Building Award-Winning Decks: Jonathan Moeller’s Success at the NADRA Summit | F&D Podcast #52

Jonathan Moeller won five awards at this year's NADRA Summit, bringing his career total to seven, after joining and submitting projects for the first time back in 2020.

Writing a rich, detailed project description (NADRA allows up to about 250 words) is the single biggest lever for winning — judges only see photos, so describing hidden complexity like the 27 three-foot-deep footers dug through Rocky Mountain rock tells the story the images can't.

Deck building sits between framing and interior finish work: it has the structural demands of a house but every joist and board is a finished, visible product, so finding subcontractors with both a structural understanding and a craftsman's eye is difficult.

Project price category strategy matters — Jonathan won't enter a deck that just barely clears a category floor (e.g. a $160K deck in the 150K–250K bracket) because competing against projects with $75K–$100K more invested is nearly impossible.

He argues NADRA should narrow its price brackets so more builders can win, which would reduce discouragement, attract more entries, and ultimately make the competition fairer and grow the decking industry.

Professional photography (including drone footage and proper editing) is worth the investment for every high-end project — primarily for your website, and secondarily for competition entries, because stock or phone photos never do good work justice.

Beyond the awards, NADRA's real value is the business-building workshops (Chris Breen's sessions echoing 'E-Myth Revisited' and 'Traction') and the brotherhood of builders from non-competing regions who openly share ideas.