Deck Building Tips – From your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Deck Building Tips – From your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Spring is about to arrive as folks in Vancouver get ready to fire up their barbeques. It’s time to give the deck a once over and see how it fared after another seasonal bout of rain and that dreaded white stuff.

You can take it from your Vancouver mortgage broker that when people come to view your home, they’re thinking of how they will want to spend to those long glorious sunny summer days outside.

If your deck is showing signs of neglect or maybe if you just bought a home which doesn’t even have a deck then maybe it’s time to replace or build a new deck. Wood decks are especially vulnerable to the elements such as moisture and the sun.

So, the question is not just choosing what design to consider, it’s also very important to carefully choose the right type of materials for your deck.

You really only have two choices to make and they can vary considerably as far as expense is concerned.

Wood Decking

This is the material most people think of when it comes time to replace or build a deck. The biggest drawback to a wood deck is that they do require a fair bit of regular maintenance if you want them to last.

Your first major consideration if you want to limit the amount of maintenance time on your deck is to choose between regular wood or pressure-treated wood. Regular wood should at least be stained a couple of times to allow the wood the ability to absorb the stain into the grain. This at least gives the wood a fighting chance to weather the elements.

If you have the extra cash, it’s well worth your while to go with pressure-treated wood as it has a better ability to resist the impact of not only the weather but also wear and tear from rot and insects.

The choice of wood is equally important. If you go with pine or spruce, you are more likely to experience shrinkage and cracks even if it has been pressure-treated.

You are more likely to have a longer lasting deck if choose wood that has natural imperviousness to the elements such as cedar or some of the more exotic hardwoods from the tropics. They look nice but these materials may be more cost prohibitive.

Composite Wood Decking

This type of material is especially ideal for humid climates such as you find in Vancouver. These materials are especially durable and long lasting. They also have the advantage of not requiring much in the way of maintenance.

What is composite wood decking? This building material is made from a combination of both recycled plastic and waste wood which has been ground up. This material is easy to work with and has the natural appeal and characteristic appearance of wood.

They mimic the look of natural wood and are generally comprised of between 50 – 60% of natural wood products. The convenience of these materials means you don’t have don’t have to paint or stain them because the colour you buy is consistent throughout the entire piece of the material.

You can also elect from a variety of colour and appearance, including materials which hasn’t been coloured and will weather to a silver-gray appearance much like natural wood. Most of the newer products come with specialized fasteners and are relatively easy to assemble.

Wood composite materials are also more expensive than natural wood but their biggest advantage is they are low maintenance and long lasting.

Everyone likes their time outdoors and most folks like to kick back and relax on their decks. You can take it from your Vancouver mortgage broker that a deck not only has a decent ROI but can give your home that added appeal to potential buyers.