Collected from first calls, site visits, and the local Facebook threads where people go looking for a deck builder. If yours isn't here, the phone number on the right works.
It depends on size, how high off the ground it sits, wood or composite, stairs, railing style, and what's under the grass. Material prices also move season to season, which is why we don't publish a number that would be wrong by the time you read it. What you get instead is a written, itemized estimate with wood and composite priced side by side, after we've seen the site.
A site visit, a layout sketch, board samples, and a written price that spells out footings, framing, decking, railing, stairs, haul-away, and clean-up, with the material options itemized. No charge, no obligation, and no follow-up pressure.
Up front, yes. Over the years the gap narrows because composite doesn't need staining or sealing and wood does. Whether it closes depends on how long you'll own the house and how much you'd rather be on the deck than working on it. We'll show both on the estimate so you can see the actual difference for your deck.
We don't, but a written estimate makes a home-improvement loan application straightforward.
Most do. Under the Michigan Residential Code, a deck that attaches to the house or stands 30 inches or more above grade needs a building permit; a small freestanding platform close to the ground often doesn't. Who issues it depends on your address: the City of Saginaw Inspections Division handles the city, the Saginaw Township Building Department handles the township, and each surrounding town runs its own building department. Tell us your address and we'll find out what applies, handle the application, and schedule the inspections.
Below the frost line, so the freeze-thaw cycle can't push them up. In the Saginaw area that means at least 42 inches below grade, the depth set by the Michigan Residential Code (R403.1.4), and we dig to it or deeper. Decks built on shallow footings are the ones that heave, tilt, and pull away from the house after a few winters, which is why it's the one thing we won't cut short.
Usually the ledger, the board that fastens the deck to the house. Older decks often have it nailed instead of bolted, with no flashing, so water gets behind it and rots the ledger and the rim joist it's attached to. Sometimes it's footings that heaved and moved the frame. Either way it's the first thing we check on any repair or replacement.
Both hold up when built right; the frame under them matters more than the boards. Composite skips staining and shrugs off snow, but darker colors run warm in July sun. Pressure-treated and cedar cost less, stay cooler, and look like real wood. Budget, shade, and how you feel about a weekend with a stain pad usually decide it. We build both and we'll tell you which we'd pick for your yard.
Yes, especially dark colors in full afternoon sun. On a west-facing deck in Saginaw Township in July, a deep gray or brown board can be uncomfortable barefoot. Lighter colors and some shade solve most of it. We leave samples in your yard on a sunny day so you can feel it before you decide.
If the deck is where you'll spend summer evenings and looks matter to you, usually yes: cedar is cooler, lighter, naturally rot-resistant, and takes stain beautifully. If it's a landing and stairs off the back door, pressure-treated is the smarter spend. Both need sealing on a schedule.
All-plastic boards, no wood fiber. They resist moisture even better than composite and cost the most. They make sense poolside or on a riverfront lot along the Saginaw where the deck never fully dries. For most backyards a good capped composite gets nearly all the benefit for less.
Most people call in May and wait in line. Fall is the underrated window: workable ground, open schedule, and a deck that's ready the first warm weekend of spring. We take winter builds when the ground and weather allow. If you want to use the deck this summer, call in late winter, not June.
Often, yes. Frozen ground makes footings slower, not impossible, and framing and decking go on in the cold just fine. Deep snow and hard freezes can pause a job. The upside is a deck that's done before anyone else has even booked an estimate.
It depends on size, height, footing conditions, and permit timing, so we won't quote a number before we've seen the site. You get a start date and a finish window in writing before we begin, and a call if weather moves either one.
A call, a site visit, and a written estimate. Then design and materials, permits if the project needs them, the build, and a walkthrough with a care sheet for whatever material you chose. The five steps are laid out on the homepage.
Push a screwdriver into the posts near the ground and into the ledger where it meets the house; if it sinks in, call someone. Grab the railing and lean; it shouldn't move. Look under the deck for rusted hangers, missing bolts, or joists with dark, soft patches. Bounce on the stairs. If any of that worries you, we'll come look at no charge. There's a fuller deck safety checklist on the blog.
It depends on the product, the sun, and the tree cover, so we put the schedule for your specific finish on the care sheet rather than guess. The simple test: when water stops beading on the surface, it's time.
No, but it needs to be built for it. Shaded lots along the river and in the wooded parts of the county hold moisture, which means algae on the boards and slow drying underneath. Wider board gaps, air moving under the deck, a material that tolerates damp, and a yearly wash handle it.
Coverage is spelled out in writing before work starts; composite manufacturers carry their own product warranties. Ask during your estimate.
Call and reach a person, not a queue. Or send the details and we'll call you back to set up a visit.
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