HOA: Allow White Decks or Limit to Natural Wood Tones?

This issue has been the subject of much debate in our homeowners association lately, and I thought I’d post it here to get your take. Our current HOA guidelines require that all decks in the community be painted / stained in natural wood tones.  Newer composite materials are acceptable as long as they meet this guideline.  As with most communities with covenants, homeowners must submit proposed changes to the exteriors of their homes to an architectural committee.

As I mentioned in a prior post, the architectural committee that was just elected in our community has taken a more active approach in enforcing the community’s covenants.  About 15 houses in the community have porches or decks that are at least partly white (railings, or in some cases, the whole structure). Most of them didn’t realize they needed approval from the HOA to make changes to the exterior of their homes.  None of them realized that white was not an approved color for decks.  (And one claims that she had approval to build her deck… and I tend to believe her).

Our community is set in the woods.  Almost every home in the community backs to treed areas.  Some back up right to the state park.  I believe that the idea behind the rule was to make decks and porches “blend in” to the surroundings.  Of course, this rule was created in 1983, before newer composite materials came into style.  Now, white decks and railings are commonplace in newer communities in our area.   In some cases, contractors will only install a white railing if certain composite materials are used for the floor boards.  (This is apparently because the matching composite color is not manufactured for the railings).

The folks in violation of the covenants we’re given 30 days notice to remove or paint their white decks and railings.  Those who aren’t in compliance within 30 days will have the HOA will file a lien against their property.  Several of the folks that were cited are starting a petition to change the deck color rule to allow “natural wood tones or white.”  After thinking about this for a few weeks, I think this is the right move for the community - not because I want to change every rule that folks accidentally violate, but because many homeowners would like to install newer, composite decks with white railings or floor boards.  These decks look nice, add value to their properties, and thereby add value to all properties in the community.

What do You Think?  Would you vote for a change in the rule to allow white decks?  Have you found yourself on the wrong side of an HOA rule before?  What did you do?

Photo: Shadow on Deck by JasperYue.