It’s hard to overestimate the importance of decks in Minnesota. Decks are gathering places to talk and come together and great excuses to take a moment, sit, and watch the world go by. And that is exactly what Jenny Zechmeister, the owner of Adele’s Frozen Custard, was looking for when deciding to build a new deck.
Adele’s Frozen Custard opened in 1986 from a modified farmhouse in Excelsior. The titular Adele created her own recipe for frozen custard that is still used to this day. “We still use her exact same recipes, all-natural ingredients and get our mix straight from a dairy in Wisconsin. We flavor it and add mix-ins to it ourselves, making it fresh every single day,” says Jenny. In modifying that original farmhouse, Jenny added a deck that, in the ensuing decades, required a lot of work. “We had been basically re-sanding and re-painting it, and by the end of it, we were basically rebuilding it every single year because it was just an old rotting porch,” says Jenny.
It was actually a long-time customer, Josh Ferri, the owner of Lakeside Decking, who approached Jenny about building a new deck. She quickly agreed. Josh’s take on deckbuilding in Minnesota is a harsh one. “With Minnesota weather, if you don’t build it right the first time, you’ll be building it again.” With a background in cabinetry and custom furniture, Josh brings a precision to deckbuilding that allows them to stand the tests of humidity, snow, and heat that we know all too well in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In fact, much of the work done by Lakeside Decking is rebuilding dilapidated decks to bring them up to code and ensure they are safe and usable. For Josh, building a deck right the first time is simply a matter of economics. “The cost of building improperly is way higher than building properly the first time,” explains Josh. “The long-term spending you will have when maintenance becomes a factor is way higher.”
Building the deck at Adele’s Frozen Custard was a project that required some special consideration. Not only did the space have to be cool to the touch in summer, easy to clean, and up to commercial code, but “super durable and long-lasting that could withstand the onslaught of kids and ice cream,” says Josh. To do that, Josh used an increasingly popular composite decking material called PVC by TimberTech decking which is both more durable than wood and also cooler to the touch in the heat.
The deck at Adele’s Frozen Custard is also the only way to get into the building. That meant that not only were Josh and Jenny designing a space for customers to relax and enjoy themselves but also to provide an inviting entryway and exit. “The whole goal basically was to make sure that the first thing people see when they come into Adele’s was a beautiful space where they could hang out and enter into the building,” says Josh. He did that by building built-in benches through the space, widening the deck’s staircase, expanding the ADA-accessible ramp, and adding lights to the planter boxes and railings.
For Jenny, keeping the farmhouse feel while still modernizing the space was a key line to walk for the project. And that’s exactly what happened. “What Josh has done is he’s built this amazing new deck that has a lot of benches for folks to sit right up on the deck. It has beautiful lighting at night, creating a really nice atmosphere. It’s integrated for a lot of our gardening and flowers too. He did a great job of making it feel updated but still warm and welcoming,” says Jenny.
Adele’s Frozen Custard has always been a community-focused business. It’s played host to first dates and groom’s dinners, post-soccer game hangouts, and post-wedding gatherings. The deck is an essential aspect of that community feel. Therefore, in undertaking this project, Jenny and Josh created more than just a physical space but a social one. A place where people can laugh, get introduced, and spill frozen custard for years to come. www.lakesidedecking.com
The whole goal was to make sure the first thing people see when they come into Adele’s was a beautiful space where they could hang out and enter into the building.