Spring is here, which means the start of warmer weather and more days spent outside. It might also have you thinking about starting a backyard project to extend your living space. But where to start? Building an addition such as a deck is a major project that involves numerous professionals, including a contractor, various craftsmen and sometimes an architect. It can be overwhelming, time-consuming and costly for the homeowner to coordinate between all of those service providers, but there’s one company that has simplified the process by bringing all of those services together under one roof— Amazing Decks.

Amazing Decks has over 20 years of deck building expertise and specializes in taking projects from conceptual design through completed construction.

 “They don’t understand design or flow; they don’t take into consideration where the grill and couch is going; how the deck exits and enters onto the background,” owner Bill Wilson says of construction companies. What Wilson and his team take into consideration is expanding the “heart of the house”—the kitchen into your outdoor living space. “The heart of the house is where home- owners and guests naturally gravitate to,” he says. “That’s where everyone spends time and we revolve the living space inside your house around that. You want to marry the heart of the house to the deck, and you want to marry the deck to the backyard.

 “Building an outside/inside room takes a lot of experience. You have to know about gas appliances, fireplaces, water features, plants, landscape design, hardscaping, patios, different materials and textures, and find a way to put it in someone’s budget. Most people limit looking at materials at [places like] Home Depot. Wouldn’t you rather call someone who knows every material available?”

Wilson says homeowners have the impression that design/build companies are more expensive, but that is not the case. Because they buy many building materials in bulk, from decking products to fasteners, railings and stone, it lowers the price for the homeowner.

 “We know every material that’s available so we can fit a high-end project into a normal, medium range budget,” he says. “People can get a lot more for their money if they hire a design firm.”

By not hiring a design firm, Wilson says you run the risk of problems arising shortly after, and he and his team have encountered several of those problems after homeowners called them to help fix the situation.

 “Decks are built too large and lack usable space, decks require service but the contractor who built it doesn’t return to fix it, decks aren’t integrated to the slope of the yard, and stairs are placed where it would be cheapest to build and there was no taking into consideration the flow from the back door to the pool, to the driveway and to the patio,” Wilson explains. “A designer takes all of this into consideration when creating a project and also knows how to create space on a deck without it having to be so large.”

Amazing Decks pays attention to every little detail, and working together on each project as a team enables them to maintain an efficient construction schedule. Additionally, they take every part of your backyard into consideration when designing a space now and possibly in the future.

 “For example, when I design backyards, I ask them if they want a pool. They may say no, but you don’t want to shut your backyard off,” Wilson says. “You cannot build something now that will preclude them from having a pool someday; you don’t want to limit your property.”

Amazing Decks uses only the best materials available, such as Trex composite decking products. Wilson is excited about a new line of decking products Trex recently launched—Trex Enhance—that is durable and affordable, especially for first-time homebuyers.

 “It’s excellent coating and designed for first-time homebuyers,” Wilson says. “Coming out of school, they have a lot of debt but they want to purchase a house. This is a good entry point for them because there’s no maintenance and they don’t have to worry about cleaning the deck.”  

Installing a deck doesn’t just provide aesthetic value; it significantly boosts the home’s resale value. “We designed an entire backyard for a couple; they didn’t spend any money updating anything inside the house—it was all put into the deck,” Wilson says. “When they put their house for sale, they received many comments about the deck and how nice of a project it was. There were four or five other homes in the area also for sale, all listed before this one, and it was sold first all because of the deck.”

Amazing Decks 
Ambler, Pa. |  Flemington, N.J.
(800) 220-3275
AnotherAmazingDeck.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 19, Issue 11 (May 2019). 
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