Aguilar Fences
Decks in Chapel Hill, NC and Nearby Towns
Custom deck construction built around how you cook, sit, and entertain outside, not a generic add-on box.
Before we talk boards or railings, we talk about what actually happens on your back porch. A deck built for a grill and two chairs is a different structure than one meant to hold a table for ten or a hot tub, and the framing underneath has to be sized for that load from day one. This is where a lot of decks fail quietly, undersized joists or ledger boards attached wrong to the house that look fine for years until they do not.
We frame with pressure treated lumber rated for ground contact where posts meet soil, and we tie the ledger board into the house framing properly, not just screwed to the siding, since that connection is what keeps a deck from pulling away from the house. For decking material, pressure treated wood is the affordable option but needs regular sealing, composite boards cost more up front but do not need staining and hold up better against our humid summers, and cedar sits in between on price and needs its own upkeep.
Humidity and heavy rain are the real test for a deck in this area. Poor drainage under the deck or boards laid too tight against each other trap moisture, and that is what leads to rot in the framing you cannot see until a board gives way. We space and flash things correctly so water moves off and out, not down into the structure.
How it runs
- Design conversation We talk through how you use the space, seating, grilling, hot tubs, so the frame gets built for real loads.
- Permits and layout The homeowner handles all the permits for the deck, not us. Once the permit is in hand we lay out the footprint against the house.
- Footings and framing Footings go in below frost line and the frame gets built with proper ledger attachment.
- Decking and railing Boards go down with spacing for drainage, then railings and stairs get built to code.
- Final walkthrough We check every board and rail with you before calling it done.