Synthetic deck and pergola from last year in Macomb Twp

Hello ..

 Here is a review of a deck we built at the end of last year, and we had to finish the adjoining stamped concrete patio this spring.

The project is a basic square 12x16 deck at the homeowners request.

They choose synthetic decking and railings with a solid white stained cedar pergola.

Here is the design

Timber Tech XLM sandridge deck, with Fiberon Horizons Rosewood double picture frame. Here we are just about to finish the sandridge decking. We have just slide the Bellastone columns over the 4x6 pergola posts and blocking for the rails.

The Bellastone columns are made from a very thick plastic that is hollow inside so we cut out the bottoms so we could fit the blocking around the posts for the railing attachment through the faux stone column bases. The treated 4x6 pergola posts are blocked and thru bolted into the frame of the deck. Once we installed the columns bases we installed the 8" round poly columns that sit on top of the Bellastone bases.

Here we have installed the cedar pergola parts that we pre-stained and cut.

Now we move onto the the railings, Timber Tech Radiance railing sandridge.

A few more finsh shots

Michigan deck builders
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Form equals function for deck designing

Hello again,

 Today we are going to look at a different topic ... Deck design and some problems areas to avoid

First lets review the basics of deck designing.

Usually form follows function for designing. When designing and planing, start by how you plan on using your deck. Most decks you have three main uses.

1) Entertaining:  A space where you can be relaxing in a comfortable chair or patio set, a space to get some sun, or a place for a small party,  or for the kids to get some fresh air and play safely within a watchful eye.

2) Grilling: a space for a grill

3)  Egress: space to transition from the house to the deck and from the deck into the backyard.

So think of each of these spaces within your deck design

The challenge becomes fitting them into a designated space and or budget you have for your deck. Finally you should add a ornate quality to your deck by adding your unique flair or style into the design.

When we go out to visit homeowners to give an estimate on building and designing a deck, I first try to listen to the customer closely to find out exactly how they are planning to use their deck space and what their expectation is of their dream deck. 

Here are some of the areas to avoid and few thing to do a little homework on.

1) Thorough pre-planing:  We see this all the time, homeowner having no idea of what style they are looking for and how a deck will become part of the architecture of the home/backyard landscape.  Take some time out and find a few picture of decks you like and try to incorporate some the things you like into your deck.

 

2)  What materials to use:
There are so many neat products available in deck construction, and many of the different products work really good together and add contrast to a backyard landscape. Take a look at Faux columns, Low voltage lighting, synthetic decking... etc. 

3) Designing: Add some ornate flair to a deck design with a picture frame border, inlay, combining different colors, arbors, skirting and lattice, railing combinations, and different levels.

4) Site conditions: Each house and site plot is unique and the deck should flow into the landscape and the look/color of the house.

Michigan deck construction and design ideas

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A couple of synthetic porches

Hi again,

Well we have had a pretty good winter with staying busy especially considering the economy here in Michigan. In this post I am going to review a couple of porch jobs we did on two different manufactured homes.

This first one we did back in the summer, and we used Timber Tech XLM sandridge.

Here is the design a simple 4x6 porch with one column and a 4x4 platform and steps.

The old porch was 3/4 plywood with outdoor carpet, and a square 4x4 column with steps to grade. The porch rotted out and once we tore all that off, we got started on installing the decking.

Here in the picture to the left you can see the vertical skirting style we like to use with deck boards tucked behind the tiered fascia, also notice how the fascia is under the picture frame border which acts as a drip edge for the deck, so water and debris will not be trapped in the fascia/rim joist gap.

Here to the right again you can see our preferred way of doing a solid skirting around a deck to enclose the under side of a deck.

Also this is our standard fascia detail on all of our composite and PVC decks, a two tiered fascia detail.

Here we are finishing up installing the Timber Tech Radiance rails on the porch. We also ran a deck board across the bottom of the skirting to follow the slope of the grade.

Here is our second similar porch that we just actually finished up today, but I thought both of the project would fit good together in this blog post because of how similar they are and how they show a verticial skirting detail.

On this porch we tore off Trex accents because of a carport that fell on the deck and damaged the deck. No one locally stocked the Trex Accents so we went with Timber Tech Reliaboard.

