Decks and patios
Decks and patios, framed by our own crew in Topeka
Trex and natural wood decks, screened-in porches and exterior stairs, built by the in-house framing crew that will stand at your final walk-through.
Chapter 01
What fails on a deck, and where we start
Decks rarely fail on the surface. They fail where the weight and the water go. The ledger board, which ties the deck to your house, is the first place to look: if it is fastened without flashing behind it, rain tracks into the rim joist and rots it out of sight. The second is the footings. A post that is not set properly moves with every freeze and thaw, and the frame racks with it. The third is the hardware, hangers and bolts sized for the span and the load rather than for whatever was on the truck.
That is why we spend the first conversation in your yard, not at a screen. At the free on-site meeting we walk the back of the house, talk through how you actually use the space, and look at how the door, the grade and the sun line up. Then the framing is planned around those facts, so the parts nobody sees are settled before the part everybody sees.
Composite deck with a dining set under a covered pergola
Framed in-house, surfaced your way
PDQ does not hand a deck to a subcontractor. Our in-house framing crew builds it, led by Alex Bowers, and the same people who set the posts are the ones you meet at the final walk-through. That matters on a deck more than almost anywhere in a house, because the structure disappears under the surface the day the boards go down. The only way to know it was built right is to know who built it.
Surface material is your call, and we will tell you plainly what each one asks of you. Composite decking from Trex or TimberTech, both of which we work with through local suppliers, holds its color and does not need staining. Natural wood gives you the grain and the warmth many Topeka homes were built around, and it asks for a refinish now and then. Neither is wrong. The right one is the one you will still like looking after in ten years.
Chapter 03
Stairs, screened porches and the custom details
A deck rarely stops at a rectangle of boards. Our crews also build screened-in porches, exterior stairs and custom features, from a pergola over the dining table to a stair that lands where your path actually runs. Stairs are where small framing errors show fastest, one riser a little off and everyone trips on it, so they are laid out and checked before they are cut.
Lynn Clothier, who has worked with us on several projects since 2023, described the range as everything from a deck and porch work to a full bathroom remodel and interior painting. That range is the point of an in-house team: the same standard follows the work whether it is outside the back door or inside it.
When the deck is finished we do a final walk-through with you, and the work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee. If you are in Topeka, Lawrence or Junction City and want to talk a deck through, call (785) 235-1511 and ask for a free on-site meeting.
PDQ's in-house framing crew builds your deck, led by Alex Bowers, and the job closes with a final walk-through backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Sheet D-1, deck and porch
Read the deck like a drawing sheet
Every set of plans carries a corner block that says who drew it and what it covers. A deck deserves the same honesty. Here is who builds ours and what we put on top.
