Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Well, thanks for joining me. We are all about your
home and improving the value of your home, taking care
of your home. And you're at home with Gary Sullivan,
and today I want to introduce you to well, a
local contractor in my neck of the woods, and you know,
the flagship station is Cincinnati, Ohio. His name is Joe Hagen.
(00:46):
He's president of a company called All decked Out. So
he is our decking guru. And Joe, welcome again that
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Gary, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
You're quite welcome house. The decking business this year.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Decking business this year has been great at first, start
off a little bit slower, but really started kind of
really taking off as the season went on.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Boy, you said a mouthful there in our city. It
was a rainy, rainy spring. I know a lot of
painters and builders and remodelers and now deck builders. It
was a slow start, but boy, once the weather changed
everything everything seemed to break. You know. One of the
things that's been a trend probably for ten years is
(01:34):
outdoor living, and of course for many of us, that
means a really really nice deck. Can you just kind
of give me an overview of what's happening in the
deck business in terms of trends.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, a lot of people these days are going for composite,
low maintenance material. They're tired of standing their deck and
replacing boards and worrying about rot and we're all it's
seem a shift in different framing options for decks, like
composit framing, steel framing, aluminum framing. So there's a lot
more options these days, but a lot of people are
(02:09):
just seeing the value and low maintenance and not having
to replace, you know, their decks in every you know,
ten fifteen years or so.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, I think the deck has become very much a
structure of the house and people are looking at it
that way. It's it's not like something I'm gonna build
and I'm gonna forget about it and it's just kind
of rot on the side of that house. I mean,
they want something they want to enjoy. It's it's a
centerpiece to a house if it's done right.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You agree one hundred percent. It is an extension of
the home, and a lot of times it's more important
than like an indoor part of your home because if
you entertain and have people over, it's a great place
to like, hey, let's go out to find and enjoy
the outdoor space together. That's a great it's a great
feature to have add a lot of value to your home.
And there's a lot of things you can do out there. Kitchens,
(03:02):
fire pits, you know, and that kind of things that
really make it a unique space.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Jaws over a friend's house a couple of weeks ago,
and he had built a I don't know, I don't know,
maybe there's a special name for it, but it was
covered I guess a covered deck is what it'd be called.
And it was a composite they don't know what kind.
But then he had a fireplace in it, and he
had a TV over the fireplace and for the dining
you took a couple of steps down there was a
(03:29):
lower deck and it was beautiful. I mean, the design
of this deck was great. And your business design work's
got to be a big part of your job.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It is, and every good deck starts with a good
design obviously, you know, you want to think about you know,
a lot of planning goes into it to have a
well built deck. You know, how you're going to use
the space, you're right, I mean, if you have a
deck and you have a walkout basement. It's a great
idea to at a drainage system underneath there, to have
that deck kind of serve as a roof. It just
(04:03):
adds so much more out there living space off spending
the money that you would spend on like a roof
structure over it. So you actually, you know, turn that
framing into usable space below the deck and put a
patio underneath there, and create a whole another space down there.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Other area, whether it's another patio area or even storage
I've seen used. But having it dries good. Yes, yeah,
So I guess the first thing I guess people can
make mistakes is just a planning, just kind of just
thinking a square deck and whoop, be undone. That would
(04:40):
be a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yes, I mean you want to think about where you
place the steps, you know, because you're gonna have walkway
zones where you're going to place furniture, because you know
you're not going to place furniture right in front of
a door, right in front of walkway. So designing a
deck is very important for like traffic flow. And I've
seen a lot of decks not design very well. And
you can pay a lot of money and have a
(05:02):
really big deck built with multi levels, which looks good
for pictures, but sometimes it's not so functional. And with
the cost of materials being so high with composite, you
don't want to waste a lot of square footage due
to a bad design because you're just spending unnecessary money.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sure, we're going to get to the decking structures in
a minute. Here. One of the things I get calls
on a lot of times is people have an old
deck that hasn't been maintained, or it's just getting old,
or they're just it's getting real old, staining it every
year or two, and oh, I'll just put some composites
(05:39):
on top of this and everything will be okay. And
I'm going, well, hold on, composites are a little more
expensive than they then you know pressure tree wood, and
the installation's a little different, and what kind of shape
is you're framing? Do you run into those questions almost
every day? Really? Ok?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, So a lot of people think, oh, my deck's
been here fifteen twenty years, the framing's good, We're just
gonna we want to replace it with some positive decking.
