Deck Building in Cordata, Bellingham | Alpine

Cordata's Decks Are Hitting Their Expiration Date

Cordata is young by Bellingham standards — most of the neighborhood's homes and townhouses went up from the 1990s onward as the city grew north around Whatcom Community College and Cordata Park. Young, but not new: the earliest waves of those houses are now twenty-five to thirty years old, and the pressure-treated decks that came with them are aging out on schedule. The symptoms are consistent across the neighborhood because the original construction was consistent: graying, splintering deck boards; wobbly 4x4-post railings that no longer meet code; and framing that was built to the minimums of a 1990s spec book.

Alpine Exteriors replaces those first-generation decks with second-generation ones — structures designed for how the home is actually used now, built with materials that didn't exist when the neighborhood was platted, and detailed for the Bellingham climate that ages everything outdoors ahead of its time.

What a Cordata Rebuild Looks Like

Because most homes here follow similar footprints, the existing deck is usually a modest rectangle off the kitchen or living room. A rebuild is the natural moment to rethink it — a bit more depth so a table and grill coexist, a privacy screen on the neighbor side, stairs relocated to open the yard. Structurally and materially, our standard Cordata package includes:

• Capped composite decking that resists the algae film Bellingham's wet season paints onto wood, and never needs staining
• A protected frame — joist tape, flashed and bolted ledger, and 6x6 posts on real footings replacing the original minimums
• Modern railing systems, from clean aluminum balusters to composite-capped rails, all built to current code heights
• Low-voltage lighting rough-ins, an inexpensive add during construction that transforms evening use ten months a year

Several Cordata subdivisions and townhouse communities operate under HOA design guidelines, and we're fluent in that process: we prepare the drawings, specs, and color samples your review committee wants, and we build the approval time into the schedule instead of letting it surprise the project.

The Rot Problem Nobody Sees Coming

The most expensive failure on decks of this era isn't the deck — it's the house. Unflashed ledger boards from the 90s have spent decades wicking water into rim joists, and we routinely uncover soft framing when we demolish originals in neighborhoods like this. Catching it during a deck rebuild costs little; catching it years later costs a wall. It's one more reason 25 years in this business and 2,000+ completed projects translate into judgment you can't get from a spec sheet.

Free Estimates, Long Guarantee

Every Alpine deck carries a 25-year workmanship warranty — roughly the age of the deck we'll be replacing, which says something about the standard we build to. On-site estimates are free anywhere in Cordata and north Bellingham; we'll assess your existing frame honestly and show you what its replacement could be.