Who are the Best Deck Builders in Oakville?
What do you want in a deck builder in Oakville? Do you want a trustworthy and honest builder that will treat your home like their own? Would you like a magazine quality design? How about a deck that looks much the same 10 years later than it did when it was built? Would it be nice if the deck was designed to last 30-50 years? Yes, we can help. We want to show you why we are the best deck builders in Oakville and Mississauga.
When speaking to deck builders in Oakville and Mississauga your experience will vary. We are one of the deck builders, however, we are also professional designers. Our designers will teach the secrets of building high quality and long-lasting decks. By learning a few finer points of building decks–you can ask the “Right” questions of the deck builders you meet with. This is because, to let you in on a secret, most deck builders don’t have a clue about building decks to last.
See some of our work in Mississauga and Oakville:
Deck Designers in Oakville
Deck design is a specialized profession. Our deck designers work in the Oakville and Mississauga Areas. It is one of our favorite areas because people here have good taste! High property prices mean an opportunity to design showpiece decks for people that understand the value.
Good design doesn’t just mean a pretty picture when it is new. Our deck designers have 30 years of experience creating decks with function and looks. We rarely do trendy–since what we build will be there for 30-40 years. We want our decks to look good 30 years from now and age gracefully.
If you want unique and inspired deck designs, we are your source in Oakville and Mississauga.
Long Lasting Deck Builders in Mississauga (Secrets)
Deck builders are often not carpenters. Will they build a deck that is level and square? We partnered with one of the largest companies in North America and quickly found that their crews could not build a flat deck. This company refused to formalize training. The builders were missing basic carpentry training. These big deck builders would transition people from loading trucks to deck building in a year. The inexperienced builder would be paired with another builder and hope they learned what they needed to know. Since 80% of their projects have warranty issues, it seems to be a poor strategy.
About 80% of deck companies are building deck frames that can be expected to last about 10-15 years. These decks are actually built to code. Code was developed for homes, which have a roof. That worked fine with previous incarnations of pressure-treated lumber, but the newest eco-friendly version just doesn’t last as long. We are seeing 5-year-old decks with rotten main beams of late.
Stairs are a weak point in most decks. The new materials require an 8-10″ o.c. spacing between supports. This is far beyond code– but when you cut stringers for stairs you open up the untreated grain. If that grain is not sealed effectively, the stair structure will only last a few years.
There are many other ways that decks fail prematurely in Mississauga. Ask our designers to fill you in if you are interested.
Oakville’s Best Deck Company
We know most of the other established deck builders in Oakville so we can say we are the best deck company in town. Don’t be fooled by shiny showrooms– You are the one that will pay for it. Gardenstructure.com designed many of the projects they currently show off.
Many of these companies utilize low-cost subcontractors and have huge overhead. Their managers have no actual deck building experience are not up to the task of building well. Companies like “The Deck Store” and “Hickory Dickory Decks” are at best tract builders. Every project they build has to be fixed. Detailing is simplified and to minimum standards.
Wouldn’t you rather deal with a prideful builder that builds one deck at a time? We think that those big builder’s days are numbered. Putting business ahead of design and build quality is a mistake. People are getting wise to those high-pressure sales.
Cheap Chinese Decking in Mississauga at a Premium Price
The new trend among deck builders in Mississauga and Oakville is to be everything to everybody. They are builders, retailers, and even the decking company. They import rails and decking direct from China, and sell everything at a premium price.
Products need testing and engineering so ask for that information. Many of these products have no CCMC approvals for Canada, they use the CCMC from other established products like AZEK. If the Mississauga building department clues in during the build, you may have to replace all your decking. Ask the country of origin for the product they will use. Chinese products should have Canadian testing for toxic constituents before they cut a board since they often contain banned substances.
Chinese decking products will not have a warranty worth anything and you will be bound to sue your builder if anything goes wrong.
The other trend is importing lumber from China. Three cedar decking types are sold in Canada. Eastern White Cedar, Western Red Cedar, and Chinese Cedar. Eastern White Cedar lasts 5 or 10 years outdoors and is not as strong as Western Red Cedar. Western Red Cedar lasts 15-30 years outdoors, longer if well detailed.
CHINESE CEDAR is a type of Fir. They dip it in stain to make it look just like Western Red Cedar, and within a year or so it turns black. I am not sure how long it will last, but my bet is that it will rot in less than 10 years. To be candid, I have a hard time telling it from the real red cedar– you as a homeowner will not be able to tell, until it ages or you cut into it to determine by smell.
