What do you love/hate about your deck?

[JanaDee]

DH and I were discussing yesterday putting on a sunroom with a hot tub and I suggested we may as well add a deck to the side. He said in that case, we may as well put the hot tub outside, just in case it would leak or something similar. So I suggested we just skip the sunroom and put on a deck only, if he wants the hot tub outside anyway, cutting our cost in half.

We currently have a patio that is never used. It came with the house and neither of us like it. We live in a subdivision with houses directly behind us and no fences, so we have very little privacy back there, which is a concern.

The hot tub is non-negotiable, as DH has a bad back. I'd also like a fireplace. Since it would be on the south side of our house, some type of shade would be necessary, too.

If you have a deck, what do you love about it? Hate? How large?

 

[Happy Snowman]

I wish our deck was Trex or similar material. I know it costs more, but upkeep is much easier and it lasts longer. Our deck is huge so one side is our table and the other side is a seating area. It faces south so it's not something we can use in the afternoon. I want to put up some kind of a shade. We have an umbrella for our table but that is only so good. I would also like a screened in area so we are not bothered by bugs if we want to be outside in the evening.

I'd incorporate your hottub into your deck so it looks like it is inground...I like that look. You could put up a privacy screen to wall off the tub from the neighbors.

 

[Kbee]

We use our deck all the time in the spring/summer. I love having it, but I don't like the one I have.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

Don't have one, probably will build one sooner or later. We just have a 12x12 concrete patio for now.

 

[Jaime4004]

I love my deck. It's what I call "fake wood." Like trex, but a different brand, can't remember the name. DH built it (with no experience) 3 yrs ago. It's large and goes up to a 2nd smaller deck that is attached to our above ground pool. I'd love a hot tub out there also, but that's years away. Mid afternoon 1/2 of it is in the shade so it's nice to be able to choose to sit in sun or shade. Only downside is the fake wood gets really hot in the sun, need to wear shoes.

 

[HM]

We have a deck and screen porch on our house. We expanded the deck and moved the stairs after a couple years, because it was too small and the stairs led off in a weird direction toward the side of the house, now they are shorter and lead directly to our back yard.

We wish we'd been able to afford Trex or similar for the decking. Easy care durable material. As it is, we have to restain the deck every other year.

Now, the screen porch, I LOVE. Nothing greater than sitting outside in comfy chairs and sofa with no bugs.
If you can afford to enclose your deck and hot tub with a screening, do it.

 

[JanaDee]

I love my deck. It's what I call "fake wood." Like trex, but a different brand, can't remember the name. DH built it (with no experience) 3 yrs ago. It's large and goes up to a 2nd smaller deck that is attached to our above ground pool. I'd love a hot tub out there also, but that's years away. Mid afternoon 1/2 of it is in the shade so it's nice to be able to choose to sit in sun or shade. Only downside is the fake wood gets really hot in the sun, need to wear shoes.

We wouldn't be using wood, it would be trex or something similar and probably covered in some fashion, either a roof or heavy pergola.

 

[JanaDee]

We have a deck and screen porch on our house. We expanded the deck and moved the stairs after a couple years, because it was too small and the stairs led off in a weird direction toward the side of the house, now they are shorter and lead directly to our back yard.

We wish we'd been able to afford Trex or similar for the decking. Easy care durable material. As it is, we have to restain the deck every other year.

Now, the screen porch, I LOVE. Nothing greater than sitting outside in comfy chairs and sofa with no bugs.
If you can afford to enclose your deck and hot tub with a screening, do it.

I'm leaning more towards the screened in portion and maybe a non-screened in portion. We have TONS of mosquitoes in the summer and we'd like to enjoy the area without being eaten alive.

 

[morgan98]

I vote for a screened in deck as well. We just built a new home and had our deck (12ft x 22ft) screened in with ceiling fans, canned lighting, a knee wall, etc. It is like another room of the house that bugs cannot get into. Below the deck is a large covered patio. We live in the South and the sun is brutal several months of the year. With it being screened in, we eat outside a good portion of the year and we even have a heater for the winter (had a screened in porch at our old home too).

 

[MIGrandma]

We have a 3-level wooden (treated) deck off our family room. Love it for the most part. The first part has a large swing, the second part is a small triangle section with a built in seat running across the longer length and a small side table built into the middle, the bottom section has our patio table and chairs and the grill. The only things I don't like about it is the fact that the last time we put water-sealant on it, it didn't last. It is coming off in strips, looks ugly, will power wash it and re-water treat it this summer. The other thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't have a hot tub. We love hot tubs when we rent cabins in the Smoky Mountains and I've tried to convince DH that it would be nice to have one of our own, especially as he has problems with sore muscles and back a LOT. He just says it would be "another thing to maintain" and doesn't want to have one.

