Materials

As an artist will only paint with the best paints, our art-form requires the best materials. Whether you are constructing your custom deck in maintenance free composite, the elegance of cedar, the traditional look of treated spruce, pine, and fir, or desire a combination of materials, you are guaranteed to receive a quality product. Our long relationship with lumber suppliers have enabled us to "claim" the best materials for our projects. Only the best....with no exceptions! And the quality shows.

So what product should you choose for your deck. Here is a list of some details associated with each...

Pressure Treated Lumber

• Pressure treated lumber is the most economical choice for decking and is always used for the substructure of the deck. The maintenance of P.T. is far easier than cedar as all that is required is a water seal that can be sprayed on. A pressure treated deck that has received even one water seal treatment will look dramatically different in five years to one that has not. The product will last considerably longer when not exposed to extended direct sunlight (i.e. eastern or northern exposures are best). The product will "crack" and "check" as it ages at a faster rate than cedar, particularly if exposed to a lot of ultraviolet rays. If staining is expected, the stain industry has developed some wonderful products that can literally make pressure treated lumber look like cedar.

Cedar

• Cedar is technically a maintenance free product as long as you don't mind it aging naturally. Cedar will age to a silver/gray colour. The benefits of cedar are abundant. The wood has natural oils that allow it to last considerably longer than pressure treated. The grain of the wood is straight, thus avoiding the propensity for twisting over time. The downside of cedar is the maintenance factor. Many people like cedar for the colour, but unfortunately, sealing or staining is required to maintain it. The real issue is time between coats. You can expect to stain your cedar deck floor every two years as it is a horizontal surface that takes all the abuse of the elements directly. The vertical cedar surface is another thing entirely. On vertical surfaces such as railings, privacy screens, pergolas, and skirting, you can expect five to ten years between coats! That is why so many Cutting Edge deck projects incorporate composite floors with natural cedar finishes.

Composites

• The composite decking world is growing by leaps and bounds. It can be daunting for a consumer to know which product to choose. We can help make the process an easy one. Composite decking is, in laymen's terms, plastic pop bottles and sawdust combined to make a deck board that will not warp, split, crack, or fade! The benefits are obvious as deck maintenance can be a very time consuming endeavor. The only maintenance involved with a composite deck is the occasional bath. The cost of the composite deck is more than cedar by only 25%-30% on average as the labour portion and the deck substructure remain the same. The cost factor should be balanced with the maintenance saved in order to make an informed decision.