Deck-Worthy Delicacies Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients 3 ½ Cups of Flour 1 Cup Sugar 1 Teaspoon Salt 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder 2 Eggs 1/3 Cup Butter 1 Cup Milk ¾ Cups Raisins Directions Soak raisins for a few minutes to plump them, drain, and then dredge with ¼ cup flour in the recipe Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs and mix Add dry ingredients alternately with milk Mix in raisins. Bake at 350 degrees in a greased pan for about 45 min to an hour depending on the pan you use. Use cake pans (8”-9” in diameter) or tube pans.
Considering the Critters: Your Deck and Wildlife
At DeckTec, we care deeply about the environment, which is why we continue to be the leading crafter of natural wood outdoor projects. We know that you enjoy spending time on your deck or patio, but we also know that other creatures might, too! It’s spring time, and besides a blossoming business season for deck construction and service, that can mean baby animals. Most common visitors are birds and squirrels, who after having spent a long, hard winter collecting nest materials, are just about to give birth to a batch of (soon to be) bushy tailed babies or feathery fledglings. Wooden structures placed off a warm home, like decks or roofs, can seem to be the perfect lodgings for wild animals looking for a place to nest. While you’re getting your house ready for a change in the season, make sure it’s wildlife- proofed as well. Scheduling your deck service in early spring will help you bypass several challenges, such as beating the spring time rush that comes with a specialty contractor in high demand, like[...]
Maintaining Your Outdoor Centerpiece
You’ve created a stunning outdoor space. You’ve made your deck into an outdoor centerpiece using beautiful exotic wood. At Decktec we’re very familiar with many exotic woods but the two we work with most frequently are mahogany and ipê. Mahogany According to eHow, mahogany is “commonly regarded as the world’s leading wood for fine-quality furniture, cabinetry, sculpture, carving, interior trim, and other applications.” The mahogany used for building decks typically comes from a tree called Swietenia macrophylla, also known as the big-leaf mahogany tree. These trees grow in tropical environments and they get huge. Rainforest Alliance says they can grow at tall as 200 feet. Reminiscent of a tropical oak, the Mahogany tree yields a gorgeous auburn colored wood that’s quite durable, which makes for a tough, long-lasting deck. Ipê Another exotic tropical wood called ipê comes from a tree known in the scientific world as Tabebuia spp.. These graceful trees are sometimes called Brazilian Walnuts and they’re particularly stunning around February when they burst into white, pink, yellow, red, and purple hues. The wood from[...]
DeckTec Has Upgraded Their Service Systems!
DeckTec Outdoor Designs continues to grow as a company, and with that growth comes improvements for our customers. With an increase in demands for quality, custom wood decks come the requirements for us to meet the needs of our customers. So, to do that, we have upgraded our scheduling and customer relations systems! The new scheduling system has been implemented to minimize delays and time on the road, get to more jobs each week, and allow for built in slack to lessen any “domino effects” in delays when it comes to weather, according to Sean O’Brien, Customer Service Specialist at DeckTec. “The Deck Service department grew incredibly fast and, due to the older systems and the processes that we had nothing to compare to, there were bumps in the road in years past,” said Steve Sparhawk, DeckTec’s president. An improved scheduling system that ensures proficiency of our work crews out in the field, also calls for improvements in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which will guarantee smoother customer service within our office. Easier for both[...]
Meet The Owner
It’s hard to believe, but my whole working life has been about outdoor living design and build. My earliest childhood memories — as well all my adult leisure time — has been spent on decks and patios, relaxing, entertaining, and barbecuing. I did landscaping as a summer job in high school and studied some horticulture in college. I then went to work in a nursery and garden center prior to starting my own landscape company and becoming something of a serial entrepreneur. Curved glass and aluminum then caught my attention but proved to be a short-lived fad. A short stint in cedar homes got me closer to what I wanted to do, but it wasn’t until 1988 when I became involved with a custom deck company that I discovered my calling. These varied, but related, job experiences and time spent living outdoors found me a profession I truly loved. My ‘ah-ha’ moment finally came when I realized that people didn’t want square decks — they wanted something with a design unique to them and their needs.[...]
Deck-worthy Dinners – Grandma Sparhawk’s Marinated Pork Loin
A great recipe is something to be treasured, and this one is no exception. You'll love this simple, easy to prepare family recipe from Grandma Sparhawk. I prefer this fresh off the grill, but it's pretty awesome when baked in the oven. Ingredients: 3/4 cup salad or vegetable oil 6 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon dry mustard 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons course ground pepper 1/4 cup wine vinegar 3/4 teaspoon dried parsley 1 table spoon crushed garlic 2 1/4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Directions: Marinate 24 hours in refrigerator. On grill: Cook on hot grill for 15 minutes or until your preferred degree of doneness. You may want to turn and brush on more marinade as it cooks. In oven: Bake tenderloins in broiler pan for 30 minutes at 350° F. Enjoy!
Shovelin’ A Winter Wonderland
How to Shovel Like a Pro In the U.S., some 100 people die shoveling snow every year. But that’s not a recent development. According to studies conducted at the U.S. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, there were over 1,600 cardiac-related snow shoveling fatalities from 1990 to 2006. When people shovel snow, the increase in heart rate and blood pressure, in conjunction with cold air that constricts arteries and blood supply, makes for ideal heart attack conditions. To keep you and your family safe this winter, consider some of these snow shoveling guidelines. For areas affected most heavily, a snow blower might be the best way to go, though they do come with their own risks. This winter, take the proper measures to ensure maximum safety. But remember: A pristine driveway is not worth your life! Do: Push the snow rather than lift it. Lifting wet, heavy snow over the shoulders can surge the heart rate to dangerous levels. Use the right shovel. A plastic shovel with a curved handle will keep your back straight and be lighter altogether.[...]
We’re On Social Media!
Being an old-school company, it has taken us a bit longer to catch up with technology. In an effort to reach our current and potential customers in this highly digital era, you can now find DeckTec on many of your favorite social media platforms. We’ve helped over 3,000 customers reach new heights in outdoor living. Now, help us reach new heights on social media by following or liking our page! Check any of our online pages for special offers, opportunities, stories, and more!
DeckTec to The Future
Welcome to the first edition of DeckTec Lifestyle, a newsletter designed to bring you the best ideas in outdoor living. We’ll be reaching out nine times each year to bring you new products, services, and information for enhancing your outdoor living experience. We think you’ll enjoy learning more about DeckTec Outdoor Design as a company, as well as recent news and trends in outdoor living. In this edition, we would like to share a brief glimpse into how I got my start in the custom deck and outdoor living field. Over 25 years, outdoor living has evolved and become much more sophisticated. In recent years, it has become to one of the highest returning home improvement investments you can make. With that, new opportunities have arisen to integrate cutting-edge technologies, social media, and more. We have also grown, gaining valuable team members that demonstrate the capacity to take challenges head on, and we are excited to introduce them to you as part of this newsletter.
Happy Holiday Season from Decktec
Thank you to all our friends in the DeckTec community for another great year of Outdoor Living at its finest. We have enjoyed every minute of deck design, construction, and maintenance with you, and have appreciated your readership of this blog on the art of outdoor living. DeckTec Blog Change Coming And speaking of blogs, recently DeckTec had the opportunity to review responses to the content for this site. What our statistics show is that you seem most interested in the care and construction of wood decks. So with that in mind, the format for the Outdoor Experiences blog is undergoing a small change. Starting immediately, we at DeckTec will be posting once a month, instead of each week. This will allow us to do a better job of giving you the kinds of in-depth stories and information you can put to good use in the care of your own deck. We’ll cover everything from selecting the best stain for your wood to planning and budgeting for new projects in your back yard. We’ll compare redwood[...]
Recent Works
