Behind most ranch and split-level homes built here between the 1960s and the 1990s, the deck sits under a stand of mature trees that came with the lot, on lots that rarely clear 8,000 square feet. That canopy means generous shade in July and a steady drip of needles, leaves and damp the rest of the year, and with close to 48 inches of rain falling most years, a deck surface that cannot shed water and debris starts failing at the boards long before the frame gives out. We build and rebuild decks and patio covers around exactly that pattern, sized and flashed for a yard that almost never fully dries.
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Remodels completed
We frame the whole structure, footings, posts, beams, joists, decking and stairs, then finish in cedar or composite. Flashing and fastener choices account for a yard that rarely dries out completely between October and June.
A frame that is still solid gets new decking laid over it. A frame that has broken down under years of shade and moisture comes out completely, down to the footings, and gets rebuilt from there.
A solid roof over the patio, framed and flashed into the house, turns a wet corner of the yard into space you will actually step out onto through the gray months.
What we repair: the bolted connection at the house wall, the beams and posts it answers to, and the footings holding all of it up.
Steady rain is hard on rail posts, so once the old railing is off we check each base and reinforce or swap any post gone soft. Every new guard is held to current code, standing a minimum of 36 inches with balusters spaced within the allowed gap. It all goes onto the deck you have now.
The frame is the part you never see again once the boards go down. This is the same deck at both stages.
Drag the handle. Left, the deck framed: joists on the beam, nothing to walk on yet. Right, the same deck finished, with the timber cover over it and the steps down to the yard.
Before After More often than not, when a deck calls us out to look at it, the real damage started at the ledger, the single board lagged into the house framing that carries the entire structure’s weight back into the wall. It sits completely hidden behind the decking, so a flashing detail done wrong lets rain track in behind it without anyone noticing. On a ranch or split-level lot shaded by mature trees, that wall stays wet long after the open yard has dried out, and with close to 48 inches of rain falling most years, the moisture has plenty of time to work into the rim joist and the sill plate. The deck inches away from the house while the framing tucked behind the siding goes soft and dark, invisible from the yard the entire time. That is why the ledger is the first thing we pull apart on any rebuild, and why a new build gets its flashing and lag bolts done without shortcuts. Nothing else on a deck fails somewhere you cannot see.
Here is the part worth taking slowly: a deck comes down to four real decisions, and only one of them touches the boards under your feet.
The decking itself is where to start, since it is the only layer your feet ever touch. Pressure-treated fir costs the least and moves the most as it dries, so it wants the better part of a season to settle before a finish will hold, then a wash and reseal on a schedule you actually keep. Cedar sits flatter and feels better underfoot for a higher price, though the boards milled today carry more sapwood than they used to, so its upkeep ends up close to fir’s within a few years. Capped composite is the largest number on install day and nearly nothing after that, no yearly sealer, no graying, no splinters, though a sun-exposed run of it does warm up on the rare clear afternoon. With shade and roughly 48 inches of rain working against bare wood most of the year, the real question is not the price per board. It is whether you will genuinely keep up the washing and resealing, and most homeowners already know which kind of owner they are.
Whatever surface you choose, the frame underneath is wood regardless, and that frame is what actually determines how long a deck lasts. We build it in pressure-treated stock, drop every joist into a hanger instead of nailing through the end grain, and spec hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel on every hanger and fastener, because the copper in treated lumber eats ordinary zinc and a corroded hanger holds nothing up. A strip of flashing tape along the top of each joist costs little and keeps water out of the one surface in the frame that mature tree cover keeps damp long after the rest of the yard has dried.
Then come the footings, buried out of sight and worth every dollar anyway. A deck only holds up as well as the ground beneath it allows. We dig to whatever depth the City of Gresham’s permit calls for, pour real concrete, and set each post on a base that lifts it clear of the pad instead of letting it sit in standing water. On lots where the soil stays saturated well into spring, a post driven straight into bare dirt is the single most common reason a deck that still looks fine gets torn out ahead of schedule.
Railing mostly comes down to what you want to see, or not see, past it, and on a typical lot here that usually means screening the neighbors’ yard rather than opening up a view. Wood is the least expensive option and asks for the same upkeep as a wood deck. Black powder-coated aluminum is where most owners land: narrow posts, nothing to maintain, and it all but disappears against a hedge or a stand of trees. Cable and glass open a yard up completely and cost the most, which shows up more often on the newer Pleasant Valley and Springwater lots with a cleared backyard than on the older, tree-covered lots in Rockwood, and either one comes with its own rules on post spacing and infill that a frame built for a plain wood rail may not satisfy. Whatever you land on, the numbers do not move. Rail height and the gap between balusters are fixed by code, not by preference.
