Perkins Builder Brothers Bring Craftsmanship To Life in North Carolina—and Online
In the mountains of Western North Carolina, views are plentiful—and preserving them and enjoying them is a must. That’s why decks and outdoor living are central to the homes crafted by Jaime and Erik Perkins, eponymous owners of Perkins Builder Brothers as well as YouTube stars.
This modern mountain home in Bryson City was no exception. When the brothers saw the architect’s plans for the house, they knew a larger outdoor space was in order and opted to tweak the design to wrap the deck around most of the perimeter. The Spiced Teak color of the Distinction composite decking from Envision Outdoor Living Products offers the ideal wood look and warmth to complement the abundance of nearby trees; divider boards and picture framing offer a custom touch and reduce butt joints while breaking up the deck’s larger expanses.
Jaime and Erik switched to composite decking a number of years ago after seeing the impact that the area’s weather had on wood. “Where we live in the mountains of North Carolina, we get a lot of rain, but it’s really hot during the summertime,” Jaime explains. “So any kind of material that you put on a deck is going to experience the extremes of moisture and high temperatures, and that’s really a bad combination for any kind of wood product that’s going to be exposed. That’s why we really like to use Envision composite decking.”
Distinction decking is crafted with Compress Technology™ that pairs an EverGrain Core™ with a high-density cap, so it has deep, non-repeating grains for an authentic appearance while providing reliable durability and low maintenance.
“One of the biggest reasons we got away from wood decking is that we build a lot of vacation homes,” Jaime adds. “We were getting complaints from our homeowners that every time they came into town they were having to do maintenance on their deck instead of enjoying their vacation.”
Perkins Builder Brothers paired the Distinction decking with a black aluminum railing system and horizontal balusters from Envision’s Fairway Railing Collection. The clean lines and dark hue help the railing blend in and preserve the views, while the powder-coated finish would be durable and long lasting despite the weather.
“We had discussed having cable rails, but these black horizontal balusters make it disappear even more into the background of the beautiful view, which is what we were looking for here,” Erik says. “We want to see it, but not see it at the same time.”
Jaime notes that maintenance was a factor in the decision, as well; opting for aluminum balusters instead of cable rail eliminated worries that the homeowner would have to adjust the cables’ tension amid the fluctuation of temperatures.
After years of custom-crafting steel railings, this project was the Perkins’ first time using Fairway railing. Along with not having to paint the aluminum railings, “One of my favorite features with this railing is that it has adjusters on the base plate so that your vertical posts can be adjusted to be perfectly [plumb] in both directions,” Jaime says.
Like many of their projects, Perkins Builder Brothers chronicled the construction of the Bryson City house on their YouTube channel, where they provide how-to content and tips to help others save time and money. With their proven skills, impressive project portfolio, and authenticity—along with small doses of humor—it’s no wonder the brothers’ channel recently surpassed a monumental 1 million subscribers.
“That’s been a lot of work, so we’re really excited to make it there,” Erik says. “And we’re hoping to continue to grow both in our building realm and making videos for the world to watch.”
