Home Remodeling & Construction Blog

For a great part of the year your family will enjoy living outdoors. Cooking on the BBQ, sipping coffee on the porch swing, sunbathing, reading the latest summer blockbuster and playing in the sandbox are all common family activities. But none of this relaxation and luxury outdoor living would be possible without your Northern Virginia deck. Make the most of this excellent space with these top three tips.

Design and Decorate the Space

Just as you would add things you love to your indoor space, don’t be afraid to personalize your deck. Furniture and accessories should be well chosen to reflect your tastes and the needs of your family. Hang durable, outdoor art work on the walls, purchase outdoor rugs for a splash of color and include plenty of gardens and flower pots.

If your Northern Virginia deck is large enough consider designing different rooms. The layout could include a kitchen space with your grill and prep area, as well as a dining room with the patio set and some additional storage. Perhaps you could include a secluded niche in one corner for more private moments. Talk to a local contractor about an extension if your deck isn’t large enough to suit your needs.

Invest in Quality

The decking,  furniture and furnishings that make up your outdoor living space will need to be durable. Weather is constantly wearing and if you do not invest in quality brands you will soon need to think about replacements. Remember that although a well made and durable product may be more expensive initially, the longevity and reliability will likely pay off in the end. Invest in what you love and the price tag will mean very little.

Choose materials that are built for outdoor use and protect them as best you can with covers and protective coatings, as applicable. You can liven up the outdoor space with tropical plants and other items more suited to the indoors, but be sure to bring them in once the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Think About Maintenance

One of the major differences between indoor and outdoor living is maintenance. While you do need to regularly maintain the inside of your home, the outside may require a bit more elbow grease as a result of exposure.

It’s best to consider what level of maintenance you are comfortable with. If you don’t mind staining the decking or furniture on a regular basis, then by all means invest in those products that require it. But if you would rather not look at composite and vinyl decking, as well as powder coated aluminum deck accessories and furniture.

Low maintenance fabrics that resistant fading, mold and mildew are often best for umbrellas, furniture covers and other soft furnishings. Investigate the maintenance required for each part of your outdoor living space and decide whether that fits into your work level preferences.

Your Northern Virginia deck can become a hot spot for entertaining, relaxation and casual life. With the right decorating and design, quality materials and a maintenance level you can handle, outdoor living will be better than you ever dreamed.

There are many different factors to take into consideration when choosing materials for an outdoor project. Your Northern Virginia deck will be exposed to the wind, rain and sleet. It will also get a certain amount of sun, depending on whether your home faces north, south, east or west. Your budget, tastes and lifestyle will also come into play when making this important decision. What are your options and how can you make the best possible choice in deck materials?

Pressure Treated Wood

One of the most popular options available for exterior wood projects, pressure treated wood has a variety of benefits. It is virtually maintenance free, thanks to a chemical treatment embedded deeply in the lumber that offers lifetime protection against rot and pests. But the green tinge of this wood will eventually turn grey. For a burst of color or to match your outdoor décor, pressure treated wood can be stained with specially formulated products available at leading building supply stores.

Pressure treated wood decks are the most affordable option and can be designed to suit nearly any landscape. In fact, whichever material is chosen for the deck board, railing and accessories, the frame of your Northern Virginia deck will be constructed out of pressure treat simply because of the durability and strength this product offers.

Cedar Wood

Cedar is another option for those who love the feel and charm of a wood deck. Tannins in this lumber make it naturally rot resistant for decades, although it will require annual maintenance to retain the warm beauty.

Cedar decks need to be washed and stained at least every other year (depending on the exposure and traffic). If you do not enjoy outdoor tasks or tedious jobs, this is not likely to be the deck material for you. Hiring a painting company to refinish your backyard deck will cost a few hundred dollars, but many find that the time and effort saved is well worth the money.

Composite Decking

There are a variety of composite decking products on the market today. Most of them are made from a mixture of vinyl or plastics and wood by-products (fibers, sawdust, etc.). This composition allows them to echo the texture of wood while providing the durability and maintenance free features of plastic. There are a few different colors available, mostly in the brown and grey tones.

Composite deck boards are available in both extruded (with a hollow interior) and solid forms. They may or may not have a groove down each side for use with hidden fastener systems. It’s worth noting that specialty screws are required when fastening composite products. These fasteners are designed to avoid the mushroom effect that mars the surface and appearance of this type of board. They are also color coded for a nicer finish.

Vinyl Decking

Another maintenance free choice that is likely the most expensive option, vinyl decking will provide a lifetime of dependability. Available in white, tan and grey, vinyl deck boards are hollow and most often attached with a clip system. A textured finish on the top prevents slipping and thicker vinyl has greatly reduced any squeaking. Vinyl is cool to the touch no matter the weather and looks especially attractive on front porches.

You also have the option of choosing aluminum or tempered glass for the railing on your Northern Virginia deck. All of these materials provide a comfortable, attractive structure that will compliment your home and lifestyle for years. Work with your deck contractor to choose the materials that best suit your family.

