Deck Expert Bill Leys to Educate on Tile Decks at JLC Live Northwest

Deck Expert, Bill Leys, will be at JLC Live Northwest on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 conducting a conference session that focuses in on tile deck best practices, and you can get a $30 discount (code SPKG) if you register before November 7th.

As a licensed contractor in California and owner of DeckExpert.com, Bill Leys specializes in the installation of deck coatings for decks over living space and is very familiar with the Duradek family of deck waterproofing solutions. An authoritative voice in the deck building industry, Bill brings a not-to-miss highlight of JLC Live Northwest with his education session. Since waterproof decks and/or tile-covered waterproof decks rate high on the list of components claimed to have construction defects, this is an incredibly valuable 2 ½ hours for any construction professional who takes on decking projects.

Tildek, as part of the outdoor tile assembly is one of
the best ways to ensure waterproof success in exterior tile projects.

Bill presents “Construction and Waterproofing Methods for Walking Decks and Tile Covered Decks” which takes place on Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The session covers best construction practices and will be divided into two parts.

The first half discusses pedestrian deck systems and best building practices to construct a well built and long lasting deck assembly.

The second half instructs on roof decks and how to properly build and waterproof them for a systems to last 30+ years.

Learning objectives include:

• Best practices when installing new waterproof systems for tile.
• Best practices in building and framing a deck that will receive tile, which materials are available for waterproofing tile decks.
• How to properly sequence the waterproofing of the deck with the construction of the building.
• Tile Council of North America standards and methods for tile decks. (Durdek Ultra Tiledek has been tested to meet TCNA ANSI specification for load bearing, bonded, waterproof membranes for thin-set ceramic tile and dimension stone installations.)
• Reduce your risk of exposure to liability.

JLC Live Northwest 2013 takes place at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR with conferences from December 4 – 6 and Exhibit Hall from December 5 – 6.

Register at JLCLIVE.com with promo code SPKG by November 7th, 2013 to receive a $30 conference discount on a 3-day conference pass. Your conference pass includes:

• Free access to the live demos and clinics
• Exhibit Hall
• Welcome Party

JLC Live Northwest is the premier regional industry event for residential construction in the Pacific Northwest and offers real world construction education with a conference program that highlights fundamental business and technical skills.

If you are in the Pacific Northwest and are interested in waterproofing solutions for decking, you can also talk to Matt at Duradek Northwest who is a waterproofing expert in his own right!

Why Duradek Trains Contractors and Educates Architects

by Duradek Northwest President, Matt Whale

Why does Duradek train contractors and provide education to architects and designers, and is that important?

It is my understanding that the greater percentage of all building related lawsuits are due to water intrusion. So, when entering into the field of roofing or waterproofing, one enters into a field wrought with legal liabilities. Because when decks and roof-decks leak they can cause simple water damage or catastrophic failure.



Duradek Technical Manager, Len Viegener
conducting a training at Duradek HQ.

Whether one has flooring, roofing, carpentry or waterproofing experience it is important to augment each trade's techniques with historical application performance procedures. Having said this, areas that need to be taught for proper PVC waterproof deck installations are proper seam welding and the "capping' of the seams, outside and inside "deck to wall" interface flashing installation, door pan, drain, scupper and overflow application, Deck preparation basics, where you are taught what are acceptable deck construction techniques, slopes and materials, based on successful deck history should also be taught. Now for you professionals, saying that you did not build the deck may not get you off the hook. It is understood that a professional knows what he is placing his product on and its suitability to perform (if you can see it or discover it, you accept it and are most likely liable for it).



Duradek installers in training.

One way to get around the problem is sell the product "over the counter" to anyone with the cash. This puts all the product performance liability onto the installer, or "Do It Yourselfer" and removes all of the installation and most of the product liability for the manufacturer or reseller. Add to the product a "Limited Material Warranty" that further limits the manufacturer's liability and specifies the remedy to supplying materials to only the affected area. Also exclude all aesthetics issues and put the claim criteria into a fee based inspection service call and if deemed out of the realm of material problem you can bill the consumer. Now you have a market program provided by many deck product manufacturers.

Please understand I am not a lawyer, so for a complete legal warranty evaluation, please contact such a person (my personal disclaimer). I write this to help, not discourage; to enlighten not mask; to help you make an informed and educated decision. So does Duradek educate and train? Yes they do. Is it important? Absolutely, because when you are committed to an industry and to your customers, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Duradek Northwest
Mathew Whale CSI, CDT

Download PDF version here.

If you are interested in becoming an authorized Duradek Dealer, check out some details on our Business Opportunities page.

Properly Trained Professionals Critical For Exterior Waterproofing

When you are choosing a method of waterproofing your exterior living spaces, selecting the right product is very important but using properly trained professionals is critical. If you have determined that vinyl membrane waterproof surfaces seem a good match for your waterproofing needs and your style preferences, and you have compared products and found one that meets all of the building code requirements (particularly if you are waterproofing a deck over living space) you have made a good start. However, in addition to a great product, it is critical that your waterproof vinyl be installed by a trained and knowledgeable applicator who knows that when it comes to waterproofing, it is all in the details.

Duradek Technical Manager conducting a detailed
training session with new Duradek installers

Duradek Ultra walkable, waterproof membranes are a roofing-approved method of waterproofing our balconies and decks, and are installed only by trained and authorized applicators. This ensures the product is installed in the correct way to guarantee Duradek's waterproofing performance for at least 10 years.

Matt Whale from Duradek Northwest is a respected professional in the field of deck construction and exterior waterproofing who is often turned to for advice on these topics. When a home owner wrote in to Ideas for Deck Designs with questions about his leaky deck and his lack of faith in his current contractor, he was referred to Matt for his expert advice. Matt responded with his honest and straight forward advice to give this frustrated home owner some of the tools he needed to practice due diligence with his contractor.

Matt's reputation as a waterproofing professional is a direct result of his superior work and his honest views on the reality of the building process. Matt provided some excellent advice and his professional opinion on where the responsibility of a product's performance lays, and why it is so critical to have your waterproofing projects completed by a trained professional.

Duradek featured on Ideas For Deck Designs

Ideas for Deck Design is a website that was created by Richard Bergman. He has a huge amount of information regarding Decking Materials of all types, Projects, Tips and Advice, Design and Planning Information, etc.

According to Richard, "Vinyl is Where the Future is Heading."

Recently Matt McClure, owner of Dekmax, in Salt Lake City, Utah was working on a Tiledek Project and Richard thought it was the perfect one to showcase in a feature project on his website here.

In perusing the site, we also noticed another one of our Duradek Distributors, Matt Whale, owner of Duradek Northwest who was a guest speaker with Richard in the Innovators section of his website - here is the Podcast Interview of Matt Whale with Richard regarding Duradek. And here is the condensed written version of that same interview.

Here is Richard Bergman's story...

By the way - perhaps like me, you may not be sure what "SBI" stood for - so
here it is... "Site Build It!" Which, according to Richard is all about starting
and building your own business online.