With every deck, choices must be made. What maintenance will have to be done over time? What is the initial cost as well as the long term cost to the homeowner? How available is the product? What is the long term effect of being exposed to a chemical, daily? and one and on it goes.
One question that has moved to the forefront of the thought process is ” Am I being environmentally concious? Is my ecological footprint as small is it can be while not sacrificing a beautiful deck?
We, at Redwood Empire, ask ourselves the same things. How can we better educate our customers on not only the beauty and Natural Elegance of Redwood, but how do we show the environmental signifigance of using Natural, untreated, lumber to the planet we live on?
Firstly, All Heart Redwood, such as Construction Heart Grade, is naturally restant to insects and mold. It stands to reason that if you have to treat wood with a chemical that kills insects or mold, it has some toxicity level to all animals.
Secondly, there are NO extra chemicals or natural gas needed to produce Redwood lumber. This is not the case for 80% of all decking produced as Pressure Treated Lumber or Composite decking, HAS to use harmful chemicals of some type.
A significant portion of all Composites will not deteriorate in a landfill once they run their course, EVER. The question to ask is ” Do I want to contribute to the destruction of the planet simply because I cannot be bothered to clean and stain my deck once in a while?”
Thirdly, the cost of cleaning and restaining a deck has come down significantly, while the qualtiy of deck stains has increased proportionately. Instead of yearly staining, once every two or three years is enough.
Fourth and lastly, Redwood naturaly grays out to a very nice silver patina with no staining whatsoever. A Construction Heart, Select Heart, Heart B, or Clear All Heart deck will not only last for 40 years or longer, if the homeowner appreciates the natural silver patina, NO
maintenance other than washing or sweeping need ever be done.
In summary, an All Heart Redwood deck will last upwards of 40 years with little maintenance, will not harm the environment when its life is over as it will biodegrade back into the soil, and as a huge bonus, the new trees planted where the trees stood which were used to make your
deck, will be ready to harvest so that another generation can use the truly environmentally conscious decking choice, Redwood!