You have been dreaming about this for years! Your neighbors have built a deck, your friends have built a deck, even your parents have built one! Now it’s your turn, and since you’ve waited so long, there’s no holding back. You want lights, stairs and fancy railings, something that’ll really make an impression.
You dive right into the deck building process. You start looking at materials and accessories. You want an exotic hardwood deck. You start pricing out how much your new dream deck will cost, but it seems to be a tad more than what you were planning to spend.
You start to research other options for decking materials. Composites are comparable with pricing and they promise a no maintenance, fade proof look. That sounds perfect! You get a material that costs less and you will have no maintenance, you decide to go for it.
Next, it’s time to pick a contractor. You make a few phone calls and you hire the guy who gave you the best rate. He arrives at your house for the meeting before the project begins. He’s accepted your material choices and design. You tell him you would like to save some money on installation, and he assures you he will provide you with a reasonable deck at a reasonable cost.
It’s been a year since the deck has been installed, and the material has started to crack and peel. You wanted to save a few bucks so the contractor you hired used nails to hold everything together. This poor installation has caused the boards to cup and pull up off the joist system. Nails aren’t even code with deck installation these days. You’ve tried calling him and he wont answer. The composite company wont honor your warranty because it was installed incorrectly.
Because of your greed of wanting to save a few bucks, you have cost yourself even more money. If you want to avoid a situation like this, do some research! Choose the right contractor. Make sure they’re reputable, can obtain the proper permits, and are licensed and insured.
Choose a material that is heavy duty. Advantage Ipe™ has been used in residential and commercial applications and has been proven to last 75+ years without any treatment. It looks gorgeous and with minimal maintenance it will look better in five years then your composite deck looked after a year.
It’s important to not cut costs because it could cause problems for you and your deck. Always do your research and make sure the project is done right the first time. Enjoy your deck, don’t be a slave to it.