Sonoma Deck with High Five Railing
Filed Under Uncategorized · Tagged: building decks, deckmaster hidden bracket, heart redwood, high five railing, railing design, sonoma deck builder
“High Five” Railing with a View in sonoma County, California
This expansive deck commands views of the whole Sonoma Valley all the way to San Pablo Bay. Our challenge was to preserve the view without incurring the expense of stainless steel cable rail. The solution was to use “High Five” square wire panels. These come in 5’x16’ panels of galvanized #4 wire that is extremely rigid and durable. We used a metal cutting grinder blade to cut each section to fit. Each cut wire end was then painted with red oxide paint to prevent future rust. The result was the great view you see here at a much lower cost than cable rail.
Our client chose construction heart redwood for its beauty and durability. We installed it using our patented Deckmaster Hidden Brackets so there are no holes or screw heads to mar the surface of the deck. The Deckmaster Bracket also prevents water from penetrating into the joist so the new deck should last three times longer than the deck it replaced.
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Zero Maintenance Azek Composite Deck
Filed Under Fine Decks · Tagged: azek, azek composite deck, composite decking, deckmaster hidden bracket, decks, hidden brackets, railing design
We used Azek Brownstone Composite Decking and Fortress tempered glass balusters to create a zero maintenance deck nestled in this hilltop oak grove in Santa Rosa, California. Our retired clients wanted a deck that would never need more work.
Azek decking repels stains and never fades. Of course we used Deckmaster Hidden Brackets. With decking this good, who wants to see screw heads? In the few areas where we couldn’t use Deckmaster we used Cortex screws and plugs that match the Azek perfectly. You have to look really closely to see the plugs.
The railing design was a unique blend of materials using Azek for the rails and cap, painted redwood posts, and Fortress Pure View bronze tinted tempered glass balusters. The color worked perfectly, tying together the Azek Brownstone and the dark stain of the redwood siding on the house.
This huge deck took over three months to build. Not only was the site was quite challenging but there were also a variety of complicated areas that needed fussing. The crew took all the challenges in stride and the results are immaculate. The angled stairway was particularly problematic and Miguel really showed an artists touch in the way he fanned the deck boards on the landing.
The Santa Rosa building inspector gave us a great compliment on this project. He said that if everybody built decks like ours, we wouldn’t need building departments! Coming from a guy who has seen hundreds of decks we really appreciated the compliment.
Miguel Flores – Foreman
Alberto Curcio – Head Carpenter
Eli Jacobs – Carpenter
Paul Klawiter – Carpenter’s Apprentice
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Mill Valley, California, Furniture Grade Deck
Filed Under Fine Decks · Tagged: building decks, cable rail, deck, deck builder, deckmaster hidden bracket, furniture grade deck, ipe hardwood, mill valley deck
The view of San Francisco Bay is the prime feature of this Mill Valley (Marin County) location and we wanted it to be as unobstructed as possible. We ruled out tempered glass which requires regular cleaning and Cable Rail seemed like the best option. Our client initially wanted a composite deck but after he saw ipe he realized that the stunning appearance of this exotic hardwood could not be passed up.
Built with Ipe Hardwood
Ipe is in my opinion, among the best deck woods in the world. It comes from South America, is highly rot resistant, and is 80% harder than oak. Ipe is also one of the most expensive deck materials both to purchase and install. Building a deck with Ipe is literally like building a large piece of furniture. It takes about twice as long to install a deck with ipe versus redwood or composite decking.
Every Screw Hidden
With wood this beautiful, the last things we wanted to see were screw holes in the floor. Of course we used the Deckmaster Hidden Bracket in most locations. However, due to the design of the understructure, many deck boards sat directly on top of beams which left no access for Deckmaster Brackets. There were also many areas on the rail that needed screws. In all these areas we elected to hide our screws using ipe plugs. This is quite time consuming because we had to pre-drill, countersink, drive the screw and then glue in the plug. The results however were well worth the effort.
Custom Notching Around Posts
Building with ipe requires every cut to be precise. It really tests the skill of the builder to notch around posts and other obstructions. Some of the deck boards on this project took three hours to cut and install. We just had to keep fussing until they came out right.
