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Outdoor areas are more than just decks in today’s world. If in the early 20th century in America it was a simple wooden platform where you could smoke a cigar and chill, today it’s almost all about aesthetics, beauty, colors, size and fanciness. New deck projects involve a lot more decisions like what type of materials to use, the type of frame and size, but one of the most challenging decisions is what color to use for a composite deck. The right color will change not only how your outdoor looks like, but the entire home’s look. Start With Your Home’s Exterior Colors A well-chosen deck color should work in harmony with your home’s existing […]

By Radu Oprea, Founder & CEO — Wolf Spirit Deck As the best deck builders in Naperville, IL, our mission has always been to build beautiful, durable outdoor spaces that last for many years ahead. One of the biggest issues homeowners have in this area is the termite damage. These insects can damage the entire structure if a deck if they are not stopped on time. We have a few strategies that we use to build our new decks to be termite-resistant and as we always get asked about them by potential clients, I decided to write this post to share them with everybody. 1. Smart Material Selection The first line of defense against termites […]

By Radu Oprea, Founder of Wolf Spirit Deck With over a century of collective experience building decks throughout Naperville and the Chicago suburbs, we’ve heard one question more than any other. Homeowners look out at their yard and wonder: ‘Do we screen it in, or keep it open?’ The truth is, both options are excellent—but for entirely different reasons. This decision isn’t about following the latest design trends; it’s about how you specifically use your outdoor space in the Chicagoland climate. Let’s look at the practical realities of both, based on what we see every day in the field. Open Decks: The Classic Favorite Why Open Decks Are Popular Open decks remain the most commonly […]

By Radu Oprea, owner and lead builder at Wolf Spirit Deck, Naperville, IL. I have been building and repairing decks across Naperville and the western suburbs for more than a decade. People ask me why a deck in Naperville does not last as long as the same deck would in, say, Denver. The answer is water. Not rain you can see, the kind that hangs in the August air and soaks into wood overnight. I have pulled apart enough rotted framing in this town to know that our climate is the real client on every job, and it does not care how nice the boards looked on install day. This post is what I tell homeowners […]

By Radu Oprea, owner, Wolf Spirit Deck. Building decks across Naperville and the western suburbs since 2018. A deck used to be a flat platform you stood on to flip burgers. That’s not what people ask me for anymore. Over the last few years the requests changed. Folks want a space they can sit in when it’s drizzling, eat dinner under in August without melting, and still walk out to in October with a heater running. The deck became a room that happens to be outside. I’ve designed and built a lot of those rooms around here, and the same handful of decisions separate the ones people actually live in from the ones that look […]