Appreciating the Beauty in Custom Decks: An Interview with Donald Tomlins of Decked Out by Don

Please tell us a little bit about your company and the services you offer.

Decked out by Don is a full construction co specializing in custom decks roofs over decks and many other projects such as additions, gamerooms ,roofing, siding, concrete and more. We are experts with Trex Transcends which I believe is the best decking product on the market we started in 1989 and have built thousands of projects all over the Pittsburgh area

What factors does a homeowner needs to consider before having a new deck built?

Consumers need to have an idea of what size they may be looking for and then what kind of budget they may have. Generally speaking most of the time the project will exceed what they think its going to cost especially if they have never had an estimate before. I think they should stop at a Home Depot or Lowes and look at all the different deck materials on the market, but we also have samples when we come to the house

How is the price for a custom deck normally calculated? What ballpark figure can you give homeowners in terms of cost?

Price for a deck is generally by the square foot for us we are generally around 22 to 24 per square foot with wood and around 40 with Trex. Steps are considerably extra 1200 to 1500 with pressure treated lumber and trex 3000 to 3500 added to the cost. Things that can affect the square foot price are size and shape the smaller the deck the higher the sq ft price other options like brick piers add onto the cost

What advantages does having a custom deck have?

Custom decks just really means its made for that specific house and designed accordingly the process is still the same

What is one of the biggest challenges involved with building a custom deck?

For my company there really isn't a challenge to building any deck just finalizing the colors and getting the building permit as far as a challenge goes. We love building them so its really a pleasure for us

Do you have any tips for homeowners who want to build onto an existing deck?

Adding onto an existing deck, I would definitely get the advice of a pro. There are ways to make it look like it was not added onto. That's a common project making a deck larger or redoing an old wood deck and turning it into trex

What's the best way for people to contact you and your company?

Best way to reach me is visit our website at www.thedexperts.com and /or my cell Don Tomlins 412-848-3573. Its best to meet at the site we find out what the customer wants I do a quick sketch on site. You mainly want to know the shape they are looking for and from there we email them their estimate.