Creative Decks

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Framingham, MA

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Decks

Metrowest Best Front Entry Deck Styles

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Putting a new deck on your house is like choosing a new pair of glasses. You want to make sure everything looks good. It’s important to have a front entry deck that’s well-built and that compliments the style of your house. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about choosing the best front entry deck style for your Metrowest home:

Don’t Be Afraid of Color: The reason front entry decks have traditionally been dark or neutral colors is because decks have traditionally been made out of wood, and keeping a painted wooden finish looking good in the Metrowest area’s four seasons of weather is a very labor intensive process. Today, you can choose composite decking for your front entry deck and enjoy gorgeous color that needs no maintenance. This opens up a whole range of possibilities for the creative homeowner.

Design Makes a Difference: Creative deck design amplifies the original visual impression your home makes. Home aesthetics can range from the very traditional to futuristic. Your deck designer can create a deck that’s perfectly in alignment, making it look like the deck had always been part of your home. Creative deck design incorporates your passions into front entry decks with individualized features, built in planters, and more.

Front Entry Deck Steps: Every entranceway should be well-built, secure, and easy to use, especially for the people who live in the home. The best front entrance deck styles incorporate accessibility seamlessly into the design, with custom built ramps, strong handrails, and other features positioned as needed. Lighting also makes front entry decks safer and is an important part of deck design.

Let Your Personality Shine: When people come to your home, they’re coming to see you. The best front entry deck styles convey some sense of your family’s unique personality and style. Your front entry deck doesn’t have to look like everybody else’s: it’s your home.

Top Outdoor Living Home Improvement Projects in Framingham MA

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Country Living Magazine recently identified 8 outdoor living trends you’ll want to know about. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with these trends before you meet with your Framingham home improvement company – that way you’ll know exactly what features you want to have built to order!

Trend #1: Bringing the Indoors Outside: Forget about uncomfortable lawn furniture. A spacious deck is the perfect setting for full size couches, comfortable chairs, coffee tables and other furniture that normally resides inside. Choose weather-proof fabrics and pieces of furniture that are heavy enough to stand up to a stiff wind without difficulty.

Trend #2: Cool Coastal Colors: Life in Framingham isn’t exactly beach front living, but you can be perfectly on trend by choosing sea-scape colors for your porch and patio decor. Talk to your Framingham home improvement company about having your deck built out of composite or PVC: there are so many colors to choose from, including the cool nautical blues that are this season’s hottest look.

Trend #3: Flowers, Flowers Everywhere: Do you have a green thumb? Have flower boxes and planters built into your new deck. These green features can be used for ornamental flowers – always stylish – or be part of the hyper local food movement and grow your own fruits and vegetables. Strawberries grow well in containers as do tomatoes, cucumbers, and other garden favorites. Do you kill plants just by looking at them? You can still embrace the flower theme with decorate elements – incorporate a floral motif into cushion and pillow fabrics or use colorful flower outdoor wall art.

Trend #4: Cooking Outdoors: Porches and decks are great spaces for entertaining. Have your Framingham home improvement company add an outdoor kitchen feature, which can include a grill, cook top, or other cooking center, as well as refrigeration and clean up sinks, to your existing deck or build one new. Also popular: outdoor kitchens that are in free-standing gazebos, a little away from the house – great if you’re into smoking meats or doing serious bbq!

Upgrade Your Deck Railing & Porch Stairs

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“You hear about kitchens and bathooms getting dated, but I never really thought about our deck,” Frank said. “But our son’s high school graduation is coming up fast, and we’re planning on having a big party. So I went out and looked at our deck with a critical eye, and let’s just say you can tell it was built fifteen years ago.”

While the overall structure of Frank’s deck was solid – a benefit of choosing composite decking – the deck railing was looking rough. “My son’s a big guy, and he has a habit of leaning up against the railing looking at his phone. That’s why it’s all bowed out here.” Another portion of the deck railing was damaged during the heavy snows Western Massachusetts experienced a few years ago.

“I didn’t want to just replace what we had,” Frank said. “So I talked to our Massachusetts deck builders to see what they recommended that would look better.” The creative deck design team came to Frank with a number of options, including a contemporary cable-style railing and traditional more decorative balustrade. “My wife and I enjoyed looking at the various choices. It took a little while to decide which one was our favorite, but once we did, we agreed with the deck builders that our deck steps could use some attention as well.”

Steps are the most heavily trafficked area on any deck. “We have teenagers and dogs,” Frank explained, “and neither group is particularly careful. The steps were beginning to bow in the middle, and the edges were worn. Since we were having the deck railing updated anyway, we decided to have the porch steps replaced at the same time.” Frank chose to have the new deck stairs built out of composite material. “The deck has held up so well, it makes sense for the porch steps to be made of the same material.”

