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01 / 09Western red or eastern white cedar decking, cooler underfoot than composite, fastened with stainless or coated screws and sealed at the cuts.
Cedar decking is what people mean when they say they want a wood deck. It has real grain that varies board to board, it takes stain beautifully, and it feels warm and slightly soft underfoot rather than hard and hollow. For a deck you walk on barefoot, that matters more than a spec sheet suggests.
Cedar's physical advantage over composite is temperature. It is a low-density wood full of air, so it does not store solar heat the way a dense polymer board does. On a 30 degree GTA afternoon a cedar deck is comfortable in bare feet when a dark composite deck is not. That single property is why cedar decking still wins pool surrounds against materials that beat it on every maintenance measure.
We install western red and eastern white cedar. Western red is more stable, darker and longer-lived. Eastern white is lighter, more local and better value. Both are naturally rot resistant without treatment, through the same heartwood oils that make cedar fencing last. Premium western red and AK-KD grades are quoted separately rather than assumed, because the grade is most of the price and it should be a decision rather than a surprise.
Cedar is softer than pressure-treated pine, which cuts both ways. Kinder to knees and bare feet, easier to dent under a dropped barbecue leg or a patio chair dragged on a stone.
It also needs attention. Left alone it silvers, which many owners like. Oiled or stained every two or three seasons it holds its warm tone. Unlike composite, that maintenance is not optional if you want the colour, though the deck will not fail without it.
Framing is pressure-treated with taped joist tops, on footings below the 1.2 m frost line, after an Ontario One Call locate that takes a minimum of five business days. Cedar deck boards are face-screwed with stainless or coated fasteners, because ordinary zinc reacts with the wood's natural acids and bleeds black streaks down the board within a season. Board ends are sealed on the cut. Where the deck surface sits more than 600 mm above grade, a guard is required under the Ontario Building Code and a municipal permit usually is too.
Against composite, cedar costs less up front, looks better and runs cooler, and asks for oiling. Against pressure-treated, cedar costs more and is far nicer to touch. Against tropical hardwoods such as ipe, cedar is softer and much easier on the budget, and it is the wood decking board most GTA homeowners actually end up choosing.
| Grades | Western red and eastern white; premium western red and AK-KD quoted separately |
|---|---|
| Rot resistance | Natural heartwood oils, no treatment involved |
| Framing | Pressure-treated with taped joist tops, on footings below the 1.2 m frost line |
| Fasteners | Stainless or coated face screws; ordinary zinc reacts with cedar's acids and bleeds black streaks |
| Board ends | Sealed on the cut |
| Upkeep | Oil or stain every two or three seasons to hold the warm tone, or let it silver |
We are an installation contractor, not a manufacturer or a materials retailer. We build decks and fences on your property across the Greater Toronto Area: layout, footings below the frost line, framing, boards, railings, stairs and gates, finished and inspected. Composite boards are a surface option we install, alongside pressure-treated lumber and western red cedar, and the boards themselves are made by manufacturers we do not represent and whose brands we do not resell. If you already have material on site we can build with it; if you do not, we specify and source what suits the deck and include it in the written fixed price. What you are buying from us is the build and the crew that stands behind it, not a product off a shelf.
