Deck Specialist Tom Darr is uniquely positioned to guide DeckTec clients through the deck development process, after all, he himself carefully chose DeckTec to design and build a custom deck for his Lookout Mountain home years before he joined the DeckTec team.

Tom did extensive remodeling on the Golden home he bought in 2008 with his wife, Jennifer.

“We totally remodeled the entire house, but the deck, at 16 feet off the ground, was a major undertaking and was not something I wanted to attempt. But I did all the other remodeling myself,” Tom said.

When it came time to remodel the deck, he naturally thought of Steve, whom he already knew from the Colorado Home and Garden Show.

“When it was time to do our project, I chatted with Steve and about ten different companies. I thought I wanted composite material when I started out, but I did some research and determined that redwood was the best for longevity and beauty. I had three companies come out and do proposals, and I was only impressed with DeckTec.

“With the other guys they were just going to build you a rectangle or a square. It was like, OK, you can choose from design A, design B, or design C, and that was about it. With DeckTec there’s more creativity in the process. DeckTec was the only one that did a real custom design, and so we went with them. Our deck turned out fantastic. We have a couple different levels, got a roof addition and added a staircase to have access down,” Tom said.

Tom continues to enjoy his deck as much as the day it was completed.

“If it’s nice, I’d much rather be outside than inside. It really is like an addition on the house. We barbecue out there regularly. This time of year we’ll eat dinner on the deck every night, and I’ll eat my breakfast or drink coffee there. On the weekends we’ll eat all of our meals out there. We entertain a fair amount. Last summer I had a gathering with 50 people on it, although we could have more, we designed it for 100,” Tom said.

It was a fateful phone call from Steve in the fall of 2015 that would make Tom an integral part of the DeckTec family.

“Steve and I had gotten to know each other pretty well, and he kept saying ‘You’ve got to come work for me,’” Tom said.

“I found out my old employer was shutting down the Denver operation in December, 2015. As luck would have it, Steve just happened to call me around the same time about a potential customer wanting to come look at my deck. I told Steve that I was about to lose my job, that we were all being laid off, and Steve said ‘Let’s get together and talk,’ and here I am. It was perfect timing, it’s worked out well,” Tom said.

Tom’s favorite part of his job, which involves sales and consulting on deck projects, is visiting clients at their homes and having creative input on the design process.

When Tom meets initially with clients he gets a feel for their needs and interests. He also does a site inspection, which involves taking detailed measurements and photos. After the measurements are entered into the computer, Tom meets with Steve to come up with a custom plan. Tom typically visits each client at least twice, but sometimes as many as four or five times, depending on the complexity and scale of the project and how many design revisions are needed.

“Having been a customer and now being on the other side seeing all the work and planning that goes into producing a deck from first visit to final construction, there’s a lot more that goes into it than I ever could’ve imagined,” Tom said.

“I think it’s definitely beneficial to be able to talk with clients about my personal experience, to pull out pictures that I’ve just taken on my deck the past weekend. I think I’m able to explain all the effort and care that we put into this,” he said.

When he’s not relaxing on his deck or consulting with clients, Tom enjoys running and hiking with his two dogs, and skiing. He volunteers as a firefighter with Foothills Fire and Rescue, and with the ski patrol at Copper Mountain.