I would replace that piece with the hole. Sand the surface rot and fill with bondo. Wash it off (no powerwash). Fix the support in the middle. Then re stain or whatever you want to do with the surface. I think it looks overwhelming because it's so dirty.
I'd say a minimum of 50% of it needs to be replaced, it's soft and spongy when walked on. Quite a bit can be dug into with bare fingers. That's a good point though, we may be able to save a couple of pieces of it. At the very least they could be repurposed.
Something to note, this is in Vermont. Most winters the snow drifts roll in across the deck (often more than 36" high) and even when we shovel, the deck boards can expect to be continually wet and experience freeze/thaw for a minimum of 3-4 months / year.
Why do you want/need a deck that's barely above ground level? Take it out and replace it with patio/paving stones, which last forever. Depending on your climate, you might have to excavate and put in limestone and/or sand, but then it's maintenance free for decades. If your need a transition from the door level, you can put in a small wood step or even cover it in brick etc to reduce the maintenance on it. Give away the deck boards or find some other use for them yourself.
That's certainly an idea, and I'll run it past my wife. The drop from door to ground is around 36" and the ground isn't level however, so we'd need to buttress the area and get some fill, and build a few steps down with a railing. But, as you say, this will last forever.
We took our old unused chimney down when we did a big exterior upgrade, new siding, roof, etc.
Modern furnaces and water heaters don't need the masonry chimney.
We've got a big treated lumber wood deck on the back of our home that we use a lot. It's over 25 years old and still holding up fine, just need to stain or seal it every other year which isn't huge or expensive undertaking. You can get a lot of use and enjoyment out of a nice deck, I'd rebuild it.
Thanks for the tip! What was involved with the chimney removal? Approximately how much did it cost, and how much were you able to do yourself?
That's a gorgeous deck, or will be. Sounds like you have support issues. Figure out where the middle supports are and prise up a few boards around them to have a look. You can definitely replace supports on an existing deck. I would water blast the deck and see how much of the damage is actually just dirt, flaking paint etc. I think quite a bit of it will be. Then you prise out the broken and rotted boards, and replace them. And repaint the whole thing using a very high grade paint that's designed for outdoor decking. As long as you keep it clean, you won't have to do much it for ages.
Edit to add that you really need to use materials that are appropriate for the purpose. If you want timber to survive outdoors, use treated timber that's suitable for that. BTW there's a recycled plastic product that's produced in boards and mimics wood that you can use. That will literally last forever and needs no maintenance. Pretty sure it's called Modwood.
I'm not sure if your goal is to use a material that will fully break down with no toxins, in which case you will have to do constant maintenance as it .... breaks down, or is your goal to use a material that won't break down easily (and therefore won't need replacing and go to landfill) and require little maintenance. Those are quite different goals.
I'll try to save what I can, but I get the impression the pictures haven't communicated just how bad it is. On the house itself, we're replacing all of the siding because in many places the paint is all that's holding it together. In many spots the sheathing underneath is damaged, and in some further cases we're replacing the insulation under that. As for keeping it clean, our climate is pretty hard on things. We can expect the outer edges to be under a layer of ice for several months each year, and experience continual freeze-thaw cycles.
As for our goal, we haven't really decided, and all options are on the table.
A little more context: There were several 60+ year old out-buildings on the property that were made of clean wood, which we've been using in our fire pit most nights. The wood burns clean and it's nice to sit near. One other structure on the property was painted at one point, I doubt it's old enough that the paint flakes on the ground around it contain lead, but we dug up as much of that as we could and disposed of it properly. Maybe I just don't know enough about the life cycle of things yet, but we live out in the sticks, and people here generally compost their food scraps, burn their clean wood scraps, repurpose or recycle most everything else, and only a small percent goes into a landfill - and anything that does, we've driving it there and paying by the pound, even for a kitchen trash bag. I suppose I was hoping to hear that we might be able to apply some kind of plant oil or wax to boards from our local sawmill; that it would be enough to keep them intact for a while; and that when they did rot, they could go in the fire pit as well.
If you have to continually maintain a deck by treating it, then it will not be environmentally friendly due to the products used during it’s life and possibly at the end of it’s life, if you have to dispose of wood that has absorbed countless treatments. (By the way, burning anything may be cheap, but it’s not environmentally friendly.). If you want a long lasting deck that needs no treatment, then use cedar. Outrageously expensive though.
Possibly the answer IS pressure treated, or plastic, if it will last 5-10x as long. Cedar is unfortunately out of the budget.
Our overall plan for this house is not for it to be our forever home. We may have our first child here, but it's a first home and we're likely to move on in ~4-6 years. It was within our budget, we're willing to put in some sweat equity, and our mortgage is very little more than it would have cost to rent a 1 bedroom apartment. Ideally whatever we lay down for decking will still look good in 4-6 years, and when the time comes to be replaced, it will have a lower environmental impact.