Why is my wooden deck rotting after only six years?
Wooden deck boards are rotting and crumbling prematurely after just six years despite regular maintenance and sealing. This leaves homeowners trying to figure out whether they can salvage the remaining wood or if they need to replace the failing boards entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Applying regular sealant every couple of years
- 2Switching from pressure-treated wood to composite decking
- 3Ensuring proper ground clearance, grading, and vented skirting for better airflow
- 4Replacing rotten boards, sanding, and painting or repainting
- 5Switching to PVC materials
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
r/HomeImprovement1 person · September 2026
Where this came up
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