This is absolutely true. I'm helping a friend build a deck - the deck is 1,800 square feet. We spent a month planning it, and now we're just head down grunt labouring until it' done. We're about 1/2 done the support structure. We did it up pretty right. Rather than dropping posts into the ground, we did concrete pillars on which all the support will sit, no wood touching the ground. The deck surrounds a pool, so there is always moisture.
As far a mowers go
Fogel
for 1/4 acre you don't need a rider. That's a quick push mower job. But probably more than an electric can do. I've had a Craftsman push mower that has made me pledge to buy a Craftsman mower whenever I need one. I've had it about 8 years, and it's so easy to start that my very small, slight 12 year old son starts it on the first pull every time. Blade is made of good steel that holds sharp for ages. It's just a nice, reliable, light mower.