Decks & fences

Deck building and fencing in Calgary

Outdoor structures fail from the ground up, and almost always for the same two reasons: footings that were not deep enough, and water sitting somewhere it should have drained. Both are decided on the first day.

Materials

Three honest choices, and what each costs you later.

Pressure-treated
The lowest price and the most upkeep. Expect to clean and re-coat it, and expect some boards to move.
Cedar
Better looking and more stable, at a real premium. Weathers to grey unless you commit to maintaining it.
Composite
Costs most up front and least afterwards. Needs a properly built frame underneath, which is where the money actually goes.

Frost depth is not optional here.

Footings that stop above the frost line will lift, and a deck that has lifted cannot be levelled back — it has to be rebuilt from the posts. Fence posts are the same problem at smaller scale, which is why a leaning fence line is usually a footing story rather than a wind story.

Also built