And you know, when you remove those boards, you're going
to leave with thousands of holes in there, so water
can get in there and create rots. A lot of
times it's best to just you know, redo the framing.
If your deck's over you know, let's say five or
ten years old. You know, you want to make sure
(06:23):
that that framing is going to last. You don't want
to put decking that has a fifty year warranty on
a frame that might last another ten more. That could
be a really expensive mistake. So it's always best to
have a professional out to take a look at it.
Coach change as well. You know, every few years coach change,
So it's not as easy as just squapping it out
putting new deck down, because you know you're going to
(06:45):
see all those imperfections that might have you might not
have seen from like wood wood decking, right, So sometimes
it's better to just to start with wood woods. You know,
probably the least expensive thing on a deck. It's like
a foundation of the home, but it's most important part.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You know. Plus your composites they're not all load bearing, right,
whereas pressure treated is. I mean you might have twenty
inch centered joye and in a lot of cases can't
do that with a composite.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, you're right, like if it was two by six framing,
I can't put composite decking on there because our composite
decking is only spanned for sixteen inches, so it's very
important for the spanning as well. So quite a wavy deck.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, so the types of decking, and a lot of
people know about pressure treat wouldn't. One thing they know
is there's a lot of maintenance in it. And don't
let anybody tell you there isn't a lot of maintenance.
There is a lot of maintenance. We talk about it
every weekend. But we're seeing a a lot of different
types of composite decking. Now we see capped, we see
(07:55):
non capped, we see I'm not going to say heat proof,
but doesn't absorb as much heat, so that that appeals
to some people. We have some that have wood grains
in it, some don't have wood grains in it. Are
those all based on the expense of the deck or
(08:17):
what should I be looking at if I start working
with a contractor even yourself? How do you pick the
right kind of decking? Gary?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
That is a great question, and there are so many
different decking options on the market it can be overwhelming.
All the different manufacturers typically are going to have like
a good, better best. But what that means is basically
price point scenario. Your higher end deck boards are going
to have more wood grains, more color variations, and then
(08:49):
your lower cost boards are going to be more like
uncapped at the bottom, not fully encapsulated or less color options.
More you know, less wood grain for your lower cost options.
There's gonna be products out there that have that's made
with PVC. Your higher end ones are going to be
made with like mineral based and then you know, some
(09:10):
of your middle to low cost ones are gonna be
like a wood plastic so it's basically saw dust plastic
like recycled material with a PVC coding. Those are going
to be your more economical ones, and those do absorb heat,
and that's what you're and that's basically what you're paying
for is the you know, the performance of it. Some
of them are gonna get hotter. Your lower cost deck
(09:31):
boards are gonna get a little bit hotter, They're going
to stuff up a little bit easier. Your higher end
boards are going to be more heat resistance, more color
like color variations in the boards. Sure, a lot of
times it comes down to what you want to spend
and kind of what your personal preferences too. If you're
gonna have a roof over a deck, maybe you don't
need all the higher end characteristics of some of the
(09:53):
more costly boards. But a lot of times it comes
down to color too.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, and positioning, right, I mean the positioning of the
deck and the initial building phase may come in with temperature.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Absolutely, So Yeah, if you're going to have your deck
exposed to you know, direct sun all day long, going
with a wood plastic composite, it would be really hot,
to say the least in the you know, in the
evening time, where your mineral based deck boards are going
to dissipate heat a lot faster, they all get hot.
(10:29):
But the difference is with the mineral based composite deck
boards is that they dissipate heat a lot faster, so
by like six seven o'clock it's a lot cooler, or
some of the wood plastics stay hotter for a lot longer.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Okay, So when you're you talked about the base of
the frame, when you're kind of looking at that and
you're talking about you know, a high end maybe a
six figure deck, tell me about my options. I remember
when treks rolled out the first one, I think it
(11:04):
was a steel framing and then you said aluminum and
composits on that.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Now, Yeah, so they have Owen's Corning makes a composite lumber.
You do have to be careful with span. It doesn't
span as stars like your steel in your wood. So
they have composite framing out now they're steel framing tracks
and fortress they have steel framing options. And then you
(11:29):
also have aluminum is really coming into the market now.
