Creative Decks

Your Outdoor Living Specialist

"Design Drawings and Construction Plans"

Framingham, MA

508-877-1060

NEWSROOM

Decorating the Holiday Deck

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“John really surprised me by having this deck added to our Framingham home last year,” Melinda said. “This is the first year I’ve been able to decorate it for the holidays, and I’m so excited.”

Decorating a new deck for the holidays is a lot of fun. Here are some tips from your Framingham deck builders to keep everyone happy and healthy throughout the process:

Inspect your lights before you hang them: Older light sets can get very hot, and faulty sets present a fire hazard. Inspect all strands of lights end to end before hanging them. Any breaks, nicks, or frays in the wiring means your set needs to be repaired or replaced. When choosing replacement holiday lights, opt for today’s modern, cooler LEDs. Not only are they bright and colorful, they are safer and use much less energy than traditional light sets.

Make sure to keep stairways and entranceways clear. While putting a basket of holiday color on the stairs may look cute, it is actually an obstacle that could be problematic for anyone who is young, balance challenged, or has vision issues who tries to get into your house. And once the snow starts falling, having items on the stairs makes it difficult to shovel them easily.

Use outdoor rated extension cords for lighted decorations including inflatables, animated decorations and more. Winter in Framingham is cold and wet. You don’t want indoor rated extension cords connected to your holiday decorations. Outdoor rated extension cords cost slightly more, but they are exponentially safer and more durable.

Don’t forget to have fun decorating your Framingham deck. If dressing your deck for the holidays becomes a huge chore, you won’t want to do it. Involve the entire family and make an afternoon out of it. Take plenty of pictures – especially of your layout. That way if you want to recreate the same look next year, you’ll have records!

Thanksgiving Proved We Need More Space!

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“So I have spent three months telling my kids that I wanted everyone here for Thanksgiving,” Erin said. “And amazingly, everyone listened. They all drove out to Framingham – my four kids, their spouses or partners, and their kids. I turned around twice and suddenly, there were 23 people in my house. It never felt small before, but it was wonderful.” The rest of the family had a great time as well, promising Erin that they’ll be back next year. “Do you know what that means?” Erin asked. “I have a year to add more space to my house.”

Among the most popular home improvements in Framingham are those that add more space to the home. Adding on a room is a popular option, as is having a custom deck added. Both of these solutions can prove to be useful when things get crowded during holiday gatherings and other family fun. “When everyone’s in the house, it can get a little warm,” Erin said. “So if we add a deck with a screened in area over on one side, there will be enough space to get outdoors comfortably.” The screened in area is ideal for containing grandchildren, some of whom are still young enough that they have a hard time staying in the yard. “You don’t want anyone running out in the road here, that’s for sure!” Erin said. “I really like the idea of customizing a deck plan with my family in mind. If we didn’t have the little ones coming over, maybe we’d do things differently. But they are coming over, so I want to make sure things are safe and fun for them.”

Now is a great time to begin the planning process for spring home improvement projects for your home. To find out what’s involved, including a frank, reliable conversation about costs and timelines, get in touch. We’d be happy to answer all of your questions.

Why PVC Decks Are Awesome

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Once you’ve decided you want to add a deck to your Framingham home, you get to make a choice. You can have your new deck built of wood, composite, or PVC. All three are great options and can add to the beauty of your home. The choice of building material does have an impact on the lifespan and cost of your new deck, as well as how much maintenance you’ll have to do to keep your deck looking great. With that in mind, this week we’re going to talk about what makes PVC decks awesome.

Awesome point number one: PVC decks do not fade when exposed to sunlight. You know what the summer is like here in Framingham. The sun can be absolutely brutal, especially if we have a long stretch of dry days. Sunbleaching is a thing that happens – but not if you choose PVC decking. The color stays strong and true. When you choose PVC decking, you know your deck will look just as good ten years from now as it does right now.

Mold resistance is a key benefit of choosing PVC decking. Wood is wonderful, but wood rots. If you know moisture is an issue in or around your home, it makes sense to go with PVC decking. PVC is made of 100% plastic and contains absolutely no wood. This means PVC doesn’t rot when exposed to water. It also means aggravating pests like termites and carpenter ants won’t mess with your new deck!

Finally, PVC decks are awesome because you don’t have to do any special maintenance to keep them looking great. No painting, no staining, no sanding, no giving up your one free weekend to deal with the deck. Instead of working on your deck, you get to actually relax and enjoy it – and isn’t that the entire point?

