As homeowner’s look ahead to warmer weather, many are dreaming of summer days spent on a brand new deck. So what is new in the deck design section of home building? Builders and manufacturers agree, the current big trend in decks is just that: big.
“People are wanting to extend the indoor living space to the outside,” says Tim Stephens, owner of Archadeck of West Central & Southwest Ohio, who has built several decks in Dayton and Cincinnati that measure 1,500 square feet or more. “Inside, you have a dining room, kitchen, living room, and family room. We’re designing the same things in the deck: an area for dining, a sitting or socializing area, and then a cooking area.”
The 200-square foot deck is increasingly looking like a relic of the past as homeowners push for more outside living space, and remodelers and builders line up to accommodate them.
Building a deck that’s as big as a small house takes more time, planning, and designing than building a small one, notes Stephens. Even a big deck shouldn’t have any wasted space. It’s time-consuming to design each section of the deck so it caters to the homeowner’s plan for using it.
Here are 10 ideas from deck builders and industry experts to consider when building a big deck:
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