We were asked by Curtis Hart to rebuild his deck. The deck was 20+ years old and was in bad condition. We deconstructed it and were able to reuse the existing joists. There was a sag in the joists from years in their positions, we were able to turn them over and use them in the opposite direction. We also added double band joists around the perimeter of the structure to strengthen and prevent the structure from sagging over time.  The homeowner wanted a composite material on the deck surface because it lasts longer and has less maintenance during the life of the product. A Trex Trancends material was chosen in a color of Spiced Rum. We chose to lay the decking with a “picture frame” border because it disguises the end grain of the decking boards and makes the end product look better. When installing the decking boards we used a hidden fastener system that installs to the joists and holds down the decking boards by hooks and grooves in the boards. This gives a clean unobstructed look to the deck. He also chose a composite railing system from the same manufacturer. The composite railing has a hidden assembly system that keeps the look of the railing clean and concise. The posts what were holding up the deck were positioned on top of retaining walls, surprisingly the posts were not anchored in any way to the deck or the retaining wall. We reused the posts but as we rebuilt the structure we anchored the posts to the deck and to the concrete of the retaining wall. The columns holding up the deck and the porch between the decks, were found to be hollow and not of structural value enough to safely hold the weight of the porch. These columns were replaced with steel columns welded to steel plates that we anchored to the structure of the deck and porch and as well to the concrete slab below. The overall result was a deck that the homeowner is happy with and structure that looks as good as it is safe and strong.