So!
As per usual the socials have had regular updates and the website blog has lagged behind so time for me to add some photos of the latest projects here
Also in seeing that my latest post was about all the composite decks We'd been building, reminded me to write an article about why we aren't building composite decks any more. Woods in and plastic is most definitely out in most cases for us!
So what's been happening...
On the staffing front, I've cut down the team on purpose as I wanted to concentrate more on less jobs and less stress but at the same time keeping myself busy. Sol has headed off to Uni in search of a dream career in Astronomy. 💫
I have a previous member of staff doing a few days with me which is great and has a full cycle vibe to it 😊
So jobs... as per usual cliff decks or sloping garden decks are as popular as ever. Taking a garden you can hardly walk up or down due to steepness and making an awesome living space never gets boring for me and seeing results in 1-2 weeks is always a buzz
So here's our latest slope deck on what is round a 45 degree slope near Cravern arms. not an easy build physically but well worth the effort I think anyone would agree looking at the before and after photo
How things looked before
What a spot! This decking comes in at around 26m2 at approx 7 x 3.6 meters in size.
We added some fencing and a supporting wall that doubles as a bench to finish this deck off. Shropshire isn't far for us and despite being based in Wales area happy to offer decking quotes around the Shrewsbury and borders area
Another strong theme this year has been in refurb and rebuilds of decks. We see a lot of decks built badly and often with no allowance for water management which leads to the decks having a much shorter life span than is possible. Our decks from 20 years ago are still going strong in most cases, especially when taken care of, washed, brushed and sometimes treated.
Here's a nice before and after from Mynydd Isaf in Aberdyfi, we reused the original frame, and added some friendly steps in Gripsure deck-boards to make garden access easier and safer
Alternative timbers are always welcomed here and we always love using local Larch and Douglas-fir. We've had a few this year but this has to be a favourite for me with its random sized vertical sleep wall
Larch and Dougie are both great home grown timbers that offer a similarly priced alternative to treated smooth finish softwoods. The can be sealed to hold their colour, stained or simply left to go silvery grey. These timbers are very robust and offer especially strong hard wearing builds
I couldn't let an Autumn and Winter decking update go by without mentioning glass! Glass railings are as popular as ever it would seem. Heres a few we've done recently including on on an already built patio that we added stainless steel posts and glass panels too
I best leave things there now but I'll be adding more photos of recent jobs soon and also writing up a blog about why we at GC DECKS don't build composite decks now, (or at least ones with rails) and prefer to offer some great timber options that will easily last as long if not longer than composite decking in our my opinion.
Thanks for taking a look and hope you enjoyed the pictures
Shem