We do use the deck quite often, love having the big swing on it, and we grill and eat outside. The deck is in full sun in the morning/early afternoon, but by mid-afternoon the shade from the house is starting to cover it and it's always fully shaded in the evening so we don't feel the need to add any type of shade/cover.

 

[HM]

I think the dimensions of our screen porch are 10x10 and the deck next to it is 10X16. It takes up a good portion of the back of the house. On the deck we have a table/umbrella and four chairs, our grill (set up with natural gas line), and a swinging couch. The screen porch has a rug, surrounded by a set of swivel chairs and couch, coffee table and two end tables. We want to add a storage bin than hold the pillows for the sets when the weather gets too cold to use the outdoor areas for sitting.

 

[soccerdad72]

We also, in retrospect, should have had ours built with Trex or some other composite material. It takes a beating from the sun and we're constantly having to power wash it and restain it, nearly every year.

We added onto our deck a few years after we built it, so now we have an area that is for dining and an area that we can just sit around on, plus space for our grill. I like having enough space for separate types of area like that. We also have a patio off the deck which we have a built-in firepit as well - that's starting to get more use now that our kids are getting older.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Our deck is 12X24 with an open 12X12 section, and a covered 12X12 section. Like others, I wish it wasn't wood. Like the half open, half covered as I can get shade on a warm day or even grill when it's raining. I wish it was bigger.

 

[Happy Snowman]

I think the dimensions of our screen porch are 10x10 and the deck next to it is 10X16. It takes up a good portion of the back of the house. On the deck we have a table/umbrella and four chairs, our grill (set up with natural gas line), and a swinging couch. The screen porch has a rug, surrounded by a set of swivel chairs and couch, coffee table and two end tables. We want to add a storage bin than hold the pillows for the sets when the weather gets too cold to use the outdoor areas for sitting.

We had that in an old house and I LOVED not having to worry about gas tanks and such. It's on my list for the house we will be building in a couple years!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Build a 4 season room with a roof. Yes I know that the cost is very high but the use you will have with it will be worth it, esp. if you are building it specific to use a hot tub for a sore back.

We have had 4 houses so far and have built a pool, 2 decks, 3 season room, and plenty of patio's.

 

[Flight]

Splinters and staining. No matter the claims of the manufacturers or the numerous coats applied, fading takes place rapidly and the kids are in peril of splinters. Would like to trade the current deck for one made of Trex.

 

[yoopermom]

Our current house has the pillars (or whatever they're called) in place for a HUGE deck, but the former owners obviously ran out of time/$$ before finishing. My "dream" is to "extend the house" and have it be half 3 season room (since we have two seasons here: snow and mosquitoes), and half deck with built in hot tub. Maybe I'll inherit some $$ soon?!?

Terri

 

[barkley]

love-it's HUGE, has a high peaked roof that covers the middle third (so the area where we enter off the family room, also provides shade for the adjacent windows), has a dedicated electrical source for hot-tub (and all the wiring goes under the deck where it's out of sight but easily accessible, plumbed w/propane to hook up to a grill (but stupid placement on builder's part so at this point we don't use it). hate??? not too much-yes there's upkeep cuz it's real wood (but I like the look better), yes the hot tub in not under a roof so it gets covered w/snow but when we use it we have a beautiful view of the stars.

if you end up w/a deck vs a 'room', check w/local ordinances about your hot-tub and if it has to be fenced in (even if it has a locking top). in some places the normal height for deck railing doesn't meet the legal requirements for hot-tub safety enclosures so people end up w/realy wonky looking fixes after the fact.

 

[JanaDee]

love-it's HUGE, has a high peaked roof that covers the middle third (so the area where we enter off the family room, also provides shade for the adjacent windows), has a dedicated electrical source for hot-tub (and all the wiring goes under the deck where it's out of sight but easily accessible, plumbed w/propane to hook up to a grill (but stupid placement on builder's part so at this point we don't use it). hate??? not too much-yes there's upkeep cuz it's real wood (but I like the look better), yes the hot tub in not under a roof so it gets covered w/snow but when we use it we have a beautiful view of the stars.

if you end up w/a deck vs a 'room', check w/local ordinances about your hot-tub and if it has to be fenced in (even if it has a locking top). in some places the normal height for deck railing doesn't meet the legal requirements for hot-tub safety enclosures so people end up w/realy wonky looking fixes after the fact.

Hmmm, thank you for that. It never would have occurred to me to even think about that!

 

[JanaDee]

Our current house has the pillars (or whatever they're called) in place for a HUGE deck, but the former owners obviously ran out of time/$$ before finishing. My "dream" is to "extend the house" and have it be half 3 season room (since we have two seasons here: snow and mosquitoes), and half deck with built in hot tub. Maybe I'll inherit some $$ soon?!?

Terri

Now I know you don't live that far from me.