Deck Builders in the Five Towns: From Lawrence to Atlantic Beach

The Five Towns occupy a corner of southwest Nassau County unlike anywhere else on Long Island. Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett, and Inwood share a peninsula laced with canals and bordered by bay water on two sides, and most of them govern themselves as incorporated villages with their own building departments and, in several cases, their own architectural review boards. Add the estate enclaves of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, and Hewlett Neck, plus the barrier island community of Atlantic Beach across the channel, and you have a region where building a deck well means understanding each village on its own terms.

Long Island Deck Company, a Decks Unique company, has spent over 39 years building custom decks across Long Island, and the Five Towns reward that experience more than most areas. Salt air, canal-front lots, flood-zone elevations, and village design review all shape what we build here and how we build it. This page is a short tour of the region the way a deck builder sees it.

Three Building Environments, One Peninsula

When we design a deck in the Five Towns, the first question is which of the area's three environments your home sits in. The village centers have classic colonials and Tudors on established streets. The estate villages have large bay- and canal-front properties where the deck is part of a larger outdoor living plan. And the barrier island is pure marine exposure, where material selection is a survival requirement. Each calls for a different approach.

The Village Centers: Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett, and Inwood

The heart of the Five Towns is its walkable village streets. In Cedarhurst, homes tend toward classic lines and established landscaping, and a deck has to respect both - we design railings, skirting, and stair placement so the new structure looks like it has always belonged on the house. Woodmere mixes village blocks with water-adjacent streets toward the bay, where marine-grade fasteners enter the conversation on even modest projects. Hewlett sits at the gateway to the estate villages, with many homes backing onto quiet yards that are perfect candidates for a deck-and-pergola combination.

In Inwood, at the western edge of the peninsula near the bay, we see more raised homes and tighter lots, and we frequently design decks that recover usable outdoor space on properties where the yard alone cannot provide it. Lawrence rounds out the original five, ranging from village streets to some of the largest properties on the peninsula as it stretches toward the water - projects there often resemble the estate-village work described below.

The Estate Villages: Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, and Hewlett Neck

East of Hewlett proper sit three small incorporated villages where building is a different discipline. These villages maintain strict standards for what gets built and how it looks, and waterfront parcels add bulkheads, flood considerations, and salt exposure to the design conversation. We treat estate-village projects as full outdoor living designs: deck, pergola, lighting, and railing systems planned together rather than bolted on one at a time.

In Hewlett Harbor, many properties front the canals and coves that wind off the bay, and a deck often serves as the transition between the house and the waterfront - the place you watch boats from in the evening. For these homes we lean heavily on PVC and capped composite decking, stainless steel fasteners, and our kiln-dried-after-treatment framing, because the structure lives its whole life in salt-laden air. Open railing styles, including cable systems, keep the water view unobstructed.

Hewlett Neck is among the smallest villages in New York, and its homes sit on generous wooded and water-adjacent lots where outdoor projects are expected to meet a high standard of design. We build decks and pergolas in Hewlett Neck that complement existing patios and pool areas, and we are comfortable working within the village's review process - drawings prepared properly the first time, so approvals do not stall your project.

Hewlett Bay Park completes the trio, with some of the largest residential lots in southwest Nassau set back from the bay. Projects here frequently involve elevated decks where the underside is visible from the yard - exactly the situation our pre-stained KDAT framing was made for, since the structure looks finished from below on day one.

Atlantic Beach and the Barrier Island

Cross the channel and you are in a different world. Atlantic Beach homes face ocean wind, blowing sand, and salt spray that punishes ordinary lumber and corrodes standard hardware in a few seasons. Decks here are often elevated to match raised home designs, with rooftop and second-story platforms built to capture ocean views. We specify full PVC or premium capped composite decking, stainless steel fasteners throughout, hurricane-rated connection hardware, and KDAT framing - a package designed for the hardest exposure Long Island offers. Our composite deck building work is at its most valuable on the barrier island, where low maintenance is not a luxury but the only sensible choice.

East Atlantic Beach, the unincorporated stretch just beyond the village line, shares the same exposure and the same building logic. Homeowners there work with the Town of Hempstead rather than a village hall, and we handle that permitting path regularly. Whether your East Atlantic Beach project is a new elevated deck or an upgrade to a wind-worn one, the engineering starts the same way: salt, wind, and uplift first.