And you know, so there's some great alternative framing options
that if you don't ever want to have to deal
with rod again, you don't have to.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you what. One thing everybody know
that has a deck, an older deck, an old you know,
press tree deck that's ten, fifteen, twenty years old. They
don't like it. They do want to get rid of it.
So if I can keep you for about ten minutes more,
can we take a break, and I'd like to come
(12:02):
back and let's inspect an older deck. Things we should
look for. Does that sound fair?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Sounds fair?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
All right? Joe Hagen, he's the president of a company
called all decked Out. He is our decking expert we'll
continue our conversation with Joe, and you're at home with
Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
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Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
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(14:58):
Well continuing Eric conversation, Joe Hagen, he's president of All
decked Out and builds wonderful, beautiful, beautiful decks. And Joe,
I'm sure you've got a lot of pictures of the
decks you've built at your website. And is there also
a website where people can get ideas and just some
(15:19):
information and maybe you have that on your website or
maybe there's another website people can go to.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, I definitely have a lot of pictures on our
website and our social media and to get ideas. A
lot of times you can just google different pictures. They're
gonna get some ideas of what you're thinking about doing.
But uh, looking at different deck builder's website or gallery,
you can definitely get a lot of ideas and inspiration
from there.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, what's your website.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
It's www dot alldecked out five to one three dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Very good, so folks, you can take a look at
that all right. A lot of people with the old
decks I was telling you talking about that and old decks,
meaning it could be any generation of pressure treated wood
from CCA to AQM, on and on and on and
on and every now and then in the news. In fact,
in our city, it wasn't a deck. It was just
(16:16):
a little balcony. You hear about the problems where they
collapse and you know too many people on here, or
wasn't built properly. And so walk me through. If I
have an old deck on the back end of my house,
it's it's not the greatest maintained deck in the world.
And what can I do to just inspect it, just
(16:38):
to kind of get an idea is this thing? And
I'm not talking about a collapse, and though that could
be one, but is it safe? I mean there's nails,
there's splinters, and what things? Is there corrosion? What? What things?
And where would I inspect an old wood deck?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yes, And that is a very important topic. I think,
like you know, a lot of people get a false
sense of security while walking on a deck. I honestly
think it's best to hire a deck professional to come
out do an inspection, you know, after your deck's like
five or ten, like maybe like ten years old, maybe
every few years, hire a deck professional. I think the
city a lot of times does free inspections as well.
(17:18):
You know, most homeowners don't build their you know, build
decks for a living, so they don't really know what
to look for. And you know, there are resources and
there are companies out there that will inspect the deck,
and I feel like that's a very important thing to do.
As far as like what the most important features are
on a deck, I would say the attachment to the
house number one, because a lot of times we pull
(17:40):
decks off to build a brand new one and realize
there's a lot of rock going on because you know,
whoever bloke the original deck didn't installed proper flashing. And
you know, water is the enemy really with these products.
If it starts breaking down and rocks, because you need
airflow too, so it's like you have water and if
it doesn't get the proper airflow that it needs, it's
(18:01):
going to accelerate rot and that's where it can be dangerous.
Hardware if it rusts, you know, those can fail as well,
So a lot of things to look at. I'm not
as concerned. A lot of people get worried about like
their post cracking or have a vertical cracker split. We
call that checking I'm not as worried about that. It's
actually very common and normal. But if you see a horizontal,
(18:25):
horizontal crack, that could be a load issue. So that's
probably one of the biggest things that people ask me about,
you know, as a structure. Okay, because I see cracks
in the wood and you know, that's normal. But you know,
all in all, I would say it's best to have
a professional look at the deck, you know, And I
think many of the cities will even do that for free.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
One question I have because I get asked the question
a lot, and you're right, I mean a homeowner unless
they're very trained and you're going to tackle one of
these big decks, it's no place for If you're going
to have a little deck maybe and you know what
you're doing, that's fine. How are posts treated with decks now,
(19:08):
I mean they in ground on above ground? I get
asked that question a bunch.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, they put a lot of chemicals in it now
for ground contact, you know, the like the treatment goes
that goes into it's treated for ground contact. But you
still want to, you know, add extra layer of protection.
We actually use a coating around the base of it,
almost like a rubber coating, or it's better to put
it on teerstyle footers where it's not really touching the ground.
