Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co. Adds Evaluation Report Review to Design Process
SCHAUMBURG, IL - September 08, 2026 - PRESSADVANTAGE - Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co. has added a formal review of
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SCHAUMBURG, IL – September 08, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co. has added a formal review of third-party evaluation reports to its material selection stage, giving property owners access to independently tested performance data before decking products are specified. The company, a TimberTech Platinum contractor and Deckorators Certified Elite installer, is making the documents part of the consultation rather than leaving material decisions to appearance and sample boards alone.
Evaluation reports are issued by accredited agencies that assess products against published standards, including specifications maintained by ASTM International and acceptance criteria administered by the International Code Council Evaluation Service. The reports are publicly available at no cost and can be searched by product or by manufacturer. Most property owners never encounter them during planning, and the documents rarely surface in a showroom conversation.
“People choose a board the way they choose a countertop, by looking at it,” said Eric Hoffman, Owner of Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co. “There is a document behind almost every one of those boards that says what it actually did under test, and hardly anyone knows to ask for it. We decided to stop waiting to be asked.”
The reports cover several properties that matter in a climate with pronounced seasonal swings. Moisture absorption is documented over defined exposure periods, along with what that absorption does to a board’s dimensions and structural properties. Weathering sections record how surface color and texture change under accelerated ultraviolet exposure that compresses long periods of sunlight into laboratory timeframes. Slip resistance is measured in both dry and wet conditions, and the gap between the two figures indicates how much traction a surface gives up once saturated.
Structural span ratings appear as well, establishing how far apart joists can sit beneath a given board. Span figures affect the framing beneath a deck, so the report covering a surface product carries consequences for the substructure that supports it. A product with a higher span rating changes the volume of framing material a project requires, which is a decision made before construction begins rather than after.
Regional conditions give the data particular weight. The Illinois State Water Survey documents that all seasons across the state have become wetter, with most of the increase in northern Illinois arriving in summer, and that the number of days recording two inches or more of precipitation has risen roughly 40 percent since the beginning of the twentieth century. The same source notes that urban areas across northeastern Illinois average around two degrees warmer than surrounding rural land, with the difference most pronounced overnight.
Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford reported that heat index values in the Chicago area exceeded 100 degrees during the first week of July 2026, with more than 60 consecutive hours registering a heat index above 80. Winter conditions in the same region produce repeated freezing and thawing, which acts on materials that have absorbed moisture during warmer months.
“Wet, hot, then frozen, and back again,” Hoffman said. “That cycle is what a deck here actually lives through. The test data speaks to those conditions directly, which is more than a showroom sample can do.”
The company installs products from several manufacturers, including TimberTech by Azek, Trex, Deckorators, Fiberon, MoistureShield, Zuri, Endeck, and Wolf. Rather than ranking products against one another, the review compares evaluated properties across the options a property owner is already considering, weighted against the conditions of the specific site. Two properties in the same municipality can present different drainage, different sun exposure, and different surrounding tree cover, and those differences point toward different material choices.
Framing is evaluated on the same basis. The company builds on steel, aluminum, and premium lumber systems, and joist spacing follows the span ratings documented for the surface product selected rather than a single standard applied uniformly across projects. Metal framing responds differently to seasonal moisture than dimensional lumber, which factors into the same conversation.
The review takes place during the design stage, alongside the 3D renderings and floor plans the company produces before construction. Material decisions settled at that point are considerably less costly to revisit than decisions revisited once material has been ordered and delivered.
The reports remain available to homeowners working with any builder. The documents are published by the issuing agencies and searchable by the public at no charge, and the company encourages property owners to request evaluation data for any product under consideration regardless of who performs the installation.
Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co. is a family-owned builder of custom decks, gazebos, pergolas, pavilions, porches, and sunrooms serving communities across the Chicago area. The company is a TimberTech Platinum contractor and a Deckorators Certified Elite installer, handles local permitting in-house, and maintains a showroom where property owners can view and select materials.
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For more information about Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co., contact the company here:
Woodridge Deck & Gazebo Co.
Cristina B
+18472500086
chicagocristy@gmail.com
2246 Palmer Dr #101, Schaumburg, IL 60173, United States
