Outdoor living, not just a deck

Outdoor living space adds value to your home!
So many of us have decks, flat roofs, balconies and porches that are done like everyone else in the valley. For years a wood plank deck was the thing to do, mainly because it is the least expensive. Soon the excitement of the new deck turns into a annual maintenance and repair headache. The resulting costs and time can be frustrating and replacement is inevitable.
What's the next best thing? You can get the same general appearance of a wood deck by using composite materials. These are easy to come by from name brands or even the local Home Depot and Lowe's for the do it yourself-er. The problem is the same but you have bought some time: the wood supports and trusses are rotting. True the composite materials are waterproof and they will not rot. They will fade, can splinter, stain or discolor and water will leak through them just like the old deck. Again to by some time pressure treated wood can be used or required and the chemicals that are used will add a little time. While those chemicals are being washed into the ground over the years they to will begin to rot and need to be replaced.
Both of these and others may be the "popular" thing but what do they do for the resale value of your home? Do you look at the decks, flat roofs, balconies and patios that are in need of repair as investments for your home? Will the products you choose add value to your home?
Just for a minute think of these areas as outdoor living space, not much different than your living room or family room. Would like to have an area that can provide you with the opportunity to entertain and relax while taking advantage of our awesome Utah views? With the more than twenty Duradek colors and designs any outdoor area can be converted to a long lasting, low maintenance entertaining area. Unlike the previous decks this meets code as a roofing membrane so go ahead and take advantage of the space underneath. Storage? Now you have the space. Place for the hot tub so you don't get cold water dripping on you? Perfect. Get all the stuff out of the garage so you can use it for the car. Great idea. This is where your investment begins to pay off. Now the area underneath become usable space, completely dry and ready for you to take advantage of however you like. By using this process you have made excellent use of your time and money so have some friends and family over and entertain them in your new outdoor living area. While they are wowed with the changes you made you can relax knowing that your annual maintenance will be a with a hose washing of the deck. Don't worry about the snow and freeze thaw; rock salt, ice melt, shovel it, no problem.
Now you are thinking about the cost of something like this. It's OK we think about it too. The old fashion wood deck would be the least expensive and you can do it yourself. The composite materials are more expensive and again if you think your up to it you can do it yourself. The same area done with a membrane which offers you so much more has a material cost that would be less than the do it yourself composite choice! BUT, this is not a do it yourself project. Only professional company trained installers are used. You are no longer simply building a deck area you are investing in your home, most will agree this is not the time to try and cut the initial amount you spend. Doing it the right way the first time will provide you with well over a decade of use and you are saving the annual repair and maintenance cost of wood decks.When was the last time you walked outside sat down and relaxed with no deck worries?

Waterproof -Vs- Coatings and cheap alternitives

We have over the years written numerous articles on coatings, cost and simple but common mistakes made. In just the last few weeks I have heard from countless contractors and builders that are so tired of the water damages on exterior surfaces that they just don't want to do them anymore. I can certainly understand the frustration from the many, many silly creations that we have torn up to use our true waterproof membranes over simple plywood. It drives me nuts to meet with a home owner and talk about how much money they have waisted and when they hear what the replacement is going to cost the fact that is is less than what they did originally I can see the skepticism in their eyes.

Lets go over this job, the finished work in shown above with the beautiful view of the Wasatch Mountains in the distance. What had been installed before was a few different attempts at waterproofing and here is your first tip.

1. If you want waterproof then make sure the product being used can back up it's claim to being waterproof.
   
   
   

I have learned that when a contractor is given the responsibility to come up with a waterproof surface they use their experience of past work. Then they add redundancy because that should add some insurance, if the first thing fails then the other might work? Nice try but rarely actually works that way. Here you can see what is several inches of different products stacked on each other. It all failed and was torn up once and for all get rid of the water leaking issues.

2. Do you know that most coating have an ongoing maintenance program that require you to re coat the surface every couple years. If you fail to do so what do you think happens when you have a failure?

So once it was torn off and thrown away then what? Back to basic construction, get down to plywood, ensure you have proper slope and glue the membrane right to the plywood. As you can see from this next picture that is what was done. Just like throwing your money in the garbage the old failed products were removed, as was the beautiful rail as well as a result of the wood getting damaged from water exposure.



I could only venture a guess as to what was spent on this rail and the failed materials that were tossed. I can with great confidence say the new deck cost significantly less money and will last for decades without any need for on going maintenance. If it gets dirty just wash it off, after all it is waterproof, not water resistant.







We are in the business of waterproofing horizontal outdoor surfaces, that is all we do. If you have concerns or are not sure of your options contact us.

Dekmax and Tiledek featured!

We are so thrilled to have garnished the attention of Richard Bergman
He has a huge amount of information regarding Decking Materials of all types, Projects, Tips and Advice, Design and Planning Information, etc.
According to Richard, "Vinyl is Where the Future is Heading."

We were done as a feature on his web site and you can see it here-

www.ideas-for-deck-designs.com/

Richard also has lots of information on waterproofing, low maintenance vinyl decking and you can take a look here -
http://www.ideas-for-deck-designs.com/vinyl-decking.html

The work that Dekmax was featured on was a Tiledek job. We completely waterproofed the area then a professional tile setter came to handle the installation of the tile. The comments from the tile setter were "I wish every job had this stuff on it, it bonds extremely well."

The Dekmax website has a link on the first page top right side.

