Could someone please help me separate fact from fiction? I don’t know whether I’ve been getting good advice or whether I’m being sold unnecessary work.

I have a deck in the back of my home, about 10’ by 16’, in Massachusetts. It was built in 1988, fully PT construction, with 6x6 posts on concrete footings. The joists are 2x8, and are about two feet off the ground. The wood decking, of course, didn’t last 40 years, and was replaced in 2006 with Trex. So the decking is 20 years old, halfway into a 40 year warranty.

The railings are falling apart and need to be replaced. I plan to use TimberTech PVC railings.

I am being told that it’s foolish to replace just the railings. I should demolish the deck all the way down to the footings and start over, for two reasons. First, that the PT supporting (joists/posts) structure is old and approaching end of life anyway, so it doesn’t make sense to spend the money for the railings on a structure that will soon need to be replaced anyway. Second, that there is almost certainly rot where the ledger board meets the house, despite the 1980’s era flashing, and the rot is eating away at the plywood sheathing in the house.

How much of this is true? If it turns out that the flashing is failing, is it possible to fix the rot and replace the ledger and bring it up to code without replacing the joists, or is that so difficult that it’s easier just to demolish and rebuild the whole thing?

Thank you for your help.