The Winner of Sikkens 2006 Ugly Deck Contest

One Ugly Deck. This Kentwood, Mich., deck may not look like your typical award-winner, but in the 2006 Ugliest Deck in America contest, it was a shoo-in for first place. Dale and Julie Owsinski, owners of the dilapidated example of 1970s backyard architecture, won a $10,000 makeover from Sikkens Decorative Coatings.

New Pocket Guide available for construction jobsite codes

New Guide Helps Builders Navigate Residential Code
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December 12, 2007 - A new pocket guide co-published by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC) provides critical answers to the most frequently asked residential construction jobsite code questions.

Available through BuilderBooks, NAHB’s publishing arm, Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Pocket Guide to the 2006 International Residential Code, is a portable guide for home builders, contractors, inspectors, architects, engineers, and other construction professionals. The convenient field guide is a quick reference to the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC), and provides easy-to-read code requirements for every aspect of residential construction.

“The latest edition for Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes is an excellent resource for builders to navigate the 2006 International Residential Code,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde, a builder from Southern California. “With its compact size, it is an ideal reference tool that builders can consult easily while on the jobsite.”

The user-friendly guide helps building professionals better understand elements of the 2006 IRC including:

- Provisions addressing all aspects of conventional construction of dwellings and their accessory buildings.

- Safety requirements such as egress, emergency escape, fall protection, safe design criteria, fire protection and sage and healthy living environments.

- Code provisions for foundations, floors, walls, roofs, chimneys and fireplaces, mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing and electrical systems.

Written by Stephen A. Van Note, the guide features illustrations, tables and figures to help the reader understand specific code requirements, as well as a glossary that provides definitions of construction-related terms. A certified building official and plans examiner, Van Note has 15 years of experience in code administration and enforcement and more than 20 years of experience in the construction field, including project planning and management for residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes is meant to be of practical use on the jobsite, not as a substitute for the complete codes.

To purchase the new Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Pocket Guide to the 2006 International Residential Code, please visit www.BuilderBooks.com or call 1-800-223-2665. (ISBN 978-0-86718-625-3; Retail $26.95/NAHB Member $24.95). The Guide is also available from the International Code Council.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Editors who are interested in receiving a complimentary copy of Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes to review for their publications should contact Patricia Potts at 202-266-8224 or ppotts@nahb.com.]

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL: The International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention, develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states that adopt codes choose the International Codes developed by the International Code Council.

From ICC News, the ICC Code Question of the Week

Here's agood question in the latest ICC newsletter; this would pertain to decks too.


Q: Section 1507.12 of the 2006 International Building Code requires a flat roof to have at least a 1/4":12" slope in order to have sufficient rain water run off. Is it the intent of this section that the 1/4":12" (2%) slope be measured at the valleys created by roof surfaces that are angled and adjacent to each other? Click here for the answer.

A Warranty to Watch Out For...Click here to read the maintenance requirements!

Before buying Poly Coat deck coatings, you might want to read their "Mandatory Maintenance and Care" Manual, which outlines all the things one must do if one hopes to get their limited warranty coverage.

Their clauses written fine print is inexcusable, and in my opinion is unethical.

What exactly does their fine print contain? The requirement to document with still pictures or video of their product applied as per the inspection requirements. But hold on-you have to perform inspections on a mandatory schedule, and you must send in the pictures of the inspections within 20 days. AND THIS IS IN THEIR FINE PRINT!

This is a total weasel clause and as a result, their warranty requirements puts this company on my personal list of "DO NOT BUY FROM" companies.

There is also the companies recommendation that you enter into a maintenance agreement with your installer...a steady source of residual income for him if they work it right. Reading through the maintenance instructions, there's so many don't do this and don't do that's where I wonder if I should even be walking on it at all...

C'mon Polycoat, you can do better that this...

Waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com gets ready for it's 25,000 visitor this month!

As we near the end of our first full year on the web, we've watched with anticipation as each new month brought more and more visits to our website, www.waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com. From 250 visitors per month back in September 2006, to a high of 2,833 visitors in July of this year, we're averaging 2200 visitors per month searching for information on deck coatings.

Now, as December heads to a close, we're anticipating our twenty five thousandth visitor sometime soon, in the next 6-10 days I predict, based on the number of average daily visits.

It is gratifying to see the traffic numbers up, indicating the demand for independent information from neutral sources is out there. I see the sales tactics and games played by some in the industry, and I hope that with the information and education I provide at Waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com is helping our audience get the right information they need without a sales job attached to it.

A new year awaits and new opportunities too-

Our wish list for next year-

Installing only One Hour Fire Rated deck coatings becomes mandatory.

A Trade group comprised of manufacturer's and installers is formed to better the industry.

Bozo installers in the industry drop out...although without them, we might not get as much rehab work.

Westcoat stops competing against it's own installers/customers, hiding behind "Life Deck Coatings Installation".

Sometimes wishes come true.

Thanks for visiting and supporting our independent website.

We do not accept any advertising from manufacturer's, seeking to maintain an neutral as possible position!

Kool Deck falling out of favor?

Feeling hot, hot, hot'
New surfaces keep our backyards, patios cool

From AZCentral.com comes this article on Pool Decking and new choices for pool decks...read it all at their website.



Brian Anderson
At Home Week
Mar. 16, 2007 12:00 AM
Arizona backyards are getting hot, hot, hot. But it's not so much the sole responsibility of Kool Deck anymore to keep the heat at bay.

Homeowners around the Valley are sprucing up patios, pools and landscaping with resort-style amenities and materials that not long ago were considered exotic.

Flagstone, bricks and pavers are in style while Kool Deck - the textured topping invented by Tucson's Mortex Manufacturing Co. more than four decades ago, is slowly falling out of favor - at least at the upper end of the economic spectrum.
Big spenders
"No client that we deal with would consider installing Kool Deck," said Steven Rogers, a registered landscape architect with Sonoran Desert Designs in Cave Creek.