What Houston's June Heat Does to Your Deck and Wood Trim

June in Houston is brutal on wood. Surface temperatures on a south-facing deck can hit 140°F or higher by early afternoon. That kind of heat — cycle after cycle — splits boards, pops fasteners, and opens gaps that let water in the moment a storm rolls through.

The first thing I look for is checking the ledger board. That's the board bolted to your house where the deck meets the exterior wall. When wood expands and contracts repeatedly, the flashing behind that ledger can separate. Water gets behind it and starts rotting the band joist inside the wall. By the time you see it from outside, the damage is already several inches deep.

Fasteners are another tell. Deck screws and nails back out a little every time the wood swells in heat and shrinks overnight. After a few summers, you'll see raised screw heads and boards that rock underfoot. That's not just a tripping hazard — it's a sign the structural connection is weakening.

Wood trim around windows and doors takes a hit too. In Friendswood, Webster, and the Clear Lake area, I see a lot of homes where the exterior casing has pulled away from the window frame by a quarter inch or more. That gap is an open invitation for water to track behind the trim and hit the sheathing underneath.

If your deck has a finish on it — stain, sealer, paint — check whether it's peeling, bubbling, or turning gray. Bare wood absorbs and releases moisture much faster than protected wood. That accelerates checking, which are those small surface cracks that run along the grain. Checking is cosmetic at first, but deep checking leads to splits that hold standing water.

Span matters when boards split. TREC standards require me to flag any decking with significant structural deficiencies, including rot at load-bearing points. A single soft board in the middle of a deck span is a flag. Rot at the posts or beam connections is a bigger deal — those are the points that hold the whole thing up.

If you're buying or selling this summer, don't skip the deck. It looks fine from the yard. Up close, it tells a different story