Two things are cheaper to decide now than to bolt on after the fact. Stairs eat more of the budget than their size suggests, since every tread is its own small piece of framing, and a wide, easy run costs more than a narrow, steep one while being the whole difference between a deck people actually use and one they only look at from the window. And any wiring, a low-voltage run under the rail, a weatherproof outlet, a fan if a cover is going up, is cheap to rough-in while the frame is still open and a real headache to add once the boards are down.
This photograph is one of our own completed decks, and it happens to show both halves of this page at once, a raised deck platform and a roofed section of it that still gets used once the weather turns.
Trace the outer edge and you will notice a lighter-colored board running the full perimeter of the deck, continuing around both of the wide, low steps down to the unplanted ground. That detail is called a picture frame border, and it costs more than a plain square-cut edge, since every field board has to be measured and trimmed to die into it cleanly, and the joists along that rim have to be doubled to carry it. It also does real work, since it is what keeps a deck from reading as a plain stack of planks. Those steps matter too, broad and shallow rather than narrow and steep, which is what ties a deck into the yard instead of leaving it stranded above it like a stage.
The four-post structure on the deck itself is a wood gazebo hung with dark mesh panels, and its entire weight rests on the deck, not on footings of its own. That means the frame below had to be engineered to carry that extra load before the first surface board was ever fastened down. It is a plain, visible example of why we treat a cover as structural work and not as a decorative add-on: whatever carries that weight gets settled in the framing, well before a roof is part of anyone’s plan.
There is no universally right answer, only the one that suits how you want to spend your weekends. Cedar and pressure-treated fir cost less going in and can be sanded and refinished for years, but under this much rain and tree shade they only stay presentable if you actually wash and reseal them on schedule. Composite costs more at the start and then asks nothing of you, shrugging off the moss and gray that our wet season pushes onto bare wood. Either way, what matters most is not the surface at all. The frame beneath it is wood no matter which decking you pick, and the quality of that frame, far more than the boards, decides how many years the deck gives you.
Gresham’s wettest stretch lands directly on the months you would otherwise want to be outside, and with close to 48 inches of rain in a typical year, that stretch runs long. A solid roof over the patio changes the math: flashed correctly into the house wall and carried on posts set over real footings, it turns a soggy corner of the yard into space you will actually step out onto through the fall and winter. Because it ties into the structure of the house, a cover counts as framing work, not a simple add-on, and it almost always needs a permit, which we file through the City of Gresham’s Building Division rather than a county office. One crew handles the design, the permit, and the build.
Size, how far the deck sits above grade, and the decking material drive most of the number. A straightforward reboard over a sound frame sitting close to the ground is the cheapest route. New footings, tall posts, a stair run, or replacing the frame outright all push it higher. Composite adds to the material cost and removes the yearly upkeep. If another contractor already gave you a written number, bring it along, since we match or beat most written estimates by 10 percent, in writing.
The decking itself is rarely where the real money goes, even though it is the first number everyone asks about. Labor and framing take the largest share, cutting and hanging joists, standing and bracing posts and beams, and building stairs, which pack more work into a square foot than anything else on the job. Footings and the digging for them come next, and that cost climbs fast once a deck rises off the ground, since taller posts need bigger footings and real bracing. After that comes the decking and the fasteners, then the railing, which people tend to underbid because it prices by the linear foot and a deck has a lot of linear feet. Last is the finish work, skirting, lighting, a gate, the trim that hides the frame from view.
That is how two decks measuring the same square footage can land far apart on price, one sitting flush with a ranch home’s low patio slab, the other rising several feet off a sloped Pleasant Valley backyard behind a full stair run. If the budget will not move, the cheapest honest change is almost always the height and the shape of the deck, not the material you end up walking on.
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A few photos of the space, plus a sentence on what you have in mind, is enough for us to get started. Reach us before 5pm and you will hear back the same day.
A deck project rarely sets foot inside the house, so it is one of the easiest jobs to live next to while everyone keeps their normal routine. Here is roughly how the days break down.
Before any permit application goes in, we nail down the footprint, the finished height, stair placement and the railing plan. Then the drawings route to Gresham’s own Building Division for review, not a county desk. Every deck fastened to the house, and any patio cover with a real roof, needs that approval, and it is the single stage of the calendar that depends on someone else’s timeline.
We run the string lines, then bore each footing hole down to the depth the City of Gresham’s permit requires, pour real concrete, and set the post bases on top. A stretch of rain can push this day back, since concrete has its own opinion about curing in standing water.
The ledger is bolted through and flashed tight to the house, posts and beams go vertical and get braced plumb, and the joists seat into their hangers with tape capping each one. The city inspector has to see all of that while it still sits open to view, which is exactly why we build in this order and not another.
The decking gets fastened board by board, a border wraps the outer edge, and the stairs are cut and set last. This is the stretch where the project stops looking like an open frame and starts reading as an actual deck.
