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ALL DECKED OUT – TURNING HOUSES INTO HOMES … ONE ROOM AT A TIME

From a story by Kathy Maynard, courtesy Mendocino Real Estate Guide & Lake County Real Estate Magazine

The stresses of modern life, higher housing costs and shrinking lot sizes have fueled the trend to extend living space outdoors. The desire to do more in less space has created a growing demand for much more elaborate yards with areas for dining, entertaining, recreation and relaxation.

Technology continues to expand the options available to create attractive, inviting outdoor environments. Just as plain gray brushed concrete patios are losing favor to those made with stamped concrete resembling stone, brick or tile, so fewer decks are built as single, flat rectangles just to set up a barbecue and umbrella table in the summertime. Today’s decks are designed in curves and angles, on multiple levels with lots of interesting features to enhance a property’s appearance, provide a flowing transition from indoors to the yard, and establish separate areas for a variety of activities all year round.

“Homeowners always have a choice between a deck and a patio, unless they are building on the side of the hill, where a deck is the only option,” says Van Berg of Berg Residential Construction, Inc. in Roseville, CA. “For entertaining, a deck just feels more warm and inviting, and more comfortable to sit on, than a cold, hard patio.”

When consulting with homeowners, Berg explains that they need to take function, design, materials, maintenance and long term costs into consideration before adding a deck to their home.

Function

“The first thing I ask is what they intend to do on the deck,” Berg says. “Do they want to use it for dining, cooking, entertaining, relaxing, sunning, setting up a spa, or privacy? Their answers will determine the size, design, features, materials and, of course, the price.”

Design

A deck should be designed to complement both the house and its surroundings. Contemporary decks often include many of the following elements:

Multiple levels: Connected with stairs and landings, multiple levels add architectural dimension to the yard and establish separate areas for specific activities, such as cooking, dining, sunning, relaxing in the shade, soaking in a spa, etc.

Dining Area: This can be just one area of a deck and not just the primary purpose.

Outdoor Kitchen: We used to just grill meat outdoors on simple barbecues (Remember the Hibachi?), but now complete kitchens with high tech grills, sinks, bars, storage space and even refrigerators allow cooks to spend more time among their guests or family members while preparing entire meals instead of running in and out of the house.

Spas: This may be located in a secluded corner, away from the dining area and accessible both directly from the master bedroom as well as the main areas.

Features: Adding built-in seats and planter boxes, lights, roofs, heaters, chimineas, fire pits or fireplaces make decks more attractive and enable homeowners to use them many more months of the year.

Angles and Curves: Installing decks with angles and curves, and around pools, increases the complexity and costs.

Structures: Arbors, gazebos, patio covers and lattice add architectural interest, privacy and shade.

Trees: When building around existing trees, it is necessary to consider how they will look when they grow.

Materials

Not too long ago, decks in California were almost always built with naturally insect and disease resistant redwood. Now composite decking made of reclaimed wood and plastic is growing in popularity because it requires very little maintenance and will last longer than redwood. In 2000, only eight percent of decks were built with composite materials, but that number has increased by 25 percent each year since.

Redwood

“The problem is that quality of redwood has declined and now we are building decks with wood we used to throw away 15 years ago,” says Berg “We used to put knotless or tight knot on the surface of redwood decks. We could even afford to cut the knots out of 8- or 10- or 14- foot pieces of a lesser grade and but now prices are too high. You would need to take out a bank loan for knotless redwood.”

Composite Decking

The first composite deck and railing products barely rivaled redwood for appearance when introduced, but time and technology has continued to improve the product. Berg likes working with Trex, one of the original brands, but there are many other manufacturers, including Amerideck, ChoiceDek, CorrectDeck, EverGrain, GeoDeck, Nexwood, Rhino Deck, TimberTech, WeatherBest, and others. It’s a good idea to compare a few different brands because color choices and textures vary among manufacturers.

“Composite decking is straighter and doesn’t have the inconsistencies that wood has,” Berg says. “There’s no maintenance, you never have to stain and seal it, and though leaves could stain it if left on the deck too long, they won’t cause any deterioration. It’s very easy to work with as far as sanding and rounding edges, you can even mold it and edge it.”

The problem with the composite is that it is expensive. Homeowners are not usually willing to pay $25 a square foot for a deck when they can get one installed with con common redwood from about $17, says Berg. Composite railings also run about $55 a lineal foot versus about $ 20 for redwood.

Berg always asks potential clients to consider how long they plan to live in their home, and the cost of maintaining it when choosing their materials. He finds that in spite of their good intentions, most people are too busy and end up paying someone else to maintain their decks or worse, neglect them.

“I tell them that if they think it’s expensive now, just imagine how much more it will be to replace it in 10 years,” he says. “If they plan to stay in their house a while, composite is the way to go. It doesn’t dry rot, warp or discolor. That’s what I’d use if I were putting in a deck.”

If people want a redwood deck, they need to choose the best they can afford, seal it with the most expensive products they can get and maintain it properly, he advises.

Maintenance

Moisture causes wood to swell, then it shrinks as it dries. This continual expansion and contraction stresses the wood, which leads to warping and cracking. Redwood decks need to be power washed and resealed every couple of years to help prevent the wood from deteriorating too rapidly. Pine needles and leaves need to be removed or you reduce the life of the deck as much as 50 percent, Berg warns.

“You need to buy the best, most expensive sealer you can find,” he says. “Thompson Water Seal only works temporarily, it’s better to get something that will penetrate into the wood and bond better. New products are developed every day. Go talk to someone who sells decking to find the best product available.”

Building A Deck

There is plenty of information in books, online and from home centers and even planning departments advising do-it-yourselfers how to design and build a deck.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to build a deck, but it does require a basic knowledge of building, common sense, ability to visualize and skill using power tools,” Berg says. “With the price of materials, I think most people are better off hiring an experienced deck builder with a good track record.”

Unfortunately, just because a deck was put in professionally doesn’t mean it was done properly, Berg warns.

“We were hired to replace some steps and put a cover over the redwood deck on a 10-year-old house. When we found some dry rot in the deck and removed the boards, we could scrape ¾ of an inch of rot off the bottom, though the top side still looked perfect. Turns out the deck had been installed without ventilation and rotted from the bottom up. Wood needs to breathe. We ended up totally replacing 3,000 square feet of expensive redwood that didn’t last nearly as long as it could have.”

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