When it came to Alex & Corban’s forever home, they didn’t pick an easy block to build on. No, they picked a section that meant lots of engineered plans, extended time getting it through council, longer than average build times and with a couple of kids in the mix, it turned into a four-year project!

But with breathtaking sweeping views of the harbour, lots of natural bushland surrounds and their dream home to live in – the project has been well worth it for Alex & Corban.

With quite a large open rooftop deck, Alex & Corban wanted something that was sheltered, yet had an open feel and because it sat right in the treetops, they wanted a deck that blended in with the natural feel of their surroundings. “When it came to the outdoor deck framing system for our forever home, we immediately thought of using Outdure’s decking solutions,” said Corban.

“We were introduced to Outdure’s QwickBuild over 8 years ago when we purchased a modular shipping container from the Mini Car Showroom which had used ResortDeck and QwickBuild as the outside decking frame structure. I can honestly say after 11 years (3 years in commercial and 8 years as residential) Outdure’s ResortDeck composite decking, still looks fantastic and I think I have only water blasted it once, so the maintenance is very minimal, I have never found anything like it in quality”, says Corban.

“I did do my homework though, looking into all the options of deck framing NZ has to offer. You have to continually make sure you are getting value for money. What’s interesting is that while it might initially seem on the more expensive side, by the time I added in time to install, lifetime maintenance, quality and strength, as ultimately, you are getting a perfectly straight deck. It is actually much better value for money than any other deck framing system or product on the market.” says Corban.

Although Alex & Corban have been in their home for just 4 months (at the time of writing this article), the outdoor deck was one of the first things to go down. “QwickBuild was also perfect for our project, given the complexity of our block. We had to build our deck over the top of a membrane, and I love the genius of it as you can build it over anything – it is very fast, quick and easy to install and at the end of it you get a perfectly straight deck that doesn’t twist and warp over time”.

Corban went on to say that all decks look perfect for the first season, but timber joists shrink and expand over time, so they never stay looking perfect. “I always say you have a season before you see a standard timber deck start to weather and buckle – we have already been through a rainy summer and our Outdure deck still looks perfect.”

When it comes to installing a deck, the structure is very important, but it is only half the picture. Picking the right surface can make or break the look of your outdoor area and let’s face it when it comes to style Alex & Corban are at the top their game. Corban is a fantastic engineer, but when it comes to style, Alex is definitely the brains behind it. “Getting the inside to flow into the outside was really important” said Alex. Alex chose ResortDeck in Havana, as it complimented their indoor cedar features. “Our outdoor deck feels like an extended part of our living room; it all feels very connected,” which is what they were trying to achieve.

Outdure’s ResortDeck is a perfect solution for someone that wants a low maintenance deck but the natural look of timber. ResortDeck with Ultrashield technology blends the impressive low-maintenance, high-performance characteristics of a composite deck, with the beautiful matte oil finish you’d expect from the best natural timber decking products available.

When it came to the design of their outdoor deck, there were three different design elements that Alex considered. They wanted an outdoor garden (which is now flourishing with herbs), a lounge area where they could relax and entertain, and an outside kitchen area for cooking. It was important for Alex to ensure these areas took up the best use of the open space but still flowed naturally. Alex achieved this by defining each space with furniture, rugs and repurposing old concrete barrels that they painted and used as planter boxes for their garden space.

However, the benefit of QwickBuild is that it can integrate different surfaces on the one deck framing system. Many of our clients chose to use our exterior structural tiles, turf (artificial grass), composite or even hardwood decking to help define different spaces in their outdoor area. You can learn here how The Block 2019 integrated the different surfaces to define different spaces here.

Alex & Corban couldn’t be happier with their new forever home and who could blame them, when asked if the 4 years of blood sweat and tears were worth it, the resounding answer is YES!

Alex’s Top 5 Tips For Designing An Outdoor Space

1. Planning & brainstorming is very important. This includes how do you want to use the space e.g., cooking, entertaining, relaxing. This helps allocate space and define what you need to achieve what you want to use this space for.

2. Figure out what types of material you want to use. Try and emulate what you do on the inside on the outside to achieve the desirable indoor-outdoor flow. We chose ResortDeck Havana as it matched our indoor floorboards.

3. Keep the aesthetics the same as the inside, so it doesn’t feel disjointed. Our outdoor kitchen used the same materials as our inside kitchen, along with the same bench shape and look.

4. Define your spaces by using furniture, rugs or unique bespoke furniture.

5. Ultimately outdoor spaces are for enjoying, so choosing low maintenance materials is the way to go.