Materials That Earn Their Keep in Salt Air

Across the Five Towns, water proximity drives material selection. Trex and TimberTech capped composites resist the fading, staining, and moisture damage that bay-front exposure accelerates, with fade-and-stain warranties ranging roughly from 25 to 50 years depending on the line. Full PVC boards go a step further for homes directly on the water or around pools, shrugging off moisture entirely and staying cooler underfoot. For homeowners who love real wood, mahogany and cedar remain beautiful options - we simply have an honest conversation about the sealing and maintenance schedule that salt air demands.

Underneath every surface, we use KDAT lumber for the substructure whenever we can: kiln-dried after treatment for stability, pre-stained brown so visible framing looks clean, and backed by a limited lifetime transferable warranty. Decks Unique is the only decking company on Long Island offering this upgraded framing, and on the canal-front and elevated homes common in the Five Towns, it is the difference you will appreciate for decades.

Village Review Boards, Permits, and Getting to Yes

Most of the Five Towns are incorporated villages, which means your deck application goes to a village building department - and in the estate villages especially, plans may also face architectural review. These boards care about sightlines, materials, and how a structure fits the character of the street, not just structural code. Our role is to make that process uneventful: a proper survey-based site plan, clear elevations, framing and footing details, and renderings that show reviewers exactly what they are approving. We have guided projects through village and Town of Hempstead approvals alike, and we build the review timeline into your project schedule so there are no surprises.

Pergolas: Shade and Structure for Bayfront Living

Open water means open sun, and the Five Towns' best outdoor spaces almost always include shade. We design and build pergolas and outdoor structures ranging from classic fixed-roof designs to automated louvered pergolas whose blades open for sun and close against rain at the touch of a button. On estate properties in Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Bay Park, a motorized pergola over a bayside deck or existing patio turns a fair-weather space into a three-season room. On village lots in Cedarhurst or Woodmere, a more compact pergola adds privacy and definition to a backyard deck. Every structure is engineered for coastal wind loads, not just borrowed from a catalog.

Deck Resurfacing for Salt-Weathered Boards

Plenty of Five Towns decks were framed well decades ago but show their age on the surface - gray, splintered boards and corroded fasteners, especially near the water. If the structure underneath is still sound, full replacement may be unnecessary. We resurface decks by removing the worn boards and railings and installing new Trex, TimberTech, or PVC decking over the existing framing, upgrading to hidden fasteners and modern railing systems in the process. It is a faster, more economical path to a deck that looks and performs like new - particularly popular on bay-adjacent homes where the original surface lost its battle with salt air long before the framing did.

From the Five Towns to Our Commack Showroom

Material decisions are easier when you can stand on full-size displays and compare boards side by side. Our showroom at 119 Commack Road in Commack puts Trex, TimberTech, PVC, and natural wood options under your hands and feet, along with railing and lighting displays. Prefer to start at home? Contact us for a free design consultation at your property, or call (516) 689-7800 or (631) 623-9300.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do village review boards need to approve a new deck in the Five Towns?

In most of the Five Towns, yes - incorporated villages like Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Bay Park, and Hewlett Neck run their own building departments, and several apply architectural review to exterior projects. Requirements vary village to village. We prepare complete plans, elevations, and material specifications tailored to your village's process and guide the application from submission to final inspection.

Can you build pergolas in Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Bay Park?

Yes. We build fixed and automated louvered pergolas throughout the estate villages, engineered for coastal wind exposure and designed to satisfy village design review. On bayfront properties, a motorized louvered pergola over a deck or patio area is one of the most requested upgrades we install.

Do you handle patio and deck work in Hewlett Neck?

We are deck and pergola specialists, so our work in Hewlett Neck centers on custom decks, deck resurfacing, and outdoor structures - including pergolas built over existing patios. We are not a masonry contractor, but we regularly design decks and pergolas that integrate cleanly with patios, pools, and landscaping already on the property.

Can you build decks on Atlantic Beach?

Absolutely - and the barrier island is where our material standards matter most. For Atlantic Beach and East Atlantic Beach homes we specify PVC or premium capped composite decking, stainless steel fasteners, hurricane-rated hardware, and KDAT framing to stand up to salt spray and ocean wind. Elevated and second-story designs for raised homes are a regular part of our work there.

What decking holds up best on canal-front properties?

For homes on the canals in Woodmere, Hewlett Harbor, and the surrounding villages, we usually recommend full PVC boards or top-line capped composites such as Trex Transcend or TimberTech's premium collections, paired with stainless fasteners. These resist the moisture and salt exposure that age wood surfaces quickly near the water, and they carry fade-and-stain warranties in the 25-to-50-year range.