Dodgy decking in new house, what to do with it?

[MariaDingbat]

We just completed on a house that has been empty for almost a year and is a bank repossession, so there were no negotiations for work to be done before completion. Unfortunately the decking at the back door is in much worse condition than it was when we went sale agreed last year. There are whole boards rotted away and spongy bits, I don't feel particularly safe on it. It takes up about half the garden so it's a big job to remove it and we estimate it would be at least £200 just to get replacement boards for the rotten sections. Then we'd have to paint it too.

We had always planned on removing it next year but had hoped we could just paint it and get it to last to next summer. Are there any cheap and cheerful ways to replace or cover the bad boards? Or are we looking at lifting it as the only option? I have no idea what we would find under it, I've never had decking before. We can see a frame and a black membrane where the boards have rotted away. Can you just sow grass where it had been? Any advice much appreciated!

if the boards are rotting, I'd remove asap so you don't step on it to have it collapse under you one day.

once it is gone, you can see what the ground looks like under - if there is regular earth, then you could sow grass seed. or you might want to put down paving slabs on some of it.

Remove the decking, it doesn’t sound safe at all. See how it looks underneath, sometimes people deck over resolve a problem, eg poorly maintained concrete steps. If the ground is flat you could turf, for an instant result. Grass seed will take time. Or lay a patio, or if you like decking have a new deck built, personally I would go with the patio option, easy to maintain etc. Good luck I hope it’s a straight forward job.

Rip it out and see what’s under that membrane. I once took out decking at the end of the garden, only to find a patio underneath...

Ripping it out won’t cost much more than repairing the rotten parts.

Just rip it up
Decking can be dangerous if in a poor state of repair - wood can rot and get broken / slippy and you can go right through it
I think you need to see what’s under it and either pave / grass over

I replaced a large deck after moving in. Thought I'd get away with just the boards but the whole frame was gone so a much bigger job.
Even though bits are rotten, a lot of it is probably sound so might be a pain the remove. Often the screws are unusable. I used a chainsaw to cut into car boot sized bit for tip.
Also it's too late in year for grass seed really, you'll have to wait for Autumn. You could put some bark chipping on the black membrane until then.

Bark makes a neat surface, but it terrible for treading into the house.

I agree you need to pull it up. It will be dangerous if you or anyone else, falls through a rotten board.

Very possibly it was built to a poor standard. It might have rats underneath.

When you know what's underneath you will be in a better position to decide what to do.

Decking can be lethal for slipping on in autumn/winter, combine that with rotten sections and it's not good. I personally wouldn't waste money repairing it if you're planning on removing it soon anyway.

Our crappy decking was clearly put down without a membrane and over what looks like mud mixed with rubble. I suspect it's going to cost quite a lot to sort! When you do remove it, watch out as the old screws will probably shear and you won't be able to unscrew them. A chainsaw as someone else suggested is a good option. Don't burn the wood either as you don't know what chemicals have been used on it.

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I think we've resigned ourselves to ripping it up asap. The boards just outside the back door are spongy and one lifted right up. There seemed to be a concrete step under it so that's good, but as the house is only 2007 I'm expecting the rest to be rubble.

Thank you @ForestDad for the great bark suggestion. We have a 7 month old and I was starting to get really sad that we would have a pile of muck and rubble instead of a garden for her 1st summer, but that might be a way to salvage enough space for a parking pool at least.

*paddling pool.

And I hadn't even considered there might be rats under it! Gah.

We just replaced our decking with a patio and it’s the best thing we’ve done in the garden. It was even better just at the point we’d removed it than the decking we were afraid to walk on

Good luck. Having had decks at 2 houses I wouldn't put another in. Slabs/patio all the way. Much more long lasting and safer.
You could probably get away with just leaving the membrane down for a season, assuming not too spiky underneath.

Might be worth offering it for free on Facebook Market place some one may take it for the good wood as a skip is expensive

Decking, unless composite, is a pain in the arse in this country. Yearly maintenance or the prospect of rotting and needing ripping up after a few years isn’t worth it.

Once you get started it’ll probably only take a few hours and quite satisfying.

We had bouncy decking when we moved into our house it was also slippy when wet as I skidded on it retrieving washing! Now replaced by nice stone patio far safer.

Definitely rip it up. We moved into a house last summer where the decking was rotting. Very dangerous with a toddler etc. We ripped it up and then paid and "man and van" to collect and dispose of it as it wouldn't fit in the car. Cost about £100