Custer Deck Builders | Alpine Exteriors

Decks Built for Custer Acreage and Open Sky

Out in Custer, between the I-5 corridor and the Birch Bay shoreline, properties have something most of Whatcom County lacks: room. Farmhouses on multi-acre parcels, newer homes tucked along the back roads toward Ferndale, and weekend places within a short drive of the bay all share wide-open exposure to whatever the Fraser outflow and the coastal southerlies want to deliver. A deck here gets no shelter from neighboring houses. It takes the full winter soaking and the full summer sun, and it needs to be built accordingly.

Alpine Exteriors designs and builds decks across north Whatcom County, and Custer projects tend to be our favorites because the sites let us build generously: wraparound farmhouse porches, broad entertaining platforms off the kitchen, covered sections that make the space usable through a gray March. Over 25 years in business we have refined a structural standard that treats the frame, not the decking surface, as the real product.

The Frame Is the Deck

Composite boards and premium cedar both fail early when the structure under them is built to minimums. Our frames are engineered for this climate and this county, and every Custer deck includes the same non-negotiables.

• Concrete footings poured below frost depth and sized for local soils rather than generic charts
• Joist and beam protection tape on every horizontal surface, because trapped water is what actually rots pressure-treated lumber
• Hot-dipped galvanized and stainless hardware that shrugs off the damp salt air drifting inland from Birch Bay
• Correct ledger flashing integrated with the house siding, the connection point where bad deck builds destroy good walls

On surfaces, we install both cedar and composite and will tell you plainly where each makes sense. Cedar suits covered porches and owners who enjoy the maintenance ritual. Composite earns its price on exposed Custer decks, where it ignores the moss spores and winter algae film that turn untreated wood slick by January. Either way the railing, stairs and skirting are detailed to match the house instead of looking bolted on.

From Sketch to Final Walkthrough

Every project begins with a free on-site estimate at your property, because deck design out here is about siting: capturing the Mount Baker view from the east side of the house, blocking the prevailing wind for a fire-pit corner, or keeping a mudroom entry dry between the shop and the back door. We sketch options on the spot, then deliver a fixed written price with the framing spec spelled out so you can compare bids on substance.

The finished structure carries our 25-year workmanship warranty, and with more than 2,000 projects completed around the region we can usually show you a comparable build nearby before you sign anything. When we drive away after the final walkthrough, you get a deck that will still be solid when the kids who grew up on it bring their own kids back to Custer.