Austin is a city of about 26,000 people in Mower County, roughly 100 miles south of the Twin Cities. It is a stable, working-class homeowner community - not a suburb growing outward from a larger metro, but a city that has stood on its own for well over a century. Most people here own their homes and plan to stay. According to U.S. Census data, owner-occupied housing makes up the majority of the housing stock - and most of those homes were built before 1970.

Austin is best known nationally as the home of Hormel Foods, which has been headquartered here since 1891 and remains the largest employer in the area. The SPAM Museum on Main Street draws visitors from across the country. Locally, the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center - a 300-acre preserve on the east side of town - is one of the most-used outdoor spaces in the community. The Cedar River runs through the city, and neighborhoods near its banks tend to have wetter yards and more drainage considerations than homes on higher ground.

Austin winters are real. Temperatures drop below zero, snow accumulates quickly, and the ground can freeze four feet deep. That is the environment every deck we build has to survive. We set footings well below the frost line, use materials rated for Minnesota's freeze-thaw cycles, and build every structure to the City of Austin permit standards - because homeowners here cannot afford a deck that starts failing after two winters.