Luke Williams launched his own landscape design-build business in Blue Mountains, Ontario, with the goal of creating custom outdoor spaces for the area’s high-end residential customers. Within months of opening its doors in 2016, Williams Outdoors, Inc. rapidly expanded these services with the build of luxury decks designed mainly with eastern white cedar, western red cedar, mahogany and Kebony to combat the region’s harsh weather.
“When we started, our focus was on all aspects of landscape construction, but we did not intend to build many decks,” says Williams. “Our passion was creative stonework, unique outdoor spaces and structures including pergolas, gazebos and other outdoor features that really test our creative impulses. But, the market evolved right in front of our eyes. Nearly every customer request combined decking and patios with landscaping work. So, we filled the need with creativity and the products best suited for sustaining long-term durability and beauty in a climate that can be quite harsh, summer through winter.”
Given the amount of available work and the ongoing potential for business growth, Williams hired a dedicated deck building crew to work in tandem with his landscape team. Located in Southwestern Ontario where the Beaver River flows into Nottawasaga Bay, the Blue Mountains are renowned for their spectacular skiing, hiking and downhill/cross-country biking activities. Unfortunately, the very conditions that attract tourists also wreak havoc on exterior materials with temperatures ranging from -22°F in the winter to the upper 80s in the summer, plus extreme buildups of snow, frost and ice.
“When it comes to decks, I prefer simple clean lines and a minimalist style,” explains Williams. “The ultimate goal is to build beautiful, stylish decks that last in our climate. As a result, we engineer every structure to stand up to those demands – ‘built for life outdoors’ is our tagline and it’s as much about creating enjoyable space as it is about being durable and practical.”
Over the past two years, Williams Outdoors has built a dozen decks ranging from 1,200 sq. ft. waterfront structures to multi-tier, overlapping outdoor extensions for everything from country cottages and second homes to luxury ski chalets with CAMO Edge Fastening. Developed by National Nail, this unique system quickly and easily drives screws into the edge of solid or grooved deck boards to deliver beautiful, fastener-free surface results with virtually any wood, composite or PVC decking. Extensive field testing has also shown it to reduce cracking, moisture absorption and racking, while adding structural stability.
In recent months, Williams has also used his new-found expertise to build decks on hilltop slopes to maximize the available space.
“We’ve used CAMO exclusively on every deck to date,” adds Williams. “No matter the location or design, we’ve had no problem achieving secure, stable structures. Plus, our decks not only look great but shovel easily in the winter. The snow comes right up without any problem. Never any scrapes or catches. Another huge selling point.”