Posts, top rail and infill go up first, then skirting, low lighting and a gate if you want one. None of it is heavy work, but it is what separates a deck that looks finished from one that only looks close.
The crew hauls off every offcut, the dirt pulled for the footings, and the dumpster on the way out. Then we walk the finished deck with you against the estimate, and if you chose a wood surface, you get a straight answer on how long to wait before that first coat of sealer.
Not always, and keeping it saves real money when it checks out. Before we quote anything we get underneath and go through every part, the footings, the posts and beams, the joists, and the ledger at the house, checking each for soft wood and movement. Then you hear it straight: the frame stays as is, part of it gets cut out and replaced, or it has had its run and a full rebuild is the smarter move. The decision comes from what the inspection actually shows, not a guess from the top of the deck.
Most do. A deck bolted to the house, or one that stands more than a single low step above grade, needs a permit, and a roofed patio cover needs one just about every time, since real structural loads are now in play. That review runs through the City of Gresham’s Building Division and Development Services, not a county office, and as an Oregon-licensed contractor, CCB #262707, we file the plans and schedule the framing and final inspections ourselves. A low platform resting flat on the ground, with nothing fastened to the house, can sometimes be exempt.
Figure on anywhere from a handful of days to about two weeks of on-site work, depending on the size, how many footings go in, and what the sky decides to do. The schedule is written into your estimate from the start. And once a cover’s roof is on, that part of the job can keep going through rain that would otherwise stop an open footing pour cold.
A deck that flexes underfoot is telling you something: either the framing was sized too light for the span or it has started to break down, and either way it is worth an in-person look, especially if the deck stands several feet off the ground. If you can safely get underneath, send us a few clear photos of the joists and the hangers, and we will tell you what we are seeing before anybody drives out.
That rides on the frame far more than on the surface you walk across. A treated frame with a properly flashed ledger, taped joists, corrosion-resistant hangers, and posts held clear of the concrete will outlast two or three decking surfaces laid over it. A wood top washed and resealed on schedule holds up well for years, but left alone under this much tree cover and close to 48 inches of rain, it turns mossy, then gray, then soft a lot faster than people expect. Composite outlasts either option and still sits on that same frame, which is why the conversation always circles back to the framing.
Not necessarily. When there is enough room above the slab and it still drains away from the foundation instead of toward it, we typically frame a low deck on sleepers anchored right to the existing concrete, which means no excavation and no new footings at all. A slab that has heaved, cracked badly, or now tips rainwater back at the house is a different story, and we address that condition before any framing goes down, since sealing a new deck over a drainage problem just hides it against the foundation where it will quietly get worse.
Yes, and building them together is where the real savings are. A cover is carried either by the deck’s own framing or by a separate set of posts and footings, and either way that load has to be worked into the plan before a single surface board goes down. Add a cover after the fact and we are almost always pulling up finished decking just to reach the frame, which means paying twice for work that was already done once.
With mature trees over most lots here and close to 48 inches of rain in an average year, moss is close to unavoidable on any flat surface that sits in shade. A clean gap between boards so water actually drains, flashing tape under the joists, and a good scrub once the wettest months ease up will keep ahead of most of it. If a deck sits under heavy canopy and rarely sees direct sun, that is less a reason to reseal more often and more a reason to choose composite decking from the start.
From the shop on SE 184th Avenue in east Vancouver, getting to Gresham means crossing the Columbia on I-205 and continuing east through the Portland metro, a longer haul than our stops closer to home but a routine one for the crew. We build throughout Gresham: the ranch and split-level streets of northwest Gresham and Rockwood, the older lots near downtown Gresham and along Powell Boulevard where it becomes the Mount Hood Highway, and the newer subdivisions out in Pleasant Valley and the Springwater area, along with the rest of the city.
Three of the 50 reviews on our Google profile, in the homeowners' own words.
Wow. Just Wow. Had the Evergreen crew replace existing fencing, put in a 33.5ft x 18.5ft multi-tiered deck, and assemble a 12ft x 16ft gazebo. Couldn't be happier with the results.
Anthony L.Deck, fence and gazebo
We talked to 4 different contractors and only David, of Evergreen, took the time to climb up to our roof to check out the job. The others gave us bids based upon a photo. Evergreen was not the cheapest but the extent of the work they did was worth every penny.
Steve K.Roof and exterior work
We had a small but very unique project and this team handled it with a great attitude. They were responsive, on time, and the finished work looks like it was always meant to be there.
Paige T.Small custom project
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Licensed and insured remodeling contractor serving Vancouver, WA and the Portland metro.
Oregon CCB #262707 · WA Lic. #EVERGRS757MCEvergreen Renewal Services LLC
505 SE 184th Ave Unit 320
Vancouver, WA 98683
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