Hello everyone,
We have a rotten rim joist under our back exterior door, caused by leak on the door threshold. We have a crawl space and there is a free standing deck right in front of this specific rim joist that needs to be replaced. Part of the subfloor is also rotten because of this leak. There is also a rotten post under the front porch that needs to be replaced. We have had 3 contractors came to give us estimate. Each have their own approach on fixing this. I would really aplreciate it if you can give us advise on this.
Additional information, out deck apparently is not according to codes, some people suspect it was a diy project done by previous owner and 2 of the contractors are very concerns that deck will collapse. Deck passed home inspection when bought house 8 yrs ago though, but again I think we had terrible inspector, who missed so many things during inspection.
First contractor wants to remove the deck, so he can replace rim joist from outside. Also replace post and footing under front porch. Replace door, jamb, threshold and put in kick board and flashing, and replace rotten section of subfloor. His estimate is $3500.
Second contractor wont remove deck, but he also wont replace old rotten rim board. He just wants to put in new sections of rim joist behind the old rim joist from crawl space. He will also replace the whole door unit and subfloor. His estimate is between $2000-3000.
Third contractor said he can remove old rim joist and put in new one without removing the deck. There is only about 1/8 inch of space between house siding and deck. So at first it didnt seem to make sense to me. How would he be able to nail the rim joist to the joist if he doesnt have enough space to drive nail in from outside? When I asked him about that he said he will nail from outside where he can, and use screw and toenail from inside in locations where he doesnt have access from outside. The rim joist is wider than the thickness of the deck, so he probably can nail the bottom part of rim joist to joists from outside. he will also replace door unit, subfloor and front porch post and footing. His estimate is around $2600. Right now we are leaning toward this third contractor, mostly because of the budget, and that he has a better plan than the second contractor. First contractor plan sounds good, but price is higher.
But we do have concern about his way of attaching/nailing the new rim joist to the joists. We do not know if toenailing rim joist to joists is a good idea and a valid correct techniques that is also following building codes. So any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much !
Replies
Ask Each Contractor
...for prior job references. You need to know how well their work stands the test of time.
All three appear to have some idea as to how to approach your problem but from your descriptions only #1's to my mind wants to sell you a permanent fix.
With the problem as you've described it, anything nailed onto something that's gone 'undiscovered' underneath won't last.
Thank you!
Thank you so much. I have checked each contractor reviews and just like most companies, they each has really good reviews and some not so good ones. I guess what we are trying to figure out is which plan/technique is the correct way of addressing the situation. We do not know much about the technical side of it, for example we do not know if toenailing joist to rim joist is ok, therefore it is hard to make decision, especially with limited budget.
Unless money is tight, tear off the deck and do it right.
Especially...
DanH wrote: Unless money is tight, tear off the deck and do it right.
Do It Right oughtabe your mantra here, particularly when money's tight.
When you're dealing with structures where personal safety isn't involved (seldom) you may be able to shave a corner or two & save a few bucks.
If you're living in this place and using that porch / floor / door at all, it should be made sound once the exent of the damage from water incursion has been determined.
Otherwise it's only going to get worse.
Partial or improper fix will only cost you more in the longer scheme of things.
Thank you so much everyone for your insight. That helps us a lot in making our decision. We will hire the first contractor since he seems to be the one offering a more lasting solution. It was hard to know at first with our very limited knowledge of construction and techniques who was actually offering the best approach and solution. The third contractor has been in business longer and supposedly has more experiences. Hence making it even harder to tell if he was just trying to do a "quick fix" or it was the first contractor who overlooked a simpler solution.
Thanks again!
Best thing now...
I would choose the first method listed..seems to me it's the best solution..It looks like you are already dealing with the results of short-cuts..
Whatever solution you pick, you could ask the other contractors to give you a proposal doing the same work and then you will get an 'apples-to-apples' comparison. Wouldn't be fair to the original contractor to expose the cost to the others. You will get a better idea of the range of prices for doing the work..