Choosing Rails for Your New Deck

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Decks have to be both functional and beautiful. Outdoor living spaces are, by their very nature, outdoors for all the world to see. In today’s world, curb appeal matters. Your deck should enhance the appearance of your home, acting almost like the building’s jewelry: a statement of your personal style and taste.

Choosing rails for your new deck can be one of the most fun parts of the process. If you’ve chosen to have a composite deck built, be aware that there are certainly rail options available beyond the classic post and rail configuration. If you’ve chosen to have your Framingham deck builders work with wood, there are countless rail styles available. Be aware that all deck rails must meet strength and spacing requirements; local building regulations require rails to be positioned so a small child’s head could not become trapped. This is a very important safety rule.

Cable and clear glass deck rails are becoming increasingly popular, particularly as Framingham does have some very lovely views that shouldn’t be missed. The cable deck rail look works well on homes with that classic Cape Cod aesthetic of relaxed nautical elegance, as well as those decks that are designed with a classic contemporary look. Glass deck rails manage to work exquisitely on both modern design homes and homes built to have more of a country feel.

When choosing deck rails, consider other features on your home, such as window frames, shutters, trim boards and more. Choosing rails that have a similar aesthetic and design lines as other home features helps create a pleasing visual symmetry that helps make the deck look like it’s always been part of your home.

Rail maintenance is a concern for many homeowners. Depending on the finishing choices you make, wood rails will need some attention on a yearly basis, but should last for many years; composite deck railings last just as long but require only periodic hosing off in terms of maintenance.

Composite Decking: All The Joy, None of the Work

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A great deck is one of life’s sublime joys. But the traditional deck, even those that are built of pressure-treated wood, does take a lot of work to stay looking good. This is particularly true in Framingham, where we’re regularly treated to four distinct extreme weather seasons. Heavy snow in winter and blistering heat in the summer can really damage traditional wooden decks. Boards dry, split, splinter and bend in these conditions, leaving you with a deck that looks terrible and is potentially unsafe.

Luckily, man is an ingenious creature. We use technology to create alternative building materials that perform better than the traditional options. Way back in the 1980’s, people began experimenting with plastic decking materials. These first early decks looked wood – kind of – and they did stand up to rain and moisture better than wood. Sun exposure and sub-zero temperatures proved to still be problematic, however, sending those early inventors back to the drawing board in search of a better solution.

The industry has learned a lot about how to recycle plastic so it’s durable, attractive, and easy to work with. The result is today’s composite decking, which beautifies homes while helping the Earth. Now there are so many aesthetic options: you can choose composite decking that looks like gorgeous cedar or redwood without damaging a single tree!

Best of all composite decking gives homeowners what they really want: a break from maintenance chores. Composite decks never have to be sealed, sanded or refinished. There are no worries about the sun warping the boards or heavy snow causing them to break. Composite decks are strong enough to support your family, furniture, plantings, barbecues and anything else you’d normally keep on a deck. All it takes to keep everything looking great is an occasional power washing, freeing you up to really enjoy your home.

Why A Custom Deck?

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“When we first started looking at having a deck built, one of my co-workers recommended this guy she worked with,” AnneMarie said. “So I thought fine, we’ll check this guy out and if his prices are reasonable, we’ll go with him.” She shook her head. “The experience wasn’t anything like what I’d expected. I had some ideas in mind that are kind of specific to my family – the outdoor kitchen is important, considering how much entertaining we do – and specific to our property, which slopes at quite an angle. This guy didn’t want to hear any of it. He had some pictures of all the decks he’s built, and they all looked the same to me – same style, same layout, same basic stairs. I knew he wasn’t right for us.”

One of the reasons families choose to have a custom deck built in Framingham is the fact they have specific functionality requirements for their deck. They want to use their outdoor living space for a reason, whether that’s cooking and entertaining, relaxing, exercising, watching small children, or creating artwork. Someone who is serious about painting outdoors is going to want a very different space than someone who needs to keep three toddlers contained and content.

Another reason families choose custom decks is because they don’t want their house to look like everyone else’s house. Framingham is a special neighborhood in the blend of architectural styles found here. There are older homes side by side with newer construction; a knowing eye can see which homes were built at the same time by the same builder. When your home’s appearance is important to you and you want your home to stand out in a good way, choosing a custom deck is the only way to go. Designed and crafted to complement your home’s aesthetic, a custom deck is truly one of a kind.