How To Design The Deck of Your Dreams

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“I knew I was going to have to have professionals come in and build a deck on my Framingham home,” Elizabeth said. “But I thought I could save some money and be more involved in the process by designing my deck myself. So I got out my graph paper and my pencil and I sat down to start drawing plans – that’s when I realized I didn’t know where to start!”

As Framingham deck builders, we’re absolutely thrilled to work with clients through the design process. You don’t need to have an architectural degree to do the preliminary work of envisioning and creating your deck. We would never expect a client to come to us with a fully rendered blueprint of their dream deck, so don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. Instead, begin at the beginning with the following deck design tasks:

Inspiration Gathering: Collect images of decks and deck features you do like. This collection can include pictures you take yourself, as well as pictures you find in home design magazines and online. Pinterest is a great social media platform for collecting and curating images – there’s an app you can install on your phone in case you’re dreaming about your new deck on lunch hour!

Concept Sketches: Concept sketches are rough pictures of your dream deck. It’s totally okay to just draw part of your deck. If you’re very clear on what you want an outdoor kitchen feature to look like, or you know how you’d like your built in seating to work, sketch it to the best of your ability. Don’t worry about putting all of the pieces together – that comes later, in the development of a preliminary plan.

Colors, fabrics & finishes: Interior designers often create swatch books showcasing paint chips, fabrics, and other finishes that will be featured in a room. This helps make sure everything in the room goes together in a pleasing fashion. Think about what decking color, outdoor furniture finish and fabrics, and other visual accent colors you’d like to have on your porch. Collect images with the appropriate colors on a Pinterest board – this will make selection and shopping easier later.

Summer’s Starting: Is Your Deck Ready?

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Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer. How well is your deck working out for you? The first gathering of the season can reveal the problems with your deck that you’ve been ignoring – things like uneven porch steps, deck railings that aren’t exactly secure, and the fact that there’s just not enough space for everyone to relax and have fun.

You don’t have to suffer with a substandard deck all summer. If you act now and connect with your Framingham deck builders, there’s plenty of time to get a great deck put on that has every feature you want. Think how awesome it would be to have a deck with enough space for everyone. Built in seating can include storage for kids’ toys. Outdoor kitchen features can include grilling stations and refrigerators strategically positioned to hold your favorite adult beverages.

Love relaxing next to the fire? Your Framingham deck builders can incorporate fire features into your new deck design. Some fire features are built in while others are units that rest on the surface of your deck: choose the fire feature that’s right for your family’s need and budget. We can assure you that Smores prepared with marshmallows toasted on your deck are the superior version of the summer snack classic – but you don’t have to take our word for it. Try it for yourself and see!

The nice thing about having a deck built now is you have the option to choose PVC or composite decking. These decking materials simply didn’t exist even one generation ago. Now you can have a colorful deck that won’t warp, that insects have 0% interest in snacking on, that resists mold and mildew, and that requires no maintenance. Now we don’t know about you, but no maintenance sounds like a recipe for easy summer living!

Laying on the Deck, Getting a Tan: Life’s Simple Pleasures

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Summer is getting closer every day. It’s time to start thinking about how you’ll be spending those wonderfully warm, sunny days. Many of life’s simple pleasures like laying out on the deck getting a tan or curling up with a good book and a tall glass of iced tea take place in the summer – especially in Framingham, where the skies are exceptionally blue and there’s a pretty view in almost every direction.

Another simple pleasure is enjoying a fire. Summer is the ideal time to gather with friends around a fire and catch up – we all live such busy lives, it’s really a treat to spend time together. Kids love toasting marshmallows. Your deck builder in Framingham, MA can incorporate a fire feature into your deck design, or you can choose a self contained unit that’s designed to sit on your deck and safely contain a small fire. It’s a good idea to make sure there’s a fire extinguisher positioned on your deck – safety first!

Is there anything better than a burger cooked on the grill? BBQ fans love having everything they need to whip up a great meal easily accessible on the deck. Outdoor kitchens run the gamut from the bare-bones basics to luxurious grill stations even a professional chef would love. Your Framingham, MA deck builder can incorporate refrigeration, running water, and more into your deck design – just let them know what you’d like to have, and they’ll make it happen.

Sleeping under the stars is a simple pleasure. Kids love staying outdoors late at night: it’s a chance to count the stars and try to spot fireflies blinking on and off in the yard. Set up the sleeping bags: if bugs are an issue, consider a screened-in porch for sleeping quarters. You get all of the fun of being outdoors without aggravating mosquito bites!