Does anyone have a Northeast or West Backyard?

[Dizneefamily+4]

Our backyard is direct West facing. I love watching the sunset, but I absolutely hate the heat/glare that you mentioned in the summer. We can rarely eat on our deck in mid to late summer because it's too darn hot out there with that late afternoon sun - even with the umbrella table. We built our house 17 years ago and purchased our lot. If I had it to do over again and knew what I know now, I'd not choose a west-facing backyard. JMO!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Normally, but there is no house. Only property.

Oh, duh. Sorry

 

[sharona]

Avoid the full West facing backyard if you can. You'll get a lot more use out of your backyard if you don't have to fight the sun all the time. If you're stuck with a full sun backyard, don't forget you always have the option to plant a few strategic shade trees. I had to do that in the front of our South facing house because the living room and dining room were impossible during the midday hours. I ended up buying some awnings to alleviate the problem until the trees reached ideal height. They made for a huge improvement in the temps and glare in those rooms. We do get full sun in our backyard for a few hours in the early afternoon during the summer months and I'm always thankful that we have a covered patio out there.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think the direction of the backyard wouldn't even enter into the discussion of whether or not I like a house.

You need sun for veggie gardens and many of the flowering perennials, shrubs, etc. It is very important to