A deck is a big project, so naturally, with big projects come big questions. Is it worth the investment? There is the ROI to consider, which typically ranges from 65% to over 100%, depending on materials and location.
But the way we look at it, that’s not the only place you’ll find value.
What Des Moines Deck Builders Know About How People Live
Harold Cross at Archadeck of Central Iowa has been building decks in Des Moines for thirty years. If you ask him why people build, he won't talk about property values. He'll tell you to go outside and play.
The families who love their decks the most aren’t the ones who spent the most money. They’re not the ones who remember the exact shade of the composite boards that they chose. They’re the ones who use the space every chance they can.
The dad who fires up the grill on Wednesday nights because the deck makes weeknight cooking feel like a family event. The couple who enjoy how blissful the brief outdoor respite is when the kids are asleep, watching lightning bugs drift across the yard. The grandmother whose grandkids come over and immediately ask if they can eat outside.
Those are the use cases that Des Moines deck builders hear from clients after the build is done and the deck has had a summer to become a fixture in the family’s life.
Deck Construction is the Easy Part
The custom deck design and build process has steps. Consultation, drawings, materials, permitting, construction, and walkthrough. Archadeck has done this thousands of times. Deck construction is methodical and professional. There is a clear, delineated process that will take you from Point A to Point B.
But what’s harder to engineer is the feeling you get the first time you host on it.
Fifteen people in your backyard for the Fourth of July. The grill is going. Somebody brought a speaker. The kids are running through the sprinkler, and the adults are on the deck watching with cold drinks in hand, not looking at their phones for the first time in a week. The sun is dropping over central Iowa, and nobody wants to go inside.
There’s also that Tuesday night, and a Friday night, and a random Saturday morning where you bring coffee out and sit for two hours because there’s nowhere else you would rather be.
Deck construction puts boards under your feet. What you do on those boards is where the real value lives.
Let’s Build Something Beautiful, Together
Deck companies will give you a proposal. And they certainly should before a project kicks off. It’ll answer the questions you have about materials and what is to be done.
But the questions it can’t answer are many:
Is it worth having a place where the whole family ends up on summer evenings without anyone organizing it? Where the teenagers go outside voluntarily? Where your neighbors stop by and stay longer than they planned because the deck is comfortable and the conversation is flowing?
Browse the decks gallery and you'll see what Archadeck builds. What you won't see is what those decks became for the families on them. That part you just can’t capture in a photograph.
It would be our distinct pleasure to meet with you for a complimentary design consultation. Call Harold Cross and his team at (515) 203-8734, or
contact us using our online form.
