Hey — I'm Craig.

I spent twenty years in the vinyl decking trade. Started as a carpenter's apprentice and ended up running my own crew installing vinyl deck membranes — mostly on residential balconies and rooftop patios. The work is quiet and precise: heat welder in your hand, rolling out membrane like you're finishing a wood floor, and when it's done right, the deck lasts thirty years without anyone thinking about it again.

Along the way I was a certified dealer for a few of the major vinyl decking brands. Carrying multiple manufacturers gave me a closer look at what each one was actually like — the quality of the membrane, the pricing, the warranty fine print, the customer support when things went sideways. Not every brand is the same, and homeowners doing research at a kitchen table don't always have a way to know that.

Here's the thing I kept seeing on job sites: a homeowner staring at one quote from one contractor who only carried one brand, paying whatever that contractor's markup happened to be, for a product that might not even be the right fit for the project. The manufacturers' websites all say similar things — premium membrane, industry-leading warranty, beautiful colours. The reviews online are mostly sponsored content or one-star rants about a single bad install. There's no honest, side-by-side comparison of what you're actually buying.

I'm retired now. Mostly puttering around. But after twenty years of installing, fixing, and pulling up just about every brand of vinyl deck membrane out there, I've got a head full of things I wish someone had told the homeowners I worked for. So I started this blog to write some of it down.

I write the way I'd talk to a neighbour at the fence about a job they're planning. Plain language, what matters, what doesn't, what the sales rep isn't going to tell you. If something here saves you a bad install or a wasted thousand bucks, that's a good day for me.

That's pretty much it.

— Craig