Stainless Steel Cable Rail Ices the Cake
There are a number of Cable Rail manufacturers. We selected a product by Feeney (http://www.cablerail.com/) because it seemed to be the most complete system and readily available at our local lumber yards. They start with marine grade stainless steel and include all the components required to make installation simple. Simple does not mean easy though, especially when building with ipe. Just drilling through the 4×4 posts gave us fits. Several drill bits ended up looking like ornate pieces of pasta after the ipe twisted them up.
There has been some controversy about how to make cable rails comply with building code regulations. The cable must be 1/8” diameter and spaced no more than 3” apart. When a 50 pound weight is hung from the cable, the space between cables may not exceed 4” at any point.
One thing I really like about ipe is that there are several styles of shaped rail caps available. They look and feel like fine furniture and nobody can resist reaching out and their hands along the cap.
Miguel Flores – Foreman
Alberto Curcio – Head Carpenter
Eli Jacobs – Carpenter
Paul Klawiter – Carpenter’s Apprentice
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The proud owner of this stunning deck was interviewed by the Prime Buyers Report and I was happy to receive the following email:
“Good afternoon Weston,
I just had a lovely chat with Bill Fxxx. He loves you and couldn’t say enough good things about your work. When he answered the phone, I told him you’d given me his name as a reference and I was wondering about his experience with Deckmaster Fine Decks. He said the truth is that your ego is completely wrapped up in the quality of your work. He raved about how he is thrilled with the deck, and he was blown away that you took time to cut out paper templates and even used scrap wood to cut exact pieces to ensure they’d fit before you cutting the ipe. He told me every contractor who comes to his house says “wow” and comments how great the deck is. He also said your work is flawless, and he told me that your background in furniture making makes a difference–nothing in his house looks as great as his deck. 
What a wonderful reference he is for you. You should be very proud your customers are so devoted to you and in love with your work. I’m so glad I had the chance to talk with you and share your information with the public. I hope we help find you many more thrilled customers.
Have a great day,
Lauren
Lauren Bongard Schwarz
Associate Editor
The Prime Buyer’s Report”
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National Award Winning Deck
Filed Under Pool Decks · Tagged: award winning deck design, california redwood association, deckmaster hidden bracket, hidden brackets, redwood deck
This beautiful deck around the pool and spa won the National Redwood Deck Contest sponsored by the California Redwood Association. I had received a call from David Reed, Landscape Architect, asking me to hurry over to see a client who needed his deck replaced. David said the client was considering a large retaining wall and a flagstone patio instead of a wood deck. David viewed this as a big mistake.
When I met the client, he showed me through his house which was furnished with an extraordinary collection of antique Japanese furniture and cabinetry. He then led me out to his expansive deck and said something that made a lasting impression on me. “I love wood and I love decks but this deck is only ten years old and in dire need of replacement. I can’t justify the expense of building another deck if it will have such a short lifespan.”
| Surface Fasteners Destroyed the Original Deck |
We looked at his deck and it was very well built with redwood decking and treated understructure. The redwood planks were in really good shape – except where the nails had been. Many of the nails had popped up and been replaced by screws which were now popping up as well. Most nail holes had a dime sized area of rot. His beautiful deck had been ruined by the fastening system.
| Deckmaster Brackets Solve the Problem |
I showed him a small model of my Deckmaster invention that was quite new at that time. He could see that the problem areas on his deck would be eliminated with my new system. David Reed proceeded to design him a beautiful deck which we then built. The deck was entered in the National Redwood Deck Contest which was sponsored by the California Redwood Association and Home Mechanix Magazine and won the second prize. It was the top professional entry that year.
When the magazine was writing the article about the deck, I got a call from the author asking if we had an 800 number. I said “no” and he suggested that we get one because he planned to feature the Deckmaster Bracket in his article. He had never heard of hidden fastening for decks and thought his readers might be interested. He turned out to be right. When the article came out the phone started ringing and never stopped.
The deck still looks good today and it is nearly twice as old as the deck it replaced! The Deckmaster Hidden Brackets made all the difference.
Tags: award winning deck design, california redwood association, deckmaster hidden bracket, hidden brackets, redwood deck
Weston Leavens and Master Deck Builder are synonymous. He brings decades of inventiveness and award winning perfection in design and construction to the deck building craft. If you're seeking eye appeal and lasting quality, you've come to the right place. Just looking at a few of the illustrations of Weston's work throughout this site cannot help but convince you.