The DIY industry is in full bloom. Thanks to the Great Recession, a bombardment of DIY shows and the prevalence of big box building supply stores, homeowners all across the continent are attempting to complete projects they have only dreamed about before. And although this trend is excellent for handy homeowners, there are certain structures and tasks best left to the trained professionals. In the backyard, for instance, you are much wiser to hire a Northern Virginia deck contractor to build that dream deck.

If you’re wondering why, there are a few different reasons for hiring an experienced professional to build a deck.

Basic or Beautiful?

Decks come in almost any shape and size. They can be designed as a relatively simple platform to place your BBQ, some patio chairs and a pot of flowers. Or they can be much more elaborate, designed as a true extension of your living space. The former example may be possible to build yourself, but the latter is really not the job for an amateur.

The things that will truly set your deck apart as a backyard oasis – as opposed to simply a space in the yard – are the fine details and customized touches. Privacy screens, planter boxes, angled deck boards and closed in stairs are all carefully crafted details that are both time consuming and difficult for those who do not have the experience. DIY enthusiasts can certainly nail together the framing and bang on the deck boards, but it is the elements included beyond those that will make a difference to the space.

Save Time and Money

It only makes sense that a Northern Virginia deck contractor would be able to build a deck much faster than the average homeowner could. But that speed will make more of a difference than you think. When pressure treated wood is exposed to the heat of the sun it dries out (even when it has been kiln dried beforehand). This results in checking, which is the industry standard for the cracking, splitting and twisting that the lumber will naturally do once it leaves the lumber yard.

The longer you take to put together the elements of your deck, the better chance there is that key pieces will warp, twist and split to a point where they are unusable. This is often seen on railing posts left without the railing sections installed. They will twist within a short time, leaving you with an unpleasant appearance and in extreme cases, a post that needs to be replaced before the railing will even go on properly.

The speed of a professional deck contractor also means that your family will get to enjoy the backyard structure much more this season. No more waiting for mom or dad to complete the project, stepping gingerly over a half finished surface. The most experienced professionals can be in and out of your yard in a short period of time, leaving behind an extremely well built structure you can enjoy right away.

It may also save you money to hire a contractor. If you have to take time off work, that will likely cost you. It can get expensive to rent tools and pay for the meals and drinks of friends who have come to help out. When you add up all of the actual costs incurred when a Northern Virginia deck is DIY-ed, you may be shocked at how close the two prices are. By hiring a contractor you can look forward to a more stylish, customized deck that is built properly and quickly. When they discover that hiring the pros costs only a small percentage more many homeowners jump at the chance to leave their own tools in the basement and let the experts handle building their backyard dream.

There are a few designs where stairs are unnecessary, but the majority of decks will require and in fact, function better with stairs. There are tricks and tips to stair design that will make your Northern Virginia deck much more usable, attractive and safe for family and friends of all ages.

Following Building Codes

Deck stairs need to comply with state building codes in every situation. The code lays out the minimum and maximum measurements allowed for the rise (height) and run (tread depth) of each step. The 2×12 stair stringers are also required, allowing for the minimum 5 inch width of the cut stringers.

Any railing on your stairs must also meet code, including the total height, size of pickets, spacing of posts and pickets and the height off the stair tread. Guardrails have a separate and detailed code that applies, including the proper fastening method, size and shape of the guardrail and post spacing.

All of these specifications have been carefully calculated to provide the optimum levels of safety. Most premade stair railings available at building supply stores are built to code and professional decking contractors make a practice of designing deck stairs to follow code.

Traffic Flow

The size and placement of your deck stairs are also important factors. Stairs need to be built wide enough for an adult to travel comfortably and safely up and down. Generally stairs are not built less than 3 feet wide and wider stairs often create better traffic flow. When building stairs off of a walkout deck (more than 5 feet off of the ground), most people find 48 inches to be a good width.

Design your stairs to be in the line of traffic, but not in the way of your view. You can build extra wide or wraparound steps to compromise between both a good view and decent traffic. This will work well on decks less than 3 feet off the ground, providing a view that is clear of railings and allows for stairs in any direction. Multiple stringers are required and often guardrails or handrails can be installed for safety.

Where the Stairs End

Deck designers need to take the bottom of the stairs into account on walkout decks. A long stretch of 13 rise steps will spill out quite a distance from the deck and is not a good option for smaller yards. In that case a landing can be put to good use to turn the stairs any angle from 45 to 180 degrees.

Be sure that any landings are built large enough to accommodate the stairs on either end. You can also use landings to connect narrow stairs to a wider set or vice versa. Landings must be built using the same building codes that apply to decks.

Stairs are required on your Northern Virginia deck to provide a path into the yard. They are also useful for directing traffic and can even provide impromptu seating. Be sure they are built to code and designed for a comfortable width. Use landings where necessary to change the direction of the stairway and control where the stairs spill into the yard. Well designed stairs will compliment a well designed deck perfectly.