The
WORK-IN-PROGRESS page depicts
projects that are either planned or under construction. Here the
predominant visual is the architectural rendering. Clicking on the
rendering gives a large rendering and more information on the planned
structure.
Although many completed original designer arbors are pictured in the
PROJECTS pages, it would be quite educational for you to first preview
the
ARBORS page, where there are links to
the various arbor projects,
for a discussion about the
revolution we have created in California regarding arbors.
Arbors are always designed for the particular situation.
There is no printed brochure to send out on arbors -- this site is my
brochure. If you see something that piques your imagination but is not exactly appropriate
for your situation, then go to the
DESIGN WORK page
and read how you may proceed with Mr. Deck to have something designed
specifically for you. All of the designer arbors pictured in this website originated under a design-work
contract.
Many original arbors and other structures were
designed for specific situations but for one reason or another were never
commissioned to be built. These designs have been priced-out and all the
key dimensions spelled-out. Each structure is pictured from at least two
perspectives in a detailed architectural rendering. They are presented as
"designs looking for a home" in the
DESIGN ORPHANAGE
page.
Decks are always custom-built. Most components such as planters,
railings, screens, lattice, outdoor cabinets and small stairs and short seats are
prefabricated in my shop. Large stairs and long seats are built on-site.
It would be helpful for you to preview the
DECKS page,
where there are links to the various designer deck projects, for a discussion on the
details that
make a deck a "designer deck".
I'm not big on
fences since the expectations of fence quality in
general are quite low. Everyone h
ere in California has utility fences, a
sort of necessity item, built as cheaply as possible to separate their
properties from their neighbors'. I'm not in that
economy league. However, there is one designer fence that was not meant to
be a good-neighbor fence and was photographed for a few magazines.
More photos of it and others may be found
on the
FENCE page. All of these fences were entirely
prefabricated in the shop, then shipped and assembled on site.
Although you will see many decks, arbors and fences in this website
made from redwood, I am also interested in designing and building
structures which will use permanently-colored solid-plastic lumber that requires basic
ally no maintenance, no staining or
painting and is backed by a
50-year manufacturer's warranty. The deck
above the fence photo is an all solid-plastic deck. For a complete discussion of this
remarkable material, plus photos of more completed showpiece plastic decks, see
PLANKING.
Made from this same solid-plastic material are two
designer spiral-staircases
available in kit form. They have been designed specifically for outdoor use.
For more pictures and information go to
SPIRAL STAIRCASES.
There are other products, unique to Mr. DECK, for
the outdoors that are also available from us, such as
designer trellises,
arbors and fold-down wall tables that are made predominantly from solid-plastic.
There are
floating docks
too. Photos of these items are found in the
PRODUCTS section with links to the
complete descriptions of each product.
I've been in this business long enough to be convinced
that
lunacy knows no bounds,
being considerate only applies on Sunday
mornings when the highways are not jammed and
showing appreciation is
what the homeowner is hoping to show his realtor about the value of his house in California.
I have a
CRITIQUES page which is the central link to my inspired ravings: There
are links to criticisms of the
oh-so-prevalent stack-of-sticks arbors that abound all around California,
comics that are based on some absurd encounters I have had with
never-had-a-chance-to-be customers, and just off-the-wall email requests
for my free advice.
In searching the web myself to get an idea of how
deep this website is among the many deck-building and builder sites, I have come across
many published photos by so-called
deck-builders
and landscape
contractors whom I found lacking in candor, craftsmanship,
design ability, practical judgment or just plain experience. So I have
copied many of their pictures to this site for a critical "shoot down." If
you can familiarize yourself with the "bad" ahead of time, you might
better position yourself to recognize when any of it gets shown to you
as an example of someone's so-called expertise.
PHOTOS ON THE
WEB.
Not only that, but a few seemingly upstanding
deck-builders with
professional-looking websites
have used photos from my website here as their
own!
PLAGERIZING WEBSITES. So
who can you really trust?
About me
I am one of a handful of deck-builders in California that has any
formal education at all beyond the high-school
level:
BS (Architecture) Penn State '63;
MS (Engineering) Stanford '71
This is my 2nd professional career and a natural follow-on since I
worked my way through Penn State in commercial and residential
construction for 5 years. I've been building decks and arbors for
20 consecutive years full time; that's after working as a structural
design engineer for US Steel for 14 years.
I design and sell materials for showpiece decks anywhere in
California, but only California.
I design, handle the prefabrication work and ship
arbors to project sites anywhere in California, but only California, where
I personally handle the erection of the structure from foundation to the
finish work.
This website was constructed to exhibit the style and
character of the structures that I can do. All of the structures shown
here were designed, engineered and built by me. They are the best of my
many projects. Although the most complex ones were built only in the last
10 years, my best project is always my most recent one.
I am an experienced master craftsman, interested in the art of my craft. I
am a licensed California Contractor (CA 469141, B & D41).
I
am a member of the Western Regional Master Builders Association. I do
premium grade work. I do all the specification details and oversee all of
the prefab work myself. I also personally manage any Mr. Deck deck
project that is being built in California and am around to lead the work
and lend assistance and special tools in the critical phases.
I became 65 years old in November 2005 and could just
retire, but I like what I'm doing and am still able to set the pace on any
of my construction projects. However, that doesn't mean that I will be
able to carry-on like this indefinitely.
I have found no protégé yet to replace me and it would take
another 5 years for me to train someone in just the basics. So the bottom
line is that if you are a California resident and want a designer arbor
like the ones I've shown in this site, you have a limited time-window in
which to get one. Then, because all of my designs are protected from
reproduction by being registered US architectural copyrights, arbors like
these will be relegated to architectural history.
You may find out how to contact
me at the bottom of the
CONTACT
page.
Robert Francis Hauck Jr.
(a.k.a.
Mr. Deck)
