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Decks

Restoration & New Construction

By High Altitude Finishes

January 12^th, 2017

Over the last fifteen years we have restored, structurally rebuilt and finished multiple decks. The following are a few case studies of our work.

Railing Design & Deck Restoration

Our client in Pine Brook Hills, Boulder, CO wanted us to build her a new deck. Based on her budget, we advised that it was a better option to restore her pre-existing redwood deck. In order to freshen up the look, we also suggested building a more modern railing system.

This railing system was designed and customized by our company. We used redwood throughout. For the stainless steel, it made sense to purchase the cabling from a Seattle based company. All of our systems are customized following Boulder County codes and regulations.

In order to achieve the goal, we took down both railings and ramp and rebuilt the structure in preparation for the new railing. We also fully sanded in completion the redwood decking, replaced rotten boards, and coated the surface with an oil based semi transparent stain.

The result was a deck made of the best wood one can find around for Colorado conditions. There is really nothing better than redwood. Our current building codes require our clients to build new decks with either batu or ipe hardwoods. The other option is to build with composite decking such as Trex. Brazilian woods ALL need yearly maintenance. These woods come from the rainforest and consequently are not designed for Colorado high UV levels and dry conditions. From a cost stand point, restoration often makes the most sense.

STRUCTURAL DECK REBUILT

Our client was not very proactive at shoveling snow off her decks. As a result, the deck partially rotten compromising the structure. We were hired to rebuilt the structure and replace the surface decking with Trex. We were also hired to replace the railings.

One of the complexities of a partial structural rebuilt is guaranteeing the proper alignment of new joists with existing joists. Though Trex is one of the choices for clients rebuilding decks in Boulder County, the material is not very forgiving when it comes to installation. It requires structures that are perfectly aligned.

The result of this project was a deck with proper drainage and perfectly aligned boards.

STRUCTURAL REBUILT OF A 1970’S DESIGN

For this project, we were asked to transform a redwood deck into a Trex one. When the joists were revealed, we discovered that most of them were rotten past the point of providing structural integrity. One of the complexities of this 1970 design, is the fact that all joists serve as structural flooring of the master bedroom as well as a deck surface. This means that all joists go inside the house. This prevented us from creating a new ledger board to foster installation of all new joists.

In order to structurally support the rotten joists, we had to dig into the house to find space to add sister joists.

Given the pre-existing damage, we also had to reduce the deck size to accommodate the new decking surface. This was a necessary step given the extra weight that Trex material has when compared with redwood. The client also chose to replace the existing railing with a much heavier alternative.

After re-sizing the decking, we supported the existing joists with new sister ones using treated lumber. We also profited from the opportunity to properly insulate the master bedroom floor, which we had to open in order to install the new sister joists.

We then closed the master bedroom floor, spray foam insulated our double blocking and installed our new double fascia in preparation for railing install.

We then epoxy bondo all the rotten joists to prevent further deterioration. Several bondo coats were needed. Our picture shows the first treatment.

We also installed new flashing under the existing siding as we noticed that previous contractors avoided this very critical step. As the pictures show, the plywood under the cedar siding had started to show water damage due to the lack of flashing.

We then put our new Simpson brakets and Trex tape to protect the structure from further water damage. The structure is then ready to lay the decking on it.

RAILING DESIGN

We were commissioned to design and install 160ft of railing in this 5,000 sq ft house located off Linden Rd in Boulder, CO. Our client Michelle was tired of the "old looking" square baluster look. She wanted something more "modern looking" that was obviously code compliant.

The first steps consisted on decommissioning the old railing & decking and rebuilding the decking structure which was partially rotten.

After researching her optimal low maintenance options, Michelle decided to use the Trex brand. She was not sure how to achieve the desired "rustic look" using Trex. Our company decided to integrate some rustic 6*6 Rough Cedar Posts to the design. Trex usually is a non forgiving sterile type of material. We though that adding some wood to the design would add character to the railing.

The result was a much more vivid type of railing. One of the challenges of the design is the actual perfect leveling of the heavy posts. We designed the correct structural supports based on Boulder County code. For durability, we coated the posts with our own mix of natural oils and oil-based stains.

One of the considerations for a project of this scale is the price point of natural woods. A Trex/Cedar railing combination can be expensive given the hardware requirements, the cost of rough cedar and the actual cost of the Trex brand.

Smaller Scale Decks

We have also worked on smaller scale projects building decks from the ground up. We are happy to undertake any scale when it comes to building decks.

Gold Hill, CO

In the Spring 2022, we built several decks. The one built in Gold Hill, Colorado for our clients Dana & John has a total square foot area of 265 sq ft. We changed the structural design using by using a PWT Treated LVL to accommodate for a larger footprint. We used Armadillo decking as a finish product. We also designed a steel cable railing with cedar posts.