Monarch Prestige (Granite color) with Monarch Charleston railings (Slate color)

Here is what we have been working on for the last few weeks. Remove and replace a existing treated deck with Monarch Prestige. Prestige is there newest line which is a cap layer composite.

Top View

3D

Before

This was a bear of a project, the tear out went very easy we had the old deck down and loaded in a dumpster in about 2 1/2 hours. From there everything seemed to take longer than what we had thought.

The footings took some extra work because of large stones in the ground.

The framing took longer because of the building department, Rochester Hills requires a 1/2" through bolt connection for the ledger, and even the railing posts had to have 2)  1/2" carriage bolts per post and none of the 4x4 rail posts could be notched, and we had a double picture frame border to frame for and a two tiered fascia, and two levels.

Here we just installed the decking with hidden fasteners

Post sleeves just installed (Monarch Charleston Slate)

Here we just installed the railings and working into the homestretch

A few final pictures

Thanks for reading

Why hire a pro - part two

What are the benefits of hiring a pro:

1)Experience in carpentry, and construction codes.

We see alot of different carpentry techniques I remember going out on a quote last summer to build a Gazebo, The homeowner was really excited about his new deck, which he and his buddy just built. The first thing I noticed was that they brad nailed all the deck boards down. Experience in building decks and tearing down old decks,  you will quickly see why not to brad nail a deck board, wood shrinks and expands and moves around alot which a brad nail will never hold up. We never ever nail a deck any where unless we use PL glue in conjunction with nailing, and that is only on fascia boards where you don't want to see a screw head.

With all the new composite and PVC decking products on the market, experience will not only save you time and money but maybe one big headache.
Some manufactures are known to deny claims if you don't follow every step of their installation instructions. Composite and PVC decking is alot more labor intense, and not only how you build the deck, but how you design the deck will contribute to quality of the deck as it ages.

2) The design of a deck will be a large factor how well it lasts, and would you put you name on a square cookie cutter project.

Design is a key factor in most construction project. Each lot is different, each home is different, and each customers needs are different. I am a big believer in whoever designs a project should have a building long standing quality mindset, not just how it looks mindset. With that being said who wants a square jail space look to your new deck. A designer will look to put his unique signature on the design. Some deck builders here, have done unique things that the instant you see the deck you know they built it, I have to tip my hat to them they have stepped beyond the cookie cutter mentality. 

Here in Michigan the economy has been really tough, we have been very dependent upon the auto industry to our own hurt. The fat and over paid union mentality has hurt us. We have to not only to create a brand, but work at proving ourselves that we are hard workers and we will go the extra for our clients. This is what has given a bad rap to our remodeling industry. The do it yourself-er would say:  We are out to take every short cut, charge a high price and leave work not done and job sites a mess. 

A "Pro" should go the extra mile not only in design, workmanship, cleanliness, and in business dealings. That is why you should hire a pro!

Shelby Township MI Cedar Deck

Hello again,

 Here is the latest project we have been working on. Basically building a new 26x21 cedar deck. There was a existing decking that was in bad shape, and that had some very large built in planters. So we took down the old deck and re-designed the new deck.

The house is a real interesting design being in a shape of an L with door walls on each side of the home. We tried to go with a unique deck design, incorporating some different angles into the design, which I really liked the 54 degree angle instead of the basic 45 degree cut corner.

    

Here we just finished the framing up and we are waiting for the open joist inspection, so we can start installing the decking.

Here the homeowner pre-stained the 2x4 rails with a Sherman Williams natural oil based stain. So he would not have to cut in around the balusters. This is a big benefit over treated pine because the treated is really wet it has to wait to be stained, where the cedar can be stained right away.

Here the 2x6 cedar decking has just been installed (screwed down)

The seam board, picture frame border course and railings are next.

Here we just installed the Cedar 2x4 builders rail, with a 2x6 deck board top cap rail, and 3/4 round deckorators balusters. Two tiered 1x8, 1x4 rough sawn fascia installed under the picture frame border.

 The last step was building the stairs, they are 4' wide with a 7.5 rise, and with the two tiered fascia detail.

A few more completed pictures

Thank You for reading!

Why hire a pro?

Hello, my name is Bayn Wood I am president of Autumnwood Construction Inc. We are a metro Detroit area deck and patio construction company.

In the last month alone we have seen, a composite deck built by a new construction home builder, that looked like it was nailed off by the framing crew. We gave a recent quote for a pending lawsuit where a homeowner built his own deck, sold his house and stated to the buyer that it was built to code and the building inspector had approved the deck construction, which in reality the deck needed to be torn down because it was not only out of code but a major danger to anyone who used the deck. And we visited a new construction home for a quote on building backyard deck, as I pulled into the driveway I noticed a very nice covered front porch, that had high end composite railings, that were sagging in between the railing posts, after a closer inspection I noticed there was not any squash blocks installed and the bottom rail was installed upside down all by the home builder. All costly errors

You might say there are many other stories of decks built by homeowners that have been built well, and you’re a deck builder, so of course you going to be against DIY deck builder.

