Make the Most of the Outdoors

Yes. If you show us a picture of a deck, rail, trellis, bench, planter, pergola, or any other component of a deck, we can certainly build it.

A railing that meets the building code is one that has no openings on the railing greater than 4 inches. In other words, if a 4-inch ball can be pushed through your railing at any point it does not pass code.

Yes, permits are required, even if you’re just replacing the decking and nothing else.

Whoever is doing the work should acquire the permit. If you, the homeowner, are doing the work yourself, then you’ll need to acquire the building permit. However, if you’re hiring someone to do the work, that contractor should acquire the permit – which places the liability on the contractor. If a contractor recommends that a homeowner needs to acquire the permit for work that he will do, that’s a red flag that the contractor is likely not licensed.

Warranties vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, you’ll want to verify the warranty prior to choosing a product. In general, most composite and PVC decking manufacturers offer a 25-year “manufacturer’s warranty”. Manufacturer’s warranties cover factory defects only like splitting and warping. If products are installed incorrectly, the warranty is voided – thus it’s imperative that you or your contractor is familiar with the product being installed. In addition, most manufacturers’ warranties cover the cost of replacement materials and not the labour to remove the damaged decking and install the new.

Typically, the only maintenance needed is cleaning.

You’ll always want to defer to the manufacturers’ cleaning recommendations prior to using anything other than mild detergent and water. Some cleaning products could damage your decking.

No. Again, check with your decking manufacturer to verify the type of floor mats that are compatible with your decking product. For example, some rubber-backed floor mats will react with PVC deck boards causing discoloration. Also, keep in mind that although most decking products don’t fade nearly as much as they used to, fading in most products will still occur. A floor mat will obviously limit fading underneath it.

No! If you stain or paint the underside of your deck, moisture will still enter into the wood from the top, but now the moisture becomes trapped, accelerated rot is the result.

The price of a deck can vary greatly. Things such as size, shape, height off the ground, types of materials used, extras such as benches and planters, will all affect the price.

Most definitely yes! A new deck on a home here in Nova Scotia will add great value to the home. Usually, you can expect to recoup at least 80%-90% of the cost of the deck upon resale of the home.

There are many schools of thought on this subject. We recommend a deck be cleaned every year to remove moss and algae and re-stained as needed. Even the low-maintenance composite products, such as TREX, require regular cleaning to prevent the build-up of dirt which can lead to algae growth. The composite products, however, do not require a protective stain.

Yes. Decks are not commonly built to accommodate the weight of a hot tub. We always recommend a strengthening of the framework below where the tub will go or the addition of tub support.

This is a common problem. We recommend if your project exceeds your current budget that we spread the project over more than one season. As long as the master plan is complete and allows for the addition of more deck levels or areas in the future, it is easy to tailor the construction over a period of time. This also gives you the opportunity to decide if you really want that large of a deck by using what is currently built for a season to get a feel for your use of the deck.