It’s Deck Season Y’all – What Are You Waiting for, Build it!

As we quickly roll into spring, many of us are getting the itch to hit the great outdoors and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. What better way is there to make the most of the time you have outside than with a deck? If you have been considering building a deck for a while, now is a perfect time to act. The summer will be here soon enough and with the pandemic easing, there are hopes that we will once again be able to gather together with friends and family. What are you waiting for? Find a deck design that speaks to you, and then call us and make it a reality!

A deck is a deck, right? Well not quite. There are many functions that a deck can perform depending on your lifestyle, your familial needs, and what you intend to use it for. Decks can be built either as an addition to the front of your home to welcome guests, they can wrap around to the back of your home, or they can be a walk-out that makes a perfect place to sit and entertain. The design of a deck is tantamount to how much you will enjoy it, so think carefully before you even put the shovel to the ground!

Design Ideas to Consider When Building a Deck

The Deck’s Function and Purpose

A deck can provide many functions and be for different purposes. To get the most out of your deck design, first, consider what its function will be. For example, will it be primarily used for entertaining, dining ala fresco, for a pool or spa addendum, or privacy from the neighbors? The first and most critical step is to determine what the deck’s purpose will be.

The Deck’s Location

The second most critical consideration is the deck’s location. In the hot summer heat of Georgia, building a deck without any shade can be tantamount to feeling like you are sitting on the sun. Things you will want to think about are the size of your property and any boundaries you have to adhere to, the placement of shade and other structures, how much privacy you want to have when enjoying it, the accessibility of it, and getting as much airflow as possible, to stave off the stale humid summer nights.

Your Budget

If you are like most, you don’t have an endless budget, so it is important to set a price maximum in stone and not veer from it! It is amazing how quickly costs can spiral out of control. You want to have a deck to enjoy, but not to be paying it off for the next twenty years! Critical to the design phase is thinking about the little extras like window boxes, upgraded handrails, and other conveniences like built-in seating. Extras are nice, just remember they don’t come for free.

What Materials do you Want to Use

Deck materials have come a long way over the past several decades. It is important to consider all options from pressure-treated wood to composite decking. Each material will have its advantages and disadvantages, making a pro and con list might help you decipher which type of material fits your style, and your lifestyle, best.

The Deck’s Overall Style

The style of the deck should ideally match the current style of your home. Your home design looks best when it is uniform, so try to stick to the same architecture for consistency. That doesn’t mean you can’t introduce new features to add texture, it just means you don’t want to build a gothic-style deck to attach to a historic home.

Deck Lighting

Although often only considered last, lighting is going to be a crucial component of your deck’s enjoyment factor. You can’t just put a light in anywhere, so when you are designing your deck, you need to know ahead of time where you can place lights to make your deck most enjoyable. There are several lighting options to consider such as recessed step lights, path lighting, overhead lights, landscaping spotlights, security lighting, wall or post-mounted. The type of lighting you choose will not only affect the usability of your deck; it will greatly affect the overall cost of building it.

If you want to enjoy the great outdoors more this spring and fall, now is an excellent time to consider the possibility of building the deck you’ve been dying for. At Clean ’n’ Brite, we are experts at all things inside and out. Let us help you make your deck vision a reality this spring. Contact us to get the ball rolling today!