Decks and patios are great areas of a house that are fantastic for entertaining during warm weather, but are also great additions that enhance home values. Outdoor living areas like a deck and patio can also increase the overall resale of your home as buyers look for outdoor areas as valuable upgrades when buying homes. When building a deck or patio to entertain your family and friends there are some simple principles to practice.
Location
Defining the area where you want these entertaining spaces is important to understand your overall design. If you are building a deck and patio off a particular room, while building it you may need more reinforcements to ensure safety. This is especially important if you are building a deck off a second floor. Likewise, patios need some area that is flat, so looking for space in your yard that is flat can be ideal for a patio or allocating budget on leveling some of your yard to support a patio is another option. Adding any kind of drainage to both a deck and a patio is also valuable so as not to keep the water from settling and possibly destroying the space.
Materials
There are a number of materials to use in the construction of your deck or patio. Decks can be designed and built of wood or composite products like TimberTech. There are pros and cons to both wood and composite and both need different levels of maintenance. Price and preference generally become factors in the final decision.
Patios have a lot of flexibility in the materials. Using natural stone, brick, stone veneer, concrete and tiles. Your climate will be a factor when deciding what material to use. Often times in temperatures where you have very cold weather, ceramic tiles cannot hold up to the severe cold, however in moderate climates ceramic tiles are ideal. Like decks, the costs and design elements are a factor when building your patio. Materials and the construction using the materials can vary in costs.
Size
The size of your space is also important. Do you want an area that will support a small two person seating arrangement for a nice coffee in the morning or you do want a space that can support a large group of people with tables, chairs, sitting areas and more. Designing the size of your outdoor space will be dependent on your budget, the use of the space, and the types of events you would like to host.
Space Elements
Understanding how to use your space helps in defining the size of the space but it also understands any additional elements you want to add to the space. For instance, you might want to drink wine by the fire on a chilly evening or make s’mores with your children. Adding a fire pit can accomplish these tasks, but the space will need to be equipped for any issues that result with open fires.
Using a deck and patio area to support a hot tub will require access to the equipment to let the hot tub run and support the weight of hot tub full of water and bodies. Other elements in the area might be lighting, multiple sitting areas, grills or serving areas, misters or fans for those seriously hot days. Many of these other elements require electricity wired to the area for a deck and patio. Keeping all the elements you want to make your space usable will also help you in your design.
Access
Finally, how do you actually get to your outdoor entertaining area? If you are building a deck off a room, having a door to access that deck will be vital to using the space. If you decide a patio is the way to go, then access to the patio via doors, walkways or maybe even steps will need to be considered in the design and construction of the area. Access points can also be very simple. If you have a patio or deck towards the back of your yard, simply walking across the grass can help you leverage the space, but if your space does require a specific access you need to consider this in your construction costs if it is not already available.
Whether you decide on decks or patios, we hope these home remodel tips help you understand the basics to design, function and construction costs. From all of us at HomeZada, have a happy summer!!