The old deck was built by a Trex pro gold contractor and I was not to crazy about their work, but then again it is so easy to pick apart someone else work so I should probably focus on what I can learn.

Here is the before picture

Notice how they ran the skirting horizontally and they just stacked the fascia down to make the skirting. The fascia is even with the decking so the water and debris build up in the fascia seam.

I have seen this before by homeowners, but by a deck specialist I am surprised. It is never a good idea to fasten deck boards with brad nails and I doubt that it is approved by the manufacture, so you can wave good bye to any warranty. It is always best to stick to the manufactures recommended installation instructions on synthetic products.

So here we have finished the demo of the Trex and we just installed the Timber Tech Reliaboard decking. I was impressed with the Reliaboard it is a better product than I thought it to be, it held up pretty well to abuse it took to build the deck. I have to say they have improved on the product.

Here we just installed the vertical skirting with the two tiered fascia detail. Notice again it is now under the decking so the facia/rim joist seam is covered and the picture frame border acts as a drip edge. Also I much prefer the vertical skirting over the horizontal.

Here we just finish installing the Timber Tech builders railing with white deckorators balusters

deck builders in Michigan

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New decking products part 3

Hello ... We are a reviewing some of the new decking product for the upcoming 2011 season. Only a few more weeks until spring is here in Michigan, and the Metro detroit area deck and patio building season will start up for another year. Hopefully old man winter will agree on there being only a couple more weeks.

Deckorators one of our favorite companies has introduced a real neat "Duo" baluster connector. Here it is pictured with their aluminum kit rail. The picture shows the "Duo" connectors only on the top rail, but they can be used on the top and bottom rails.

They can also be used with any type of railing,wood or synthetic. They have a arched version that is used with the Classic and Colonial balusters, pictured on the left:

There is also a square version that is used with the Estate balusters. See on the right:

We use Deckorators metal balusters on almost all of the decks we build so we are really excited about the

"Duo" baluster connectors.

Trex has introduced two new colors to their cap-layer composite decking line Transcends. The two new colors mimic the look of a tropical hardwood which has been the hot thing in decking for last few years. The new colors are Lava Rock and Spiced Rum. I cannot get any pictures from their site so here a link to their site - Trex Transcends Colors

Both Deckorators and Trex have came out with their own low voltage light lines. Which is another hot thing right now in outdoor living / deck construction.

Deckorators Lighting

Trex Lighting

We are deck & patio builders in Metro Detroit and throughout Southeastern Michigan.  Next week we will take a look a Azek products 

Thanks for reading !

New products for 2011

Hello again ... Well it is the first week in February and winter still has not let up and being a deck builder in Michigan we are looking forward to spring time and the construction season to begin. With that being said, spring is sure to be  busy so now while we have a little time we will review the 2011 new products 

Last week we reviewed the new line of decking from Timber Tech - Evolutions, this week we are going review the rest of the new products from Timber Tech.

Timber Tech Radiance rail will have two new colors this year, Traditional Walnut and Antique White. The walnut color looks like it will go with the new Evolutions line and the Antique white is a cream or off white color that could go with just about everything, It is not as bright as the original white Radiance rail color. I like both colors and I can see alot of homeowners liking the new colors.

Also new this year in the Radiance rail is the mix and match option, the Radiance rail balusters will be packaged separate from the top and bottom rails. This allows for two tone railing options or you can just buy the top and bottom rails and install you own balusters such as Deckorators or Fortress

Timber Tech has its own screw system out now called Toploc, Which is a screw system for the Reliaboard decking that is face screwed. They also have a unique fascia screw that comes with a countersink bit that allows for expansion and contraction of the fascia to prevent oil canning.

Timber Tech XLM has two new colors this year. Harvest Bronze which is actually a replacement for the original XLM Desert Bronze color, it is a light brown color with black streaking to look like a Tropical hardwood. Harbor Stone is the other new color that is a Grey weathered wood looking color with the black streaking. Rustic Bark is not a new color, it came out at the end of last year and it is a darker brown color. The XLM line is suppose to be coming out with another color sometime this season also.

I think that about covers it , Big thanks goes out to Timber Tech for all their hard work they put into product development.

