Surfside Beach | Ocean Breeze Exterior Remodeling

July 29, 2020
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DIY Deck Building- We’ll Help!

Category : Decks

We get quite a few customers come to us wanting help with do-it-yourself projects. Because of our 30 plus years in business, access to wholesale material pricing, and experience with code enforcement, they often ask for a range of services, including:

Help drawing up plans or getting engineering
Selling materials
Onsite help getting a job started or fixing one that they messed up

We do all of the above, and more, but it’s not our favorite way of working. The vast majority of the time, a DIY project of the type we do (sunrooms, decks, awnings) turns into a disaster that costs a lot more when we have to come out and fix it or bring it up to code.

Seth Godin wrote a blog about DIY surgery. You can find his original post HERE. I modified his blog to apply to DIY construction-

Here’s a drill and a hammer from Lowe’s.

Here’s a video I saw on YouTube once.

Here are some instructions I read on Quora…

Okay, how hard can it be?

Actually, it might be very hard. Actually, expertise has value. Actually, just because someone said it on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true. Or useful.

Experts aren’t always right. But I’d rather live in a building built by an expert, fly in a plane designed by an expert and yes, have surgery done by an expert.

Even barbers get trained.

Dave, the guy that would prefer to build your project instead of fixing your project

October 19, 2018
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Is Your Remodeler Trying to Kill You?

Tags : building code sunroom Surfside Beach

Category : Windows

I was walking down the street with two of my kids to the playground the other day and noticed this vinyl pane sunroom for the first time. I’m not afraid to say that it’s a very attrractive room, even though our company didn’t do it.

It’s also very dangerous.

Before I mention it, Who can tell me why?

If you said, “There’s no railing protection,” then you’re right. According to the code, any screen or vinyl pane room over 30 inches off the ground requires railing. Now a fall from 31 inches may only hurt a little, but a fall from this height will likely kill you. If a child runs into that vinyl pane window or an adult falls back against it, they would likely pop right through it and fall through.

A professional company like mine could lose their license for building such a dangerous structure. I say professional, because it’s likely this work was done by a contractor with no license or permit. At least I assume the Town of Surfside Beach wouldn’t allow this to pass inspection. That would be a completely different matter entirely. But forget licenses and permits. What about conscience? If someone fell through these windows and died, we could lose everything, especially the peace of mind knowing that we willingly built something so dangerous.

This is just another reason you should always check out your contractor and make sure what they’re doing is right and proper.

Here’s what a company like ours would do in this situation.

Number one, we wouldn’t have left it like this.

Number two, it needs some type of fall protection, either railing or rail screen. We have several products that would’ve fit this perfectly. Railing is the normal one, but it limits the view and adds a whole lot of new vertical lines. We also have a brand new product we can install for applications like these that is a building code certified screen product. Fewer vertical lines and the same fall protection as white railing. It’s also a lot less expensive.

When you start getting bids from remodelers, ask them about codes, but be sure to also inquire about options. There’s almost always a couple of choices that will give you an attractive outdoor space and won’t leave you with a death trap.

When you start calling for those bids, be sure to give us a call first or just drop by the showroom.

Thanks,

Dave, the guy who builds sunrooms that won’t kill people

You can find us at…
843-238-4798
www.oceanbreezeexteriors
Showroom located at 739 Sandy Lane in Surfside Beach, SC

January 20, 2017
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Hurricane Repair at the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Facility

Tags : awning Horry County Hurricane Myrtle Beach patio Surfside Beach walkway

Category : Commercial Projects , Patio Covers

Even months after Hurricane Matthew swept through the area we’re still doing repairs to area homes and businesses.

The hurricane tore off almost 200′ of walkway covering at the Blue Cross-Blue Shield facility in Surfside Beach. We were more than happy to help out by not only making the repairs but also beefing up the structure to make it stronger. When it was originally built, the wind codes were not as stringent as they are now.