(19:37):
You know, there's there's pros and cons to both, but
wood that you use is definitely critical as well. Like
even the framing of the decks we use. It's rated
for ground contact, even though we use it above ground,
so added layer of protection.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I tell everybody there's only one kind of pressure treated
would and that's ground contact. Yeah, don't save a few
don't save a few.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Dollars, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
All right, I'm just trying to so what's it. I
don't want to ask what a price range is because
I'm going to guess a price range for a deck
and there's all different sizes and styles. It could be
fifty thousand, it could be one hundred and fifty thousand,
and you've probably body built even more expensive ones. Is
that true?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
That is true? Yeah, yeah, I mean the price varies.
I mean it really just depends on the materials. You
can do it if your budget conscience, so you can
do it for you know, a good value, but it
is a large investment, and that's why sometimes it is
better to just leave it up to the pros, you know,
versus doing it yourself because mistakes are very costly if
(20:45):
the materials is expensive.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah. Probably my final question to you will be when
you're looking at decking and you're talking to a contractor
and you're educating them, warranty on that decking is important.
Also people worried about it fading, scratching, peeling, whatever the
case may be. What is a good warranty for a
composite decking? Now?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, most almost industry standards is going to be twenty
five years to fifty years on the warranty, and a
lot of these companies now are offering because now they're
kind of competing with each other on a warranty. Would
be to offer a labor warranty associated with it. I
think that's very important that you know, if you're going
to have a deck of that and you know that
kind of investment, you want to make sure if anything happens,
(21:31):
they don't just give you out. You know, put out
new decking on your driveway and then you have to
reinstall it. A good company that really backs their product's
going to pay for that to be installed.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Right, and there's an element of comfort. I mean, you're
making a sizable investment in your home. You're enlarging your house.
Outdoor living is the thing, and you want it to
be there as long as you're there, so I totally
agree with you. Joe, thank you so much for joining
us today. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you, Gary.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
All Right, it's all decked out five to one three
dot com if you want to take a look at
some of Joe's work. He's located right in the Cincinnati
area where our flagship station is and we thank him
very very much. All Right, we'll continue with your calls.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two, five to five.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Someone shootings to your home improvement are as easy as
calling one eight hundred eighty two three talk this. He's
at home with Gary Sullivan.
Well, thanks for joining me. We are all about your
home and improving the value of your home, taking care
of your home. And you're at home with Gary Sullivan,
and today I want to introduce you to well, a
local contractor in my neck of the woods, and you know,
the flagship station is Cincinnati, Ohio. His name is Joe Hagen.
(00:46):
He's president of a company called All decked Out. So
he is our decking guru. And Joe, welcome again that
home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Gary, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
You're quite welcome house. The decking business this year.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Decking business this year has been great at first, start
off a little bit slower, but really started kind of
really taking off as the season went on.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Boy, you said a mouthful there in our city. It
was a rainy, rainy spring. I know a lot of
painters and builders and remodelers and now deck builders. It
was a slow start, but boy, once the weather changed
everything everything seemed to break. You know. One of the
things that's been a trend probably for ten years is
(01:34):
outdoor living, and of course for many of us, that
means a really really nice deck. Can you just kind
of give me an overview of what's happening in the
deck business in terms of trends.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, a lot of people these days are going for composite,
low maintenance material. They're tired of standing their deck and
replacing boards and worrying about rot and we're all it's
seem a shift in different framing options for decks, like
composit framing, steel framing, aluminum framing. So there's a lot
more options these days, but a lot of people are
(02:09):
just seeing the value and low maintenance and not having
to replace, you know, their decks in every you know,
ten fifteen years or so.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, I think the deck has become very much a
structure of the house and people are looking at it
that way. It's it's not like something I'm gonna build
and I'm gonna forget about it and it's just kind
of rot on the side of that house. I mean,
they want something they want to enjoy. It's it's a
centerpiece to a house if it's done right.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You agree one hundred percent. It is an extension of
the home, and a lot of times it's more important
than like an indoor part of your home because if
you entertain and have people over, it's a great place
to like, hey, let's go out to find and enjoy
the outdoor space together. That's a great it's a great
feature to have add a lot of value to your home.
And there's a lot of things you can do out there. Kitchens,
(03:02):
fire pits, you know, and that kind of things that
really make it a unique space.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Jaws over a friend's house a couple of weeks ago,
and he had built a I don't know, I don't know,
maybe there's a special name for it, but it was
covered I guess a covered deck is what it'd be called.
And it was a composite they don't know what kind.
