Decks and fences built for eight months of rain a year

Everything outdoors here is a water-management problem

A deck in Arizona is a deck. A deck in Kirkland is a horizontal surface that will be wet for most of the year, sitting against the side of your house, at the exact point where water damage is most expensive to fix. The ledger connection — where the deck attaches to the building — is the single most important detail on the whole structure, and it is the one most commonly done wrong. Flashed properly, it lasts decades. Flashed poorly, it rots the rim joist and the wall behind it.

We build with that in mind: proper ledger flashing, joist tape on the framing tops, correct fastener types for the treated lumber, footings below frost depth on undisturbed soil, and drainage that moves water away from the house rather than into it.

Decking materials, honestly compared

• Western red cedar — beautiful, local, ages to silver-gray. Needs cleaning and refinishing every couple of years if you want to keep the color.
• Composite and PVC — costs more up front, then asks almost nothing of you. In this climate that trade is worth it for many homeowners. Good products now look genuinely good.
• Pressure-treated fir — the value option, structurally sound, and the standard for framing underneath regardless of what the surface is.
• Hardwood — dense, dark, striking, and requires the most maintenance of anything on this list.

Fences

The Northwest kills fences from the ground up. Posts rot at grade, gates sag, and the cheap route — posts set directly in a wet concrete collar — traps moisture exactly where the wood is weakest. We set posts to drain, use appropriate hardware, brace gates properly, and build to a line that follows the ground rather than fighting it. Cedar privacy fencing, horizontal slat, picket, and modern metal-and-wood combinations are all common requests.

Before we build, we confirm the property line and check the local height limits and any HOA rules — most cities in the area cap fences in front yards lower than in back yards, and a fence in the wrong place is an expensive conversation with a neighbor.

Permits and railings

Decks above a certain height above grade require a building permit and must meet code for guard height, baluster spacing, stair rise and run, and graspable handrails. Those numbers exist because falls from decks are a real and common injury. We build to them and get them inspected.