January 24th, 2017 UPDATE & Thank You:

Dear NADRA Members and Supporters,

I am extremely pleased to let everyone know that the Northeast Regions Deck for a Soldier® build went very smoothly and was completed in four days.  The build started on Monday, January 16th, 2017 with a crew from three separate builder member companies. We installed the Trex Elevations steel framing, along with the help from several Trex and distributor representatives.  Tuesday was supposed to be a wash-out of a rainy day, but several of us gathered, installed the stairway platform and cut all of the stair stringers.  Wednesday, we had crews from four builder members and we installed the decking, stairways, some fascia trim and the Andersen sliding door.  We also had representatives from Fortress Railings, Fiberon, and AZEK helping out.  Thursday, we had two crews, plus representatives from Trex, Wolf Home Products, Fortress Railings and Excelsior Lumber, Inc. that helped install the last of the fascia trim and the railings.  We were lucky enough to have spiked the interest of a local newspaper and also the TV station News 12, New Jersey. We also received coverage from The Daily Record, you can read more & see photos / video here.

Our Soldier was extremely thankful and really could not believe that a program like ours exists.  He was overwhelmed when wheeled out on the deck for the first time and was able to look around his neighborhood.  Kyle added: “The Deck for a Soldier® program has been top notch. Really great crew. I couldn’t even imagine something like this existed where people are just giving away decks for people but it does,” Chappell says.

I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, everyone involved in this project for their time and materials.  Many gave so freely to this project that it was inspiring to all.  I continuously heard the following words, “Whatever you need for this project, just let us know”.  We certainly could not have gotten this project done without the support of the best team in the decking industry.  NADRA Rocks!!

Respectfully,

Bruce Verblaauw

NADRA National Deck For A Soldier Committee – Chair Person

Listed below are all of the companies and individuals who donated their time and materials:

Material Donations:

–        Trex Decking & Steel Framing

–        Fortress Railings

–        FastenMaster

–        Simpson Strong Tie

–        Starborn Industries

–        Eastern Engineered Wood Products

–        Excelsior Lumber

–        Abbe Lumber

–        Fox Lumber

–        Zuidema Portable Toilets

–        Boonton Township

–        Jeff Fleischer, Architect

–        Lunch was provided by Trex, CPG/AZEK, Fiberon and the Soldier’s mom

Labor Donations

–        C. Verblaauw & Sons, LLC
Bruce Verblaauw

Scott Olson

Melissa Olson

Tommy DeLuise

Miguel Dominguez

Jose Santos

Neal Moran

–        My Deck

Ed Drake

Ben Sherman

–        Barrett Outdoors

Gustavo deLaCruz

–        Deck Remodelers

Chuck Briggs

Cory Bohner

–        Legends Built

Bill Lecorchik

–        All American Decks

Scott Nadrotowski

Robbie Sciacchetano

Steve Daum

–        North Jersey Custom Decks

Joe Onorevole

Mark Onorevole

John

–        Decks by Kiefer

Bob Kiefer & Helper

–        Trex

Butch Palaza

Tim Schlosser

Mike Ryan

Laura Hays

Jamie Binns

Tim Van Vaketis

–        Manufacturers Reserve Supply

Chris Christakis

Peter King

Weiss Froogh

Sean O’Brien

Jared Noble

–        FastenMaster

Josh Hall

–        Fortress Railing

Craig Dowdy

–        Fiberon

Lainie Sleppin

–        CPG/AZEK

Alan Bensen

Drew Giganti

Kyle McEnroe

–        Wolf Home Products

Paul Kovach

–        Excelsior Lumber

Sophia Bishop

Adam Spratt

–        Mid-State Lumber

Pete Miller

January 18th, 2017 UPDATE:

Hi NADRA!
Well, everything has fallen into place and we were able to start our Deck for a Soldier® build in Boonton Twsp., NJ on January 16th!  The Township has waived the permit fees except for the DCA fee.  We’ve had a local builder member offer to help out and dig the footing holes on Saturday 1/7/17.
We had a footing inspection on 1/11/17 and we completed the pour right after that along with the bottom of the stairway landing. We have several builders lined up to help out with this build for the four days that we anticipate the build to take, but we can always use more.  If anyone else wishes to help out please go online to fill out a pledge form found  here, or contact Bruce V. at  BruceVerb@njdecksandrailings.com.
Thanks to our awesome manufacturers, distributors and lumberyards, all of the necessary materials have been donated.  Be on the lookout for pictures and more on NADRA’s Facebook page. Like us on Facebook
Sincerely,
Bruce Verblaauw NADRA National – Deck for a Soldier ® Committee Chair
Cell  201-803-2909

January 4th, 2017 UPDATE: 

We want to start out by wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!!

We just wanted to let everyone know that we will be starting the Deck for a Soldier® build in Boonton, NJ on January 16th, weather permitting.  This project is located a little way off of Route 287 about 10 minutes north of Morristown, NJ.  This deck will be built using Trex Elevations Steel Framing, so if any of you would like to learn some of the ins and outs of working with this product, please let us know so we can schedule you to volunteer to frame.  Of course we will need help for about 4 days in order to complete this build and help tying up loose end to finish is always needed.  If you have already filled out a labor pledge, please let us know what day(s) that week work best for you or your crew.  We are also hoping to dig and pour the 10 footings required for this deck either late next week or very early the following week so that the concrete has time to cure before we start building.  We would appreciate if we could get a few guys to help dig these footings.  We have some builders but can still use a few more to step up and help out with this build.  If you are interested in helping and have not notified us or completed an online labor pledge, please email us or click on this link.  We will try to keep a steady flow of help on the project so that we do not have too many workers on any given day.
Thanks to all of our manufacturers, distributors and lumberyards, all of the materials have been accounted for.  The one thing that has not been supplied yet is a Porta-John.
As we hear back from each of you, we will put together a schedule that best fits the needs of the build and will be back in touch with you soon.
Thank you very much for your support and help,
Judy Verblaauw (on behalf of)
Bruce Verblaauw
NADRA National Deck For A Soldier® Committee Chair

 

December 2016 UPDATE: 

With the holidays just around the corner it is the time of year to think about giving in the old fashioned tradition for the holidays, donating to a great local cause and giving back to the community where we make our living.  The NADRA Deck for a Soldier® program is about to kick off it’s Northeastern build on 1/16/17, weather permitting.  We are planning to get a start right after the first of the year and install the footings prior to this build date.  We have almost all of the materials accounted for except for some concrete form tubes, a Porta-John, and some small hardware.  If anyone can help us with these last few things it would be greatly appreciated. Lastly, we can still use a few more builders to step up and help out with the build.  If anyone can donate time to help out on this project please contact us at bruceverb@njdecksandrailings.com.   You can fill out the online form to make your pledge of material, labor or even a monetary pledge for various unexpected expenses right here.

We will start to send out emails in order to figure out who can help on which day in the near future.  This will keep a steady flow to the project and keep from having too many workers on any given day.

Thank you and Happy Holidays to all.

NADRA Deck for a Soldier® Committee Chair,

Bruce Verblaauw

Phone: (201) 327-7864, (201) 236-0393

Email: bruceverb@njdecksandrailings.com