Monthly Archives: April 2014

May Flowers on Your Deck

My wife loves flowers.  She may be a little out of control with the April showers bring May flowers thing.  But, in her defense her birthday is in May.  So I guess some flexibility should be put forth on my part when she decides to decorate the entire house in flowers for May.  I mean it, inside and out.

flowerdeckShe is even more excited because we just put a new Trex Deck on the back of our home giving her yet another thing to decorate on our home.  But you know what they say – happy wife, happy life.  I am just making jokes, it really does make me happy to see her do something she loves to do.

I should give thanks to our Trex Deck Pro that installed our deck.  He suggested to her to design some flower pots into the rails and deck so it would be easy for her to plant and maintain. It didn’t even really change the budget we had either, which was a huge plus.  She has even stated to me that she is going to do seasonal plants and flowers all year long.

Ok, I will admit she worked really hard for a long time, and now that the flowers are blooming the deck looks amazing.  Plus the Trex Deck can handle any water seepage or potting soil spills no problem, so maintenance will never be an issue.  So, thank you Trex Decks for making my wife happy and giving me an easy going spring.

Enjoy Your Deck During April Showers

As spring nears, I can only sit and dream about getting outside and enjoying my deck during the nice weather.  The funny thing is I get sad when I can’t use my deck during the bad weather.  I mean my Trex Deck Pro did such an amazing job building the deck of my dreams, all I want to do is be on it every time the temperature allows me to.

aprilshowersThen it hit me, like a lightning bolt (no pun intended).  I should just put a roof over part of my deck, that way when it rains I can still enjoy being outside!  Well, my first question was if my Trex composite decking would be strong enough to hold a roof.  My Trex Pro assured me that it would hold a roof and then some.  So the next step for me was to choose a design.  There were a lot more styles than I thought there would be, so I picked one that would give me the most options as far as amenities I could add under the roof.

So, my Trex Pro and I decided on a plan and budget, and surprisingly we finished in record time.  So my next step was to decorate my shaded area appropriately.  Naturally, I went out, bought some super comfortable stylish deck furniture, and placed it under the roof.  The next step was contacting my cable provider to run another hook up to the roof, that’s right -FLAT SCREEN OUTSIDE BABY!  You can’t expect me to have this kind of set-up without entertainment can you?

Of course, I ran new speakers for outdoor tunes as well hanging under the roof, so my new covered area of my deck is now complete.  So come on Mother Nature, bring on those April Showers. I am ready!

Happy Earth Day!

You can rest easy this Earth Day, knowing that you’ve done a small part to help save the planet. By having a Trex composite deck, you are already a step ahead.

yinyangdeckFor over twenty years, Trex composite decking has been made from 95% recycled wood and plastic. Trex saves 400 million pounds of plastic and wood from landfills each year, making it one of the largest plastic recyclers in the US. Trex never has to cut down a tree for use in its decking material. The wood comes from reclaimed wood and recycled sawdust. This recycled wood is combined with recycled plastic from a variety of sources: the overwrap on paper towels, dry cleaner bags, sandwich bags, newspaper sleeves, and grocery and shopping bags.  The average 500-square foot composite Trex deck contains 140,000 recycled plastic bags!

Not only are the materials in Trex composite decking environmentally friendly, but their manufacturing process is as well! Their processing method eliminates the use of smoke stacks, and the factory runoff and refuse are recycled back into the manufacturing line. They even run their trailers on vegetable-based oil hydraulics. Trex works together with members of the U.S. Green Building Council to strive towards creating environmentally and socially responsible spaces that improve the quality of life on this planet.

So get out there and enjoy the beautiful Virginia spring air on your Trex deck, knowing that you’ve done your part to help keep this planet beautiful.

Stacking the Deck

So here I am with this brand new two story home with walkout basement.  I honestly believed that once I had TREX finish my deck from my basement door that I would be completely happy with the outdoor entertainment area.   I guess it’s all about my love of entertaining people along with wanting to have the best deck in the neighborhood that drives me for something more.

doubledeckNow, that being said I am not looking to build the world’s largest deck off my basement door.  I think the thought or just one monstrous space is a bit too much.  So I went back and talked to my contractor who built my first TREX deck, and he recommended we put another level on top of the current deck.   As soon as he mentioned it bells starting ringing inside my head.   I can use the bottom level strictly for grilling and hot tubing, and the top level for sun and fun!

My first question was if theTREX deck was going to be strong enough.  The funny thing is, little did I know that the TREX structure is actually built stronger than a standard wood deck.   This was my biggest concern before we proceeded.  I could not have people getting hurt at my home.  My second question was a biggie too, was it possible to match the existing color that I had already built below?  The answer to this question is this…YES.  Trex maintains a huge assortment of colors for choices.

With all concerns met having stayed under budget, I jumped on board.  It took the contractors no time at all to finish the project and I was able to have my first gathering right after that.