Case Study · SB 721 · CSLB #1060736
Private Deck & Guardrail Rebuild Across a Residential Community — Los Altos
Unit-by-unit deck replacement where the guardrail was the real finding — railing posts rotted through at the rim, rebuilt as a structural connection rather than a repaint.
Deck Repair & RestorationProject facts
- Location
- Los Altos, CA
- Service
- Railing Repair & Replacement
- Property
- Single-story residential community, private deck per unit
- Elevated elements
- 22 private decks + guardrails and entry steps
- Client
- Property owner / management company
- Scope
- Deck & rim replacement, new guardrails on structural posts, steps rebuilt
- Timeline
- 8 weeks · unit by unit, residents in place
- Completed
- Q3 2026
- Budget range
- $180k–$230k
01 The situation
The challenge
The decks had gone gray and mossy and were due — but the walking surface wasn’t what moved this project. It was the railings. At the corner posts, water had run down the post face and sat in the joint where post met rim board, and the timber had rotted through from the inside: one post had opened up into a hollow cavity at the deck edge, with the rim board underneath it soft and blackened for several feet. From ten feet away that railing looked like every other railing on the property.
Each deck is private to a unit and doubles as its entry, so nothing could be closed for long. And a like-for-like railing swap wouldn’t have held: bolting new posts into the same rotted rim would have put a new guardrail on a failing anchor. The property needed the decks replaced and the railings re-anchored into sound framing, one unit at a time, with residents living there throughout.
02 Execution
What we did
We treated the railing as part of the structure and rebuilt it that way:
Stripped each deck and its guardrail to the framing, and rated every rim board, joist and railing post before deciding what stayed
Replaced the rotted rim boards and framing, set new pressure-treated posts and tied them in with structural connectors so the guardrail anchors into sound wood
Installed new decking and rebuilt entry steps, then set new code-height guardrails with metal balusters on the new posts
Moved unit by unit on a fixed rotation, keeping every resident’s entry usable and handing each deck back before starting the next
03 Outcome
The result
Every deck came back with a new surface and, more to the point, a guardrail anchored into new framing rather than into the rot that was hidden behind the old paint. The load-bearing findings closed under SB 721, each unit kept its entry throughout, and the property has a photo record showing what the rim boards actually looked like once the railings came off.
Results at a glance
- All 22 private decks and guardrails rebuilt
- Rotted rim boards replaced and railing posts re-anchored with structural connectors
- Code-height guardrails installed on sound framing, entry steps rebuilt
- Residents kept their entries throughout, unit by unit
What the client received
- SB 721-aligned repair documentation for the property file
- Photo record of every rim board and post condition found behind the railings
- Structural post-and-rim detail for the guardrails
- Workmanship warranty across all decks
Transformation
Before & After
Deck & railing
Railing post & rim board
On site
Project Photos
“We thought we were paying for new decking. They showed us the railing post had rotted hollow where it bolts on — you'd never have seen it from the outside.”
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