Winter work

Another significant difference between us and the compitition, we work all year. True we have some pretty cold temperatures and that alone prevents the use of just about all other products.

Here are a few shots of a project in Logan UT. These are from the period just before Christmas to the end of January. The first building was done with no protective covering on it, rain casued the use of the tarps, but that was needed for the stucco crew. The decks are done before the stucco guys get started so plastic was used to to cover them to protect from water before installation.

The pictures don't really tell the whole story. On the days that I took these pictures it was below zero F. Yet the decks were being done and the contractor was ahead of schedule, not a common practice in the dead of winter with these kind of temps.

Duradek-Tiledek-Plazadek, have it your way

The Duradek brand is synonymous with waterproofing walkable roofs and decks. If there was one thing that may have limited them it was the finished look of the product. True they have more than twenty-five colors and designs but still some like a different look. The challenge is what product can provide you with the same high level of confidence in waterproofing and allow you to have the desired look too? Duradek has listened and now has more offerings to provide you with both.

If you stay with the lowest cost product then you are working with the Duradek vinyl but you can still use your own design ideas to get the look you want. Two tone surfaces are becoming more and more popular these days and the solid colors compliment the patterns well. Use you imagination and design whatever you want we will be glad to work with you.

Perhaps you are one of those that really likes the look of a wood deck or maybe a paver system? Well then Plazadek is for you! You get the same confidence in waterproofing but we have reduced some of the cost by eliminating the slip resistant ridges and colors, its going to be covered up after all. Want to install a sleeper system but not sure how to do it without putting screws through the membrane? We can help.

If you want to most incredible outdoor area there is then Tiledek opens new doors. Installing tile outdoors is a great way to enhance the beauty of your home and you can do it with confidence knowing it will be waterproof for decades to come.

Does Tiledek really work?

In talking with customers and businesses in the tile industry there is a very obvious need for a proven well developed product for the tile industry to embrace the use of tile in an outdoor applications. Rather than trying to make a tile setter a waterproofing expert (which I have yet to find) why not take a waterproofing expert and have them install a product that not only waterproofs but also readies the project for tile? What tile setter wouldn't love to walk onto the job ready to lay tile? I have learned that in the past years it was the tile setter walking onto to job wondering how they would keep water out.

Sure there are sceptics out there because nothing they or the other contractors they know has come up with a product that works. That is part of the problem, it is not a product that is needed. The solution is a system. A tested, approved system that includes all the materials and components that are used. Each of those components has the manufacturers approvals for it use in the system. Without the proper approvals and a professional installation you may as well start saving for the repair cost and good luck getting somebody to warranty the work.

What I struggle with is the decision to use a tile that costs $5000 then to save a couple dollars by using unproven less expensive ideas on how to protect the tile and the home?

These pictures are of Tiledek installed following the instructions with a couple steps left out. We have purposely introduced water and ice into play. Though a finished project would never be subjected to this kind of treatment we thought we would do it just for kicks. This is why we are so confident we have the correct system to eliminate the past frustrations and extreme cost associated with outdoor tile.

This is a small trapped deck that we made and it is lined with Tiledek. Water was added, to the top of the tile, about a half inch or so. It is left outside the shop and freezes over night. Each morning we bring it inside and place it under a heat lamp to greatly speed up the freeze thaw process. Here is a sample of what happens -

10:10am 26 degrees Solid ice

10:20 40 degrees Ice on top of tiles melted as well as the area closest to the lamp

10:30 48 degrees 1/2 of ice melted and the tile itself is warm to the touch

10:55 60 degrees Ice melted and back to water, back outside it goes.

Tiledek Freeeze Thaw issues solved!

Everyone likes the look of tile and stone but for years it has been frowned upon in our area, a result of the climate we experience. Anyone that has tried can tell stories of the costly errors and repairs. Duradek, North America's largest maufacturer of a walkable roofing membrane has developed the solution along with some of the tile industries largest companies.

Known for years as the solution for walking decks over living space Duradek has taken their decades of experience in the roofing industry and applied it to a solution for tile and stone. Now you can have the ellegant look and not be concerned about the repair or damages of the past. So how does it work? It is a simple system that has been tested not only through the TCNA and TTMAC but here in Utah, some of the harshest climate changes in the USA. There are so many so called products out there and to be honest until now it was often left up to a contractor to deciede what to do. Sorry to say that was often a combination of several layers and or products assuming that more is better. Duradek's Tiledek is the whole package, it is the roofing membrane that the tile industry call s out in their instructions (often called waterproofing) it is also the flashing running up the walls and thresholds. Thinset will bond to not just your tile but to the mebrane itself and yes it has been installed on decks around the Salt Lake Valley for three years now. The work has been both over living space and a simple exterior deck exposed to the cold winter climate. The number of customer complaints? Zero

How can our confidence and our customer stasfaction be so high? It's like poker, what gets you in the game? Ante up. Being licensed, insured, nice emplyee's and things like that are just the ante, it allows you to get in the game. Real hands on training and support is what makes the contractors we work with a cut above. They have been through a company provided training course and are provided a path for on going continuing education. Since we are local we often are on the job sites ensuring our standards are being followed but most important we are answering questions and continuing the support. It can be easier to demonstate a skill in a classroom environment it is different on the job and on the job is not the way to learn how to waterproof.

When your design includes tile work the cost will be much higher. Would you want to have somebody that can talk the talk working on it or a company that walks the walk day in and day out?