Multifamily owners and operators
Balconies, stairs, and walkways are both a liability and a capital item. You need them repaired properly and documented.
Dry Rot & Water Damage
Rot repaired back to sound framing — and the water problem fixed with it.
In the Pacific Northwest, dry rot is the quiet destroyer of multifamily exteriors. Leeway opens it up, repairs the structure properly, and corrects the drainage detail that caused it.
Get a Free Scope ReviewWhat you can see is almost never the whole repair.
Soft trim, a spongy balcony, a stair tread that flexes, paint that will not hold — those are symptoms. The damage behind them has usually been developing for years, and it follows the water: down a wall, along a joist, into a stringer or a rim board.
We open the area until we reach sound material. That sometimes means the scope grows past the original estimate, and we would rather tell you that on site with photos than close the wall over rotten framing so the number stays pretty.
Then we fix the cause. Flashing details, deck coatings and drainage, gutters and downspouts, siding laps, grade and splash — the repair is not finished until the water has somewhere else to go.
Who this is for
Built for the people responsible for the asset.
Property management companies
You have a soft spot residents are reporting and need a contractor who can tell you if it is cosmetic or structural today.
Asset managers
You need the extent of envelope and structural damage quantified across a property before you commit a capital number.
Real estate investors
Pre-purchase or post-close, you need an honest read on exterior structural condition, not the optimistic one.
Properties we serve
- Apartment communities
- Garden-style multifamily
- Townhome and duplex portfolios
- Senior living communities
- Affordable and tax-credit housing
- Office and retail buildings
- Mixed-use residential
- Light industrial and flex space
Scope of work
Structural remediation and exterior restoration.
Structural repair
- Framing, joist, and beam replacement
- Stair stringer and tread repair
- Balcony and deck structure rebuilds
- Post, header, and rim board replacement
- Sheathing and subfloor replacement
Envelope and water control
- Flashing and weather barrier correction
- Siding, trim, and fascia replacement
- Deck coating and waterproofing systems
- Gutter and downspout correction
- Window and door pan flashing repair
Restoration and finish
- Handrail and guardrail replacement
- Stucco repair and patching
- Exterior paint and finish restoration
- Interior drywall and ceiling repair
- Matching existing architectural details
Why owners choose Leeway
Repairs that hold, documented for your file.
Full extent, not partial
We remove back to sound material. A repair that stops at the estimate line is a repair you will pay for twice.
Cause corrected
Flashing, drainage, and coatings are part of the scope, so the same detail does not rot out again in three winters.
Liability reduced
Balconies, stairs, and railings are where structural failure becomes an injury. This work gets prioritized accordingly.
Photographed and recorded
Conditions, demolition extent, and repairs are documented — useful for insurance, warranty, and capital records.
How it works
Find it, open it, fix it, close it properly.
- 01
Inspect and probe
We assess the affected areas, probe for soft material, and estimate the likely extent before demolition begins.
- 02
Open and confirm
The area is opened to sound material. You get photos and an updated scope if the damage runs further than expected.
- 03
Rebuild the structure
Framing, sheathing, and structural components are replaced to code, with engineering coordinated where required.
- 04
Weatherproof and finish
Flashing, siding, coatings, railings, and paint are restored to match, and the drainage detail is corrected.
FAQ
Questions owners and managers ask us.
How do you know how far the rot goes?
We probe and open the affected area until we reach sound material. Guessing at the boundary is how rot comes back, so the demolition extent is determined on site, not from a photo.
Is this covered as maintenance or as a capital project?
It depends on scale. A single fascia section is maintenance. Multiple balconies, stair towers, or a building's worth of siding and framing is a capital project, and we scope it that way.
Can residents stay in their units during the work?
In most cases yes. Balcony, walkway, and stair work requires temporary access changes, which we plan with management and communicate to residents in advance.
Do you fix the cause or just the damaged wood?
Both. Rot is a water problem. Flashing, drainage, deck coatings, gutters, and grade all get corrected, otherwise the repair is temporary.
Do you handle structural repairs, not just cosmetic ones?
Yes — joists, beams, stair stringers, posts, headers, and sheathing. Where a scope requires engineering, we coordinate it and build to the stamped detail.
How fast should we act on a rot finding?
Anything structural or walkable — balconies, stairs, railings, walkways — should be treated as urgent. Cosmetic trim rot can usually be grouped into a planned exterior program.
Related services and pages
Stop chasing contractors. Start trusting one.
Tell us about the asset and the scope. We'll walk the site, define the work, and come back with a budget you can underwrite.