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Serving Schenectady, NY and surrounding areas. (518) 579-7838
Master Schenectady Deck & Fence builds decks, installs wood and privacy fencing, and repairs aging structures for Cohoes, NY homeowners - with permits pulled through the Cohoes Building Department, frost-depth footings on every new install, and real experience on the city's pre-1940 brick and wood-frame homes on tight urban lots.
Cohoes properties sit close together on narrow urban lots, and privacy fencing is one of the most practical improvements a homeowner can make here. Our wood and privacy fence installation service handles tight side-yard access, sets posts to frost-depth so they stay plumb through upstate winters, and installs fencing that fits the older neighborhood character of Cohoes.
Cohoes gets heavy snowfall and humid summers, and wood fencing in that climate requires regular painting and maintenance to stay in shape on older properties. Vinyl holds up through both extremes - it does not rot at the post base, does not need annual painting, and stays looking clean with occasional rinsing. For landlords and long-term homeowners who want defined lot lines with minimal upkeep, vinyl is a solid fit for this city.
A large share of Cohoes homes were built before 1940, and any deck added to those houses - even one installed in the 1980s or 1990s - is now 30 to 40 years old. On a city lot where drainage is limited and moisture from two nearby rivers keeps conditions damp, wood decks age faster than in drier environments. We assess the full structure - footings, frame, ledger, and decking - before recommending repair versus full replacement.
Cohoes is a working-class city where homeowners want a solid, code-compliant deck without an outsized budget. Pressure-treated lumber is the practical choice for a small or mid-size deck on a Cohoes two-family or single-family home - it performs well in the city's climate when properly maintained, and it costs less than composite while still meeting all current building code requirements.
Cohoes building code requires railings on decks above a certain height, and many older decks in the city were built before current railing standards were in place. If your existing deck lacks proper railings - or has railings that have loosened, corroded, or failed - we can install code-compliant replacements that work with your existing deck structure without requiring a full rebuild.
Cohoes sits at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, and the low-lying location near two rivers brings more mosquitoes and flying insects than drier inland areas. A screened-in porch or screened deck is one of the most practical additions a Cohoes homeowner can make - it turns an otherwise limited outdoor space into a usable room from May through October without the constant battle with insects.
Cohoes grew as a mill town in the 1800s, and the housing that went up to accommodate the workforce reflects that era - two- and three-story wood-frame and brick buildings on small lots, many of them attached or semi-detached row houses built with shared walls and narrow side yards. A very large share of the city's housing was built before 1940, which means foundations, concrete flatwork, and structural connections have been through more than 80 years of freeze-thaw cycles. In that time, frost heave has worked on shallow footings, mortar joints have cracked and opened, and moisture has found its way into materials that were never designed for long-term waterproofing. Deck and fence work in Cohoes starts from the ground up - with footings set below the 36-to-48-inch frost line current code requires, not at the depths that were common when most of this housing was built.
The city's location at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers adds a moisture dimension that affects older homes year-round. Parts of Cohoes in low-lying areas near the rivers are in FEMA flood zone designations, and spring snowmelt regularly raises groundwater levels near the riverbanks. High humidity through the summer months accelerates wood rot and mold in homes where ventilation and drainage have not been modernized. Cohoes winters bring heavy snowfall and deep frost that stress older structures every year, and the city's building code - enforced through the Cohoes Building Department - reflects those realities.
Our crew works throughout Cohoes regularly, pulling permits through the City of Cohoes Building Department and working on the older brick and wood-frame homes that define this city. Cohoes is a dense urban environment - properties are close together, lots are small, and side-yard access for equipment and materials often requires planning before the first day of work. We account for that in our project timelines and estimates so homeowners in Cohoes are not surprised by access complications on the day construction starts.
The neighborhoods near Remsen Street and the historic downtown blocks are built in the tight row-house pattern typical of the mill era - attached homes with narrow rear yards where every foot of space matters. The residential streets north of downtown, and the blocks near the Cohoes Music Hall, reflect a similar scale. Cohoes Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in New York State, defines the city's geography and draws residents who know the history of this place. The low-lying blocks closer to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers tend to have older homes with more deferred maintenance and more moisture exposure than the higher-elevation neighborhoods.
We also serve neighboring communities. If you are in Troy to the south or in Watervliet next door, we cover both with the same permit-ready, frost-depth process we use in Cohoes.
Call or submit a request through our contact form and describe what you need. We respond to every Cohoes inquiry within one business day.
We visit your Cohoes property, assess lot access, existing structural conditions, and give you a written estimate at no charge. For repair jobs, we check footing depth and structural connections before recommending what actually needs to be done - not just what is easiest to sell.
We submit permit applications to the Cohoes Building Department and begin construction once approval is in hand. You do not need to manage the permit process - we handle plan submissions and inspection scheduling from start to finish.
After construction is complete, we walk the finished work with you and leave the site clean. The Cohoes Building Department final inspection closes the permit and gives you a documented record of the completed project.
We work throughout Cohoes and the surrounding Albany County area. Call or submit a request and we will get back to you within one business day.
Cohoes is a small city of about 19,000 people in Albany County, situated at the point where the Mohawk River flows into the Hudson. The city's identity was shaped by the textile industry that grew up around Cohoes Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in New York State, which provided the water power that drove the mill economy through the 1800s. The brick mill buildings and the rows of worker housing built to support them still define the city's look today - many of those old mill buildings have been converted into apartments, and the residential streets nearby are lined with the same two- and three-family wood-frame homes that housed mill workers and their families generations ago. Remsen Street runs through the heart of the historic downtown, and the Cohoes Music Hall, a Victorian-era theater built in 1874, still hosts performances and remains one of the most recognized landmarks in the city.
Cohoes is an affordable place to own a home in the Capital Region, with a median home value well below the state average. Many residents have owned their properties for years, which reflects a genuine pride of ownership alongside the deferred maintenance that century-old homes accumulate over time. The city is directly adjacent to Watervliet and sits just a few miles from Troy and Albany - and we serve all of those communities with the same hands-on process we bring to every Cohoes project.
Solid pressure-treated lumber decks at an affordable price.
Learn MoreClassic wood and privacy fences built to your specifications.
Learn MoreEnjoy the outdoors year-round without bugs or debris.
Learn MoreCall us or submit a request online - we respond within one business day and serve Cohoes and the surrounding Albany County area.