Thanks for reading ... AutumnWood ~ Deck builders in Michigan  

Getting ready for spring... New deck products for 2011

We just got back from a Timber Tech deck clinic at a local lumberyard - Dillman & Upton they are going to stock only Timber Tech for their synthetic decking this year.

You could feel a little excitement in the presentation of their new products and product line. One of Timber Tech's product designers did the presentation and he did a great job. Even one of the owners was there to answer questions
Big thanks to Dillman and Upton for the clinic

I have to give all the credit to Timber Tech for their product development and their broad product line, they have just about everything imaginable in synthetic decking, and it is A+ top quality.

Just for a little back ground from what I know of Timber Tech. They are owned by Crane plastics who is one largest and oldest vinyl/plastics company that makes vinyl products for windows and siding and much more.

Timber Tech is the second largest and second oldest synthetic decking manufactures in the world, which makes for a very secure company, in a very volatile market, synthetic companies come and go every year it seems.

Timber Tech has a new cap layer composite line out called Evolutions. The line is a revamp of their Earthwood product line that was very popular a few years ago. They have kept the same or similar look/colors of the Earthwood line except the Evolution has the Cap layer protection over the old composite core. This is a major evolution of the Earthwood line, giving the composite a much more durable cover or cap layer.

I am a big believer in the Cap layer composite product. We have used Correct Deck CX for quite a few years and have not had any call backs ! GAF has since bought Correct Deck out and In my opinion ruined the company by changing the name, and not progressing with Correct Deck and going backwards by developing a first generation composite.

We have always liked Timber Tech because of their original more dense composite product. They again have always been the most innovative in the synthetic decking business. After the original Twin Finish and Floorizon lines, They came out with the XLM PVC line which is still a really great product, and could still be considered the best deck boards on the market.  They also have the very best kit railing on the market,  Radiance rail, and now they have the Evolutions line.

In the last two years both Trex and Fiberon have introduced cap lay composites into the synthetic decking market. One thing I want to say here and it is just my opinion. There are four big players in the synthetic decking market, Trex, Timber Tech, Azek, and Fiberon.

Any other synthetic decking product manufactures I would becareful with, because of the volatility of the small companies which seem to fold just as quickly as they start. The problem is you the home owner could be stuck with no warranty and a suspect product with no recourse.  Where the big four have gotten over the hump and established themselves as fixtures in the synthetic decking business

Back to the topic

Timber Tech Evolutions 

Has three colors all which have dark colored streaking, which is trying to mimic the look of South American hardwood decking and flooring,  such as Ipe, Tigerwood, Teak, or Mahogany  

Pacific Teak

 Pacific Walnut

Pacific Rosewood

The cap layer composite technology might be they best synthetic decking product.

It differently has some pluses over PVC

1) Less shrinking & expansion

2) Stronger than PVC

3) Better at UV protection

4) Green friendly using recycled raw materials in its formula instead of PVC which uses all virgin materials

 

Timber Tech waited to introduce Evolutions until they had completely tested their cap layer product and had a full line of matching trim boards. Lets hope that is the same for the other newer cap layer products especially in the testing. 

Evolutions looks to be the best of the bunch !

Next we will look at the rest of the new Timber Tech products for 2011

Thanks for reading

Chesterfield Twp. MI New cedar deck

Hello again,  Well it is a new year and winter is in full force here in Michigan. It has been high temps. average 10-15 degrees the last few days, not much fun.

We have been remodeling two bathrooms, so thank God for inside work !

 Anyway back to reviewing our summer projects from last year.

This cedar deck we built was on a new home, and is a very simple design to keep it within the customers budget.

Here is the design
A basic 12x16 square cedar deck

1. On the first day of construction We start by notching the 6x6 support posts to receive the 2x10 beams.  There will be two 1/2" thru carriage bolts connecting each post/beam connection. From there we set the joists on top of the beams, since it is a free standing deck we do not attach the ledger board to the house. This is because of the cantilevered bay, which according to the code a deck cannot attach to a cantilevered bay.

 Here we are working on the stairs, installing the two tiered stepped fascia, and the 4x4 rail posts.

 Some final pictures with the stairs and railings completed

 Our railings is a typical builders rail with 2x4 top and bottom rails, 3/4 round deckorators metal balusters. and a 5/4 deck board railing cap. This is our standard railing for wood decks. On this project everything is in cedar wood

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