Deck Construction in Sehome, Bellingham WA

Between Western Washington University and downtown, Sehome climbs the hillside in tight blocks of early-1900s homes — Craftsman porches, tall foundations, and back yards that fall away toward the bay. Deck projects here are rarely blank-slate builds. They are puzzles: a steep lot, a corner kept permanently damp by the tree line of the Sehome Hill Arboretum, a ninety-year-old porch that has settled two inches at one corner. That is exactly the kind of work Alpine Exteriors likes taking on.

Framing for Slopes, Shade, and Old Foundations

Much of Sehome sits on grade changes that rule out a simple ground-level platform. We engineer elevated decks with engineered footings sized for the slope, ledger connections detailed for older rim joists, and stair runs that actually work with the hill instead of fighting it. Where a deck ties into a century-old house, we open up the connection point first — original framing in this neighborhood varies house to house, and guessing is how ledgers fail.

Shade is the other constant. North-facing yards and arboretum-edge lots stay damp deep into summer, which turns untreated wood green and slick within a couple of seasons. For those sites we spec decking and finishes that tolerate standing moisture, and we detail the framing with gapped boards and ventilated skirting so the structure underneath can dry.

Porch Rebuilds That Respect the Architecture

A large share of our Sehome work is not a backyard deck at all — it is the front porch. These homes were built with porches as their public face, and a sagging one drags the whole facade down with it. We rebuild them with modern structure hidden behind period-correct proportions:

• Tapered columns and square balusters matched to the Craftsman originals
• Properly flashed ledger and post bases so the new porch never rots the way the old one did
• Tongue-and-groove porch decking pitched to drain, the way the originals were meant to
• Concealed structural steel where settling demands it, invisible from the street

What Working With Us Looks Like

Alpine Exteriors has been building around Bellingham for 25 years, long enough to have worked on some Sehome blocks more than once. Estimates are free and happen on site, because no deck in this neighborhood can be priced from a satellite photo — we need to see the slope, probe the existing framing, and check what the soil is doing before we commit to a number. From there you get a fixed scope, a permit handled by us where one is required, and a crew that keeps a tight site on streets where houses sit close together.

Every deck and porch we build carries our 25-year workmanship warranty, the same coverage we have stood behind across more than 2,000 completed projects. If your porch bounces, your stairs lean, or your backyard slope has been an excuse for years, we can turn it into the best room of the house.