When you're building a custom home, the big decisions get all the attention; the floor plan, the finishes, the view. But some of the smartest choices happen in the details. Your deck is a perfect example.
Here's a tip that most homeowners never hear until after it's too late to change anything.
Match Your Deck Width to Your Membrane Sheet Width
If you're installing a waterproof decking system, like Deck Smart by Heritage Deck and Railing, which is what we use at RAVN Homes, the membrane comes in standard sheet widths. Ours come in 6-foot rolls.
That number matters more than most people realize when you're setting the dimensions of your deck.
If your deck is 9.5 feet wide, the installer has to cut the sheet and the leftover material goes in the bin. That’s money you’re throwing down the toilet. But if your deck is designed at 6 feet, 12 feet, or 18 feet wide, you're using the material efficiently, seam-to-seam, with no waste.
It sounds like a small thing. It's not. Material costs on a premium waterproofing system add up quickly, and waste is entirely avoidable with a little planning at the design stage.
The Roll-Up Detail You Also Need to Know
There's one more thing worth understanding about how these systems work. The membrane doesn't just lay flat, it has to roll up the wall at the perimeter, typically a few inches, to create a continuous waterproof seal. When your siding comes down over it, the whole assembly is sealed from the wall face across the deck surface, and water runs off cleanly.
This means your "usable" deck width is slightly less than your framed width. It's a minor detail, but one worth accounting for in your design so you're not surprised on install day.
The Bottom Line
Great custom homes are built on a thousand small, well-made decisions. Sizing your deck to align with your membrane sheet width is exactly the kind of thing your builder should be thinking about before a single board is cut, not after the material is already ordered.
At RAVN Homes it's the kind of detail we bring to the table early, because that's what it means to build with intention.
Your home is Built to be Remembered.
Building a custom home in Bearspaw, Strathmore, or other locations around Calgary?