That may be true, but what are you getting yourself into when you take on a deck building project?

Here are a few areas to consider before you decide to “Do it yourself”

1) The deck design. A dream deck that flows into the landscape, or a square big box special.

2) Building to code. Plans and permits are needed, and there are a lot of deck construction codes to follow.

As a homeowner how much time do you have to research the deck construction codes, and do you have ability to build the deck to code? First off, your footings have to be sized for the proper soil and load bearing code. What type of footing? Posts back filled with cement cookie post bases, or pier footings. What is the proper frost code depth for my area? Next would be the proper lumber sizes for the deck frame spans. What about the railings? How tall should they be and what is the proper baluster spacing? What about the stairs. Do I need a graspable handrail? Or how tall can my risers be?

3) Materials: What is the best choice for my new deck, what should I base my decision on, and what accessories are available.

What material should you build you deck from if you’re going to build your own deck. I personally believe that treated wood or cedar wood are a lot easier deck materials to work with than Hardwoods, Composites, and PVC products. Hardwoods have to be pre-drilled to attach and they are extremely hard, end grains have to be treated against checking and splitting. Most Composite and PVC manufactures have installations instruction manuals which can be upwards of 20 pages of instructions. The composite and PVC market is growing dramatically and is popular among DIY crowd because of the high materials costs.

Deck building in my opinion is a trade just like an electrician, plumber, or pipe fitter. And to have a special “outdoor living” dream deck space, you should consider a deck building trade specialist

Franklin MI Cedar deck

Hello .. We have been crazy busy with work so I have to apologize for not keeping up on updating our blog. For the last few weeks we have been on this project we are going to review today.

Remove and replace a Franklin MI two level cedar deck.

We are matching an existing design with a few changes. I really like the original design.

Basically the deck is 14 x 42 with a center step down 14x14 octagon level. There is also a 16x20 pergola centered in the design.

The old deck was made from cedar and was in really bad shape, it was built in 1980 and there was a few problems areas.

We filled up a 20 yard dumpster from all the debris on this job it was a bear to tear down. Also every utility line was ran through the deck area, including the electrical main, cable, and phone, air conditioning, a water line and two electrical outlets.

Here you can see the cedar fascia board sandwiched over the deck boards and the framing, this is one of big problem areas we see all the time. This why we always run a border board around the outside of the deck, so the fascia board can be run underneath the border board to cover the fascia/framing seam so there is no gap area where the two materials are sandwiched together. The picture frame border also covers the ends of the cut deck boards.

You see the gap between the fascia and the rim joist has collected all kinds of debris and it created an area for water to sit,  damage the deck frame, fascia, and the ends of the decking.

The other big problem area we see in deck failure in is the ledger board of the deck, (where it attaches to the home)  Here you see there was flashing used in the construction of the original deck, but because the house has wood siding.  The wood siding failed and created the damage to the ledger and than eventually the deck and house.  

So the end result from the siding/ledger failure was replacing about 30' of the house rim joist

Here is the new ledger attachment and flashing

Here is a few framing shots

The latter joist framing for the center seam board

Octagon framing

Next comes the decking installation.

Below you can see the single picture frame border board

that covers the fascia/framing gap and hides the end grains of the decking.

Railings up next

Pocket hole post/rail attachment       

We pre-stained the 2x4 rails with Sherman Williams Deckscapes that the homeowner choose, but the color did not come out right so the homeowner decided to leave the grey colored stain on the rails and keep the rest of the deck stained with a natural colored stain

Next we did the stairs, built the pergola, installed low voltage deck lighting,

 and stained the complete deck to finish up the project

Thank You for reading our blog

Shelby Township MI Cedar Deck

Hello,

We are in full gear deck building mode and it has been busy - so much to do with so little time to do it!

Here is our latest project in Shelby Township MI.  Remove and replace a cedar deck. Just a basic square deck 12x26. The two main design feature are the picture frame border with the double center seam boards, and the metal balusters in the builders rail.  Again a very basic deck which is what the homeowner wanted.

We did the center seam boards so we could get the most out of 12' deck boards

Here is the design

Framing around the fireplace

Ladder framing for the center seam boards

Two tiered fascia, pre-stained rail post 

Decking installed

Working on the rail to rail post connection -  we use the Kreg pocket hole jig for the toe nailing of the posts

Finished pictures

Here is a link to the DIY network - With a bunch of good articles

Here some interesting links from the DIY network

DIY Network

Also take a look at our patio, porch and deck websites.

Autumnwood Construction

Michigan Deck Store

Autumnwood Construction Facebook page

Thank You