Decking

Exterior Escapes LLC offers a large variety of decking products. In designing your new deck or renovating an existing one, we take into consideration a design that allows for traffic flow, the least waste of materials, space planning, and properly calculated loads and code complying building practices. Our decks are designed to meet your needs and lifestyle.  We understand building a better deck starts with the best materials.

Low Maintenance, High Quality Composite Decking

Exterior Escapes LLC is a TrexPro Gold Installer for Trex Decking! Trex is an industry leader in composite decking offering full product lines for your outdoor space.

TRANSCEND® COMPOSITE DECKING
Deck boards that outperform, outlast, and outdeck all others

ENHANCE® COMPOSITE DECKING
Trusted strength deck boards in three versatile colors

SELECT® COMPOSITE DECKING
Trex simplest high performing product offering.

What material to choose?

All wood decks are constructed with the highest quality lumber. Our standard decking boards are #1 Prime 5/4 MCA (or comparable) Pressure Treated Decking board that adds longevity and quality to your project. Depending on the railing style, #1 Prime MCA (or comparable) Pressure Treated or Kiln Dried lumber is also used in our standard wood decking to ensure sound support and aesthetic value. Exterior Escapes LLC strongly urges the use of screws for wood decking boards for a more durable hold. Screws are standard with Exterior Escapes LLC in our wood decking installations.

What types of wood options are available?

  • Kiln Dried (KDat) or Air Dried (ADat): wood dried in a kiln after being treated, it is a better grade of lumber due to warped boards being removed as they dry.  It has less instances of shrinking and warping due to being dry (“wet Pressure Treated” boards can warp during the drying process after installation)
  • Pressure Treated: “PT” Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) lumber is the most widely used and lowest cost of decking materials.  SYP is a “softer” wood but its treatment allows it to be termite and wood decay fungal resistant.  During the drying process, the intrinsic properties of pressure treated lumber (like twisting, warping, checking, cracking, etc.) are common.
  • Cedar: naturally rot resistant and a harder wood than pine, Cedar does require regular maintenance to maintain color but since it is not treated (less “wet”) is has less instances of warping so it will you will get a higher percentage of it staying straight and strong.

Hardwoods:

  • Redwood: This hardwood is naturally termite and rot resistant requires yearly maintenance to maintain color but stays very strong with a long lifespan.
  • Ipe (Brazilian Walnut), Tigerwood (Brazilian Koa), and Cumaru (Brazilian Teak): Like Redwood, these South American hardwoods are naturally termite and rot resistant and requires little maintenance to retain color, yearly recommended.

Wood Decking/Railing versus Composite Decking/Railing

There are pros and cons of the decking material to be used in the construction of your deck project to be considered. When deciding on your budget, consider the long-term budget which includes the maintenance involved with each type of material. Softwoods like SYP require the most maintenance and the longevity is limited. Hardwoods have a longer life expectancy but still require yearly maintenance. While composite decks will have a large initial investment, the product requires very little maintenance. Wood, even with all the different types available, are still wood and will require maintenance in the form of staining/sealing and eventual replacing boards damaged by the UV rays and general wear. After a period of time, costs of maintenance can make a wood deck more expensive than the initial cost of a composite deck.

Outside of budget, aesthetic value is another consideration. In our opinion, nothing can match the warmth and grain quality of wood; however, composites and PVC decking are frequently developing more options and have little maintenance.

Alternative Decking/Railing and Available Options

Today’s composites, Capstock Composites and PVC Decking materials are low maintenance alternatives to wood. These materials are superior to wood in water resistance, color retention, no rotting, no cracking, no splintering, resistance to mold/mildew, no paining/staining necessary and are stain resistant. Manufacturers offer a wide variety of colors and textures. At Exterior Escapes LLC, we stay with the “Big 3” as we know what are in these products and a reputable manufacturer is behind it.

Composites are made of wood and plastic products, mostly recycled products which makes it a “Green” product being more environmentally friendly. Once the materials are extruded the materials are mixed and formed through Compression Molding (extreme heat and pressure) to form the shape then cooled. Standard composite, first generation, are on the entry-level in terms of cost and more susceptible to staining and fading. Very few manufacturers produce standard composite decking as Capstock has become very popular for numerous reasons.

Capstock composites is a composite board with either half or whole board is laminated in a thin PVC (or similar) material which offers more durability against, stain and fade protection, more color varieties and textures, and better warranties for staining and fading. On a cost standpoint, it is more expensive than Composites but less than PVC Decking.

PVC decking is fast becoming popular as it does not contain any wood. It is a Polyvinyl Chloride product and is considered to be less maintenance and more fade and stain resistant that even Composite decking. Part of the durability is attributed to the color being throughout the board and not just on the laminated Capstock. PVC decking is the most expensive of the alternative decking options.

DECK LIGHTING

Light it up! Enjoy your deck well into the evening with deck lighting packages that enhance your decks best features! Recessed light, spot lighting, and accent lighting can change the entire look of your deck while adding safety and security. Each railing system has options so deck time doesn’t end when the sun goes down. We can make your deck glow throughout the night with built in ambiance. Lighting options include post caps, riser lights for stairs, accent lighting for posts and under rails, and recessed surface decking lights.

RAILING OPTIONS

Personalize your outdoor space with a variety of railing options designed to fit your style. Many styles, manufacturers and color options are available from traditional composite railings to cable rail systems and even glass! All systems have the same low-maintenance features of composite decking. Traditional systems include a 1-3/8” square composite baluster to a ¾” round aluminum. With a wide range of colors, railing choices can be mixed and matched to the decking of choice or to accent the home. The only difficult part is picking out the right railing system for you! An Exterior Escapes LLC Representative can review railing options with you and help you decide the best deck accents.

If you are like us, your pets are a part of your family! However, you may want to restrict access for safety and peace of mind. Gates are available in different sizes and styles for all of our decks.

Keeping Dry Under an Open Deck

Under Deck Draining Systems or Deck Drainage Systems offer a dry area under decks for additional outdoor living spaces or even storage. There are several options available on the market today.

For a combination of low maintenance decking and keeping the area dry underneath, products like Lockdry® waterproof aluminum decking which channels water to the side thus keeping the area underneath dry. It doubles as a water drainage system and a low-maintenance decking alternative.

Other products for staying dry include UnderDeck®, New Haven Underdeck system and RainEscape® by Trex (just to name a few). An Exterior Escapes LLC Representative can help you decide which product will work best for your application.