Bob works on every project from design through completion, and he has built over 1,000 decks.
Bob Kiefer is the founder and owner of Decks by Kiefer, a custom deck building company in business since 1986. With over 1,000 decks built and multiple NADRA awards to the company’s name, Bob writes from direct, hands-on experience. The articles and guides on this site reflect more than five decades of work in the trade, with particular depth on ipe wood, custom deck design, and the construction details that determine how long a deck actually lasts.
Bob’s introduction to building came from a neighbor who was constructing homes. That early exposure to framing and structure stuck with him; as a teenager, Bob built go-carts out of wood, and by age 19, he had helped frame a complete house.
Before going into decks full-time, Bob trained as a landscape architect. He found desk work limiting and began building houses and decks on weekends. The deck work proved more productive, and in 1986, he moved into the deck business permanently.
Bob entered the trade through residential construction, framing houses before shifting his focus to decks. Since starting Decks by Kiefer, Bob has remained the primary designer and builder on every project, seeing each job from initial consultation through to finished construction. On every ipe build, Bob specifies stainless steel fasteners throughout, a standard he holds to regardless of project scope.
Over the course of his career, Bob has taken on projects that most builders decline, including a deck built on a steel slope in Vermont, where all materials had to be hand-carried on site because no equipment could access the job. The longevity of his work is documented in the portfolio: Bob has ipe projects more than 35 years old that are still performing well, while comparable redwood and composite builds from the same era have not held up as well. Bob is a member of NADRA and has received multiple NADRA awards. The company maintains affiliations with Advantage Lumber, Cable Bullet, and Feeney Railings, and Bob imports ipe directly rather than sourcing through intermediaries.
Decks by Kiefer is a custom deck-building company that specializes in ipe wood construction. The team includes Bob as lead designer and builder, Will Harris as Project Manager, and Travis Desperes as Office Manager, operating as a single-crew company. The company handles permitting, works with an architect on applicable projects, and collaborates with HOAs when required. Decks by Kiefer backs its work with a one-year cosmetic warranty and a ten-year structural warranty.
