck builders in Perth, giving homeowners a single trusted team for every stage of their project.

Why Marshall & Co?

We see the same problems on Perthshire decks again and again. The most common is rot at the joist ends where they meet the house — water tracks down the wall, soaks into untreated end-grain and the joists fail within 5–8 years. The fix is to cut back the rotten section, install a new bearer fixed to a waterproof membrane against the wall, and re-fix the boards with stainless steel screws.

The second most common is sagging in the middle of the deck. This is almost always under-spec'd joists or joists at too wide centres. Hardwood deck boards need joists at 400mm centres maximum (sometimes 350mm depending on board thickness). Many DIY-built decks use 600mm centres, which works for the first year and then bounces and sags.

Third is rusted fixings. Bright zinc-plated screws and nails rust within months in Scottish weather, staining the boards and eventually losing their grip. Replacing them with stainless steel A2 or A4 is straightforward and transformative.

Fourth is loose or non-compliant balustrades. Original fixings work loose, spindles split and the whole assembly becomes unsafe. We rebuild balustrades to current building regulations including 100mm sphere test and 1100mm height where applicable.

There's no point spending £3,000 repairing a deck that needs £6,000 spending on it. Our diagnostic process is honest about this. As a rough guide: if more than 30% of the boards are rotten, full board replacement is usually better than spot repairs. If the substructure is failing in more than two locations, a full substructure rebuild usually makes more sense than patching. If the deck design itself is fundamentally wrong (wrong joist centres, wrong ventilation, wrong fixings throughout), starting again is usually cheaper than fixing every element.

On the other hand, a deck with sound substructure and bearers but tired surface boards is a fantastic candidate for a board-only refresh. So is a deck that just needs a good sand and re-oil after a few years of neglect. We've revived decks that homeowners were ready to skip — for a tenth of the replacement cost.

Composite decks rarely need repair work — when they fail it's usually because the underlying timber substructure has rotted, in which case the composite boards can typically be lifted, the substructure rebuilt and the boards re-laid.

Deck repair costs vary by scope. As a guide: replacing 5–10 rotten boards costs £400–£900; replacing a single failed joist costs £200–£400; full sand and re-oil of a 20m² hardwood deck costs £600–£1,200; rebuilding a small balustrade run costs £400–£900; full substructure repair on a 20m² deck costs £1,500–£3,500.

All quotes are fixed-price after a site visit. We provide them itemised by element so you can prioritise — for example, you might choose to do the substructure work and balustrade repair this year, and the sand-and-oil next spring.

Lead time is typically 2–4 weeks from quotation to start of work, depending on season. Most repairs take 2–6 days on site.

Honest diagnostic — we'll tell you when repair isn't worth it

Stainless steel and marine-grade fixings used throughout

Substructure ventilation and drainage improvements included

Building-regulation-compliant balustrade rebuilds

Fixed-price quotations with no hidden extras

12-month workmanship guarantee on all repair work

Local Perth-based specialist deck team

Same-team continuity — no rotating sub-contractors