This waterfront property called for a deck and covered porch that could stand up to sun, salt air, and New England winters without losing its good looks. We chose cumaru, a dense Brazilian hardwood, for both the decking and the stairs. Cumaru is naturally resistant to rot and insects and holds its color and structural integrity through repeated freeze-thaw cycles far better than domestic softwoods, which made it the right call for a deck that sits this close to the water.
To keep the water views unobstructed, we specified a stainless steel cable railing system instead of a traditional baluster railing. The thin horizontal cables all but disappear from a seated vantage point, so the deck reads as an open platform rather than a fenced-in space. A timber-frame covered porch section gives the homeowners a shaded spot to sit out storms or bright midday sun without giving up the view.
Every board on this cumaru deck was hand-selected for grain and color consistency and installed with a hidden fastener system, so no screw heads show on the surface, just clean, highest-quality cumaru wood decking from post to post. All fasteners and hardware are marine-grade to resist corrosion in the coastal environment. Properly maintained, cumaru is rated for 50 years or more of outdoor exposure, and the result is a waterfront outdoor living space built in Rhode Island that's engineered to look this good for decades, not just this season.