But then he had a fireplace in it, and he
had a TV over the fireplace and for the dining
you took a couple of steps down there was a
(03:29):
lower deck and it was beautiful. I mean, the design
of this deck was great. And your business design work's
got to be a big part of your job.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It is, and every good deck starts with a good
design obviously, you know, you want to think about you know,
a lot of planning goes into it to have a
well built deck. You know, how you're going to use
the space, you're right, I mean, if you have a
deck and you have a walkout basement. It's a great
idea to at a drainage system underneath there, to have
that deck kind of serve as a roof. It just
(04:03):
adds so much more out there living space off spending
the money that you would spend on like a roof
structure over it. So you actually, you know, turn that
framing into usable space below the deck and put a
patio underneath there, and create a whole another space down there.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Other area, whether it's another patio area or even storage
I've seen used. But having it dries good. Yes, yeah,
So I guess the first thing I guess people can
make mistakes is just a planning, just kind of just
thinking a square deck and whoop, be undone. That would
(04:40):
be a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yes, I mean you want to think about where you
place the steps, you know, because you're gonna have walkway
zones where you're going to place furniture, because you know
you're not going to place furniture right in front of
a door, right in front of walkway. So designing a
deck is very important for like traffic flow. And I've
seen a lot of decks not design very well. And
you can pay a lot of money and have a
(05:02):
really big deck built with multi levels, which looks good
for pictures, but sometimes it's not so functional. And with
the cost of materials being so high with composite, you
don't want to waste a lot of square footage due
to a bad design because you're just spending unnecessary money.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sure, we're going to get to the decking structures in
a minute. Here. One of the things I get calls
on a lot of times is people have an old
deck that hasn't been maintained, or it's just getting old,
or they're just it's getting real old, staining it every
year or two, and oh, I'll just put some composites
(05:39):
on top of this and everything will be okay. And
I'm going, well, hold on, composites are a little more
expensive than they then you know pressure tree wood, and
the installation's a little different, and what kind of shape
is you're framing? Do you run into those questions almost
every day? Really? Ok?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, So a lot of people think, oh, my deck's
been here fifteen twenty years, the framing's good, We're just
gonna we want to replace it with some positive decking.
And you know, when you remove those boards, you're going
to leave with thousands of holes in there, so water
can get in there and create rots. A lot of
times it's best to just you know, redo the framing.
If your deck's over you know, let's say five or
ten years old. You know, you want to make sure
(06:23):
that that framing is going to last. You don't want
to put decking that has a fifty year warranty on
a frame that might last another ten more. That could
be a really expensive mistake. So it's always best to
have a professional out to take a look at it.
Coach change as well. You know, every few years coach change,
So it's not as easy as just squapping it out
putting new deck down, because you know you're going to
(06:45):
see all those imperfections that might have you might not
have seen from like wood wood decking, right, So sometimes
it's better to just to start with wood woods. You know,
probably the least expensive thing on a deck. It's like
a foundation of the home, but it's most important part.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You know. Plus your composites they're not all load bearing, right,
whereas pressure treated is. I mean you might have twenty
inch centered joye and in a lot of cases can't
do that with a composite.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, you're right, like if it was two by six framing,
I can't put composite decking on there because our composite
decking is only spanned for sixteen inches, so it's very
important for the spanning as well. So quite a wavy deck.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, so the types of decking, and a lot of
people know about pressure treat wouldn't. One thing they know
is there's a lot of maintenance in it. And don't
let anybody tell you there isn't a lot of maintenance.
There is a lot of maintenance. We talk about it
every weekend. But we're seeing a a lot of different
types of composite decking. Now we see capped, we see
(07:55):
non capped, we see I'm not going to say heat proof,
but doesn't absorb as much heat, so that that appeals
to some people. We have some that have wood grains
in it, some don't have wood grains in it. Are
those all based on the expense of the deck or
(08:17):
what should I be looking at if I start working
with a contractor even yourself? How do you pick the
right kind of decking? Gary?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
That is a great question, and there are so many
different decking options on the market it can be overwhelming.
All the different manufacturers typically are going to have like
a good, better best. But what that means is basically
price point scenario. Your higher end deck boards are going
to have more wood grains, more color variations, and then
(08:49):
your lower cost boards are going to be more like
uncapped at the bottom, not fully encapsulated or less color options.
More you know, less wood grain for your lower cost options.
There's gonna be products out there that have that's made
with PVC. Your higher end ones are going to be
made with like mineral based and then you know, some
(09:10):
of your middle to low cost ones are gonna be
like a wood plastic so it's basically saw dust plastic
like recycled material with a PVC coding. Those are going
to be your more economical ones, and those do absorb heat,
and that's what you're and that's basically what you're paying
for is the you know, the performance of it. Some
of them are gonna get hotter. Your lower cost deck
(09:31):
boards are gonna get a little bit hotter, They're going
to stuff up a little bit easier. Your higher end
boards are going to be more heat resistance, more color
like color variations in the boards. Sure, a lot of
times it comes down to what you want to spend
and kind of what your personal preferences too. If you're
gonna have a roof over a deck, maybe you don't
need all the higher end characteristics of some of the
(09:53):
more costly boards. But a lot of times it comes
down to color too.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, and positioning, right, I mean the positioning of the
deck and the initial building phase may come in with temperature.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Absolutely, So Yeah, if you're going to have your deck
exposed to you know, direct sun all day long, going
with a wood plastic composite, it would be really hot,
to say the least in the you know, in the
evening time, where your mineral based deck boards are going
to dissipate heat a lot faster, they all get hot.
(10:29):
But the difference is with the mineral based composite deck
boards is that they dissipate heat a lot faster, so
by like six seven o'clock it's a lot cooler, or
some of the wood plastics stay hotter for a lot longer.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Okay, So when you're you talked about the base of
the frame, when you're kind of looking at that and
you're talking about you know, a high end maybe a
six figure deck, tell me about my options. I remember
when treks rolled out the first one, I think it
(11:04):
was a steel framing and then you said aluminum and
composits on that.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Now, Yeah, so they have Owen's Corning makes a composite lumber.
You do have to be careful with span. It doesn't
span as stars like your steel in your wood. So
they have composite framing out now they're steel framing tracks
and fortress they have steel framing options. And then you
(11:29):
also have aluminum is really coming into the market now.
And you know, so there's some great alternative framing options
that if you don't ever want to have to deal
with rod again, you don't have to.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you what. One thing everybody know
that has a deck, an older deck, an old you know,
press tree deck that's ten, fifteen, twenty years old. They
don't like it. They do want to get rid of it.
So if I can keep you for about ten minutes more,
can we take a break, and I'd like to come
(12:02):
back and let's inspect an older deck. Things we should
look for. Does that sound fair?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Sounds fair?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
All right? Joe Hagen, he's the president of a company
called all decked Out. He is our decking expert we'll
continue our conversation with Joe, and you're at home with
Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Help for your home is just a click away at
Garysullivan online dot com. This is at home with Gary Sullivan.
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(14:58):
Well continuing Eric conversation, Joe Hagen, he's president of All
decked Out and builds wonderful, beautiful, beautiful decks. And Joe,
I'm sure you've got a lot of pictures of the
decks you've built at your website. And is there also
a website where people can get ideas and just some
(15:19):
information and maybe you have that on your website or
maybe there's another website people can go to.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, I definitely have a lot of pictures on our
website and our social media and to get ideas. A
lot of times you can just google different pictures. They're
gonna get some ideas of what you're thinking about doing.
But uh, looking at different deck builder's website or gallery,
you can definitely get a lot of ideas and inspiration
from there.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, what's your website.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
It's www dot alldecked out five to one three dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Very good, so folks, you can take a look at
that all right. A lot of people with the old
decks I was telling you talking about that and old decks,
meaning it could be any generation of pressure treated wood
from CCA to AQM, on and on and on and
on and every now and then in the news. In fact,
in our city, it wasn't a deck. It was just
(16:16):
a little balcony. You hear about the problems where they
collapse and you know too many people on here, or
wasn't built properly. And so walk me through. If I
have an old deck on the back end of my house,
it's it's not the greatest maintained deck in the world.
And what can I do to just inspect it, just
(16:38):
to kind of get an idea is this thing? And
I'm not talking about a collapse, and though that could
be one, but is it safe? I mean there's nails,
there's splinters, and what things? Is there corrosion? What? What things?
And where would I inspect an old wood deck?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yes, And that is a very important topic. I think,
like you know, a lot of people get a false
sense of security while walking on a deck. I honestly
think it's best to hire a deck professional to come
out do an inspection, you know, after your deck's like
five or ten, like maybe like ten years old, maybe
every few years, hire a deck professional. I think the
city a lot of times does free inspections as well.
(17:18):
You know, most homeowners don't build their you know, build
decks for a living, so they don't really know what
to look for. And you know, there are resources and
there are companies out there that will inspect the deck,
and I feel like that's a very important thing to do.
As far as like what the most important features are
on a deck, I would say the attachment to the
house number one, because a lot of times we pull
(17:40):
decks off to build a brand new one and realize
there's a lot of rock going on because you know,
whoever bloke the original deck didn't installed proper flashing. And
you know, water is the enemy really with these products.
If it starts breaking down and rocks, because you need
airflow too, so it's like you have water and if
it doesn't get the proper airflow that it needs, it's
(18:01):
going to accelerate rot and that's where it can be dangerous.
Hardware if it rusts, you know, those can fail as well,
So a lot of things to look at. I'm not
as concerned. A lot of people get worried about like
their post cracking or have a vertical cracker split. We
call that checking I'm not as worried about that. It's
actually very common and normal. But if you see a horizontal,
(18:25):
horizontal crack, that could be a load issue. So that's
probably one of the biggest things that people ask me about,
you know, as a structure. Okay, because I see cracks
in the wood and you know, that's normal. But you know,
all in all, I would say it's best to have
a professional look at the deck, you know, And I
think many of the cities will even do that for free.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
One question I have because I get asked the question
a lot, and you're right, I mean a homeowner unless
they're very trained and you're going to tackle one of
these big decks, it's no place for If you're going
to have a little deck maybe and you know what
you're doing, that's fine. How are posts treated with decks now,
(19:08):
I mean they in ground on above ground? I get
asked that question a bunch.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, they put a lot of chemicals in it now
for ground contact, you know, the like the treatment goes
that goes into it's treated for ground contact. But you
still want to, you know, add extra layer of protection.
We actually use a coating around the base of it,
almost like a rubber coating, or it's better to put
it on teerstyle footers where it's not really touching the ground.
(19:37):
You know, there's there's pros and cons to both, but
wood that you use is definitely critical as well. Like
even the framing of the decks we use. It's rated
for ground contact, even though we use it above ground,
so added layer of protection.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I tell everybody there's only one kind of pressure treated
would and that's ground contact. Yeah, don't save a few
don't save a few.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Dollars, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
All right, I'm just trying to so what's it. I
don't want to ask what a price range is because
I'm going to guess a price range for a deck
and there's all different sizes and styles. It could be
fifty thousand, it could be one hundred and fifty thousand,
and you've probably body built even more expensive ones. Is
that true?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
That is true? Yeah, yeah, I mean the price varies.
I mean it really just depends on the materials. You
can do it if your budget conscience, so you can
do it for you know, a good value, but it
is a large investment, and that's why sometimes it is
better to just leave it up to the pros, you know,
versus doing it yourself because mistakes are very costly if
(20:45):
the materials is expensive.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah. Probably my final question to you will be when
you're looking at decking and you're talking to a contractor
and you're educating them, warranty on that decking is important.
Also people worried about it fading, scratching, peeling, whatever the
case may be. What is a good warranty for a
composite decking? Now?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, most almost industry standards is going to be twenty
five years to fifty years on the warranty, and a
lot of these companies now are offering because now they're
kind of competing with each other on a warranty. Would
be to offer a labor warranty associated with it. I
think that's very important that you know, if you're going
to have a deck of that and you know that
kind of investment, you want to make sure if anything happens,
(21:31):
they don't just give you out. You know, put out
new decking on your driveway and then you have to
reinstall it. A good company that really backs their product's
going to pay for that to be installed.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Right, and there's an element of comfort. I mean, you're
making a sizable investment in your home. You're enlarging your house.
Outdoor living is the thing, and you want it to
be there as long as you're there, so I totally
agree with you. Joe, thank you so much for joining
us today. I appreciate it. It was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you, Gary.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
All Right, it's all decked out five to one three
dot com if you want to take a look at
some of Joe's work. He's located right in the Cincinnati
area where our flagship station is and we thank him
very very much. All Right, we'll continue with your calls.
It's eight hundred eight two three eight two, five to five.
You're at home with Gary Sullivan.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Someone shootings to your home improvement are as easy as
calling one eight hundred eighty two three talk this. He's
at home with Gary Sullivan.
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