Why Fence Posts Rot in the Ground (And What Actually Stops It)
Rot needs three things to take hold: moisture, oxygen, and the natural sugars in the timber. That combination is worst...
Year: 2026
Why Fasteners Matter More Than You Think
We've seen firsthand what happens when a builder cuts corners on fasteners. In one case where we served as an...
Design Insights — Pergolas Over Pools
One of the most common requests we get is for a 20-foot-plus span incorporated into a pergola, usually because a...
PVC, Vinyl, or Composite Pergolas?
People are writing and calling wanting Vinyl and Composite Pergolas. People see the beautiful photos on GardenStructure.com and for some...
Home Shows and Events — Where You Can Find Us
Over the years, GardenStructure.com has shown up in person at home shows and local events across Ontario — a running...
Our Builders — A Showcase of the Network Over the Years
Over the years, GardenStructure.com has grown through a network of independently skilled builders across Ontario and beyond, each bringing their...
Mr. Deck’s Critique — A Lesson from a Silicon Valley Legend
We finally got a feature on Mr. Deck's Critique pages — and to a lot of builders, that might sound...
How Local Search Rankings Actually Work for Builders
One of the more persistent misunderstandings among small business owners is trusting the search results they see on their own...
Spring Builder Notes — A Snapshot of the Crew
Every season brings some turnover on a builder network this size. One long-time exclusive builder left for a corporate role...
GardenStructure.com at the Windsor Home Show
One of our most talented builders, Sal Constante, represented GardenStructure.com at the Windsor Home Show, taking sketches, photos, and design...
Starting Your Own Deck Company Website — What Actually Matters
A good website for a deck, fence, or pergola business comes down to a short list of fundamentals that are...
Selling Decks — Where Are All the Big Decks?
Lawrence Winterburn, founder of GardenStructure.com, started building decks in Burlington, Ontario at eighteen years old — after spending the prior...
A Toronto Pavilion, Designed by Paul Corsetti
This permanent-foundation pavilion came out of a collaboration with Toronto-area landscape designer Paul Corsetti, who developed the concept and working...
A Markham Cabana Built for Real Entertaining
This double-pass-through, roll-up-window cabana and outdoor kitchen in Markham is a good example of what we mean when we talk...
A Pergola with a Greenhouse Roof — Woodbridge
Retractable canopy pergolas have been part of our lineup for years, but they come with a maintenance conversation some clients...
Cedar Decks in Etobicoke — A Toronto Rebuild
This project replaced a poorly planned three-level deck in Etobicoke — narrow upper and lower platforms that left almost no...
Decks with Curved Rails — A Muskoka Case Study
Curved rails are one of those details a lot of builders attempt and few pull off — something that actually...
Why We Don’t Use Deck Clips Anymore
Hidden fasteners sound great on paper: no visible screw heads, a cleaner-looking deck surface. In practice, we've seen this "better...
What to Use? Composite or Wood?
Composite decking marketing loves showing pristine boards and promising "maintenance free" performance and a "permanent solution" to yearly staining. The...
Privacy Fence, Trellis, or Screen? What Your Local Bylaw Actually Cares About
Homeowners often ask us the difference between a privacy fence, a trellis, and a privacy screen. In practical terms —...
We Built This Fence in 1995. It’s Still Standing.
We recently passed by a wood trellis fence we built for a client back in 1995. Nearly thirty years later,...
The Simple Trick That Adds Decades to a Fence Post’s Life
Fence posts fail from the ground up, almost always in the same place: within the first six inches below the...
Why Wood Fences Actually Fail (And How to Build One That Doesn’t)
If you search for information on building a wood fence, you'll find no shortage of advice — and most of...
Real Copper Post Caps vs. the $20 Imitations
It's basically impossible to make a genuine copper-clad post cap for around $20 — and if you've bought one at...
Composite Decking and Starting a Deck Company — 2012 Article Roundup
Two resources worth knowing about if you're weighing composite vs. wood decking, or thinking about starting your own deck company:...
How to Build Curved Decks — Lessons from a Kawarthas Project
This deck, built by one of our design-builders near North Kawartha (close to Peterborough, Ontario), is one of the better...
Lots of Noise About Composite Decks
Composite decking discourse tends to repeat itself every few years: new product generations launch, and the same failure modes resurface...
An Article on How to Design Decks in Deck Specialist Magazine!
Part 1 as it appears in Deck Specialist, May/June 2026. Click the spread to read the full article in the...