Water Problem Solved for a Happy (Repeat?) Customer

The Vinyl Porch Rail Company—owned and operated by DekTek PRO Jason Nuckols—has been helping homeowners, business owners, and contractors enhance their property with beautiful, low-maintenance designs since 1996. “My main line of business is vinyl railing systems,” Jason said. “We fabricate made-to-fit systems for people. We also do screen porches, deck renovations, and more.”

Jason saw someone using DekTek Tile, and later he encountered a unique opportunity to use the concrete decking himself, to help solve a customer's decking problem. “The customer had water leaking through their existing tile deck floor,” Jason said. “They approached me on how to solve the problem, and I recalled that I had seen DekTek Tile. So I began to research that.”

Jason and his team found this when they removed the original tiles from the customer's deck. This is what happens when water has nowhere to go. With Jason's help, the customer will never have to deal with this again.

According to Jason, the customer’s outdoor kitchen was beneath the deck, which meant that water had to go somewhere else. Ultimately, Jason and the customer went with DekTek Tile so that water could drain quickly between the tiles and into a custom drainage system that Jason installed for the customer.

With the old tiles and the subsequent water damage removed, Jason and his team were ready to install the new drainage system and the DekTek Tiles.

“I called DekTek Tile and spoke with them,” Jason said, “and they sent me some samples. I spoke with the customer. We did drawings and got dimensions, and DekTek Tile helped me put together the estimate for the material. At the same time, I had been asked to price out a composite material and shockingly enough, it was relatively close in price for that particular project. I spoke with the homeowner, and we decided to go with DekTek’s tile decking because it was open and allowed for an under-deck drainage system. It made sense.”

Jason and his team used the sleeper method to install the DekTek Tile, with slightly larger gaps between the tiles to allow for even faster water disbursement into the drainage system. With this larger gap between the tiles, the lighter coloring of the new sleeper boards was slightly visible between the tiles. To keep the sleeper boards hidden beneath the tiles, Jason treated the boards with a dark stain. “This greatly improved the look of the project, in my opinion, and we’re probably going to use that same practice for any projects that we do in the future, to make it all blend together nicely.”

With the drainage system installed, below, and the sleeper system fastened to the original joists, the team was ready to place the DekTek Tiles. Here, we see a DekTek Tile before its final roll-on sealant is applied. 

Like most of our customers, Jason was struck by the vibrant color transition that takes place when the DekTek Tiles are sealed. “It really did shock me how nice the color contrasts were on the tiles themselves,” he said.

“We had a great result,” Jason said. “We had a happy customer.”

“The customer likes the job,” Jason said, “and I’m in the process of pricing out a similar deck for the same customer. So, if we’re getting a repeat customer, then you have to rest assured that she likes the product, and I like the product.”

We love to help and be a part of the solution that contractors like Jason & his clients are faced with. If you’d like to hear more about this particular project, or ask Jason about his custom solutions, give him a call at 434-237-2800.

If you’d like to learn more about DekTek Tiles and other successful projects, feel free to check out our website dektektile.com, join our email list, or contact us directly at 218-380-9330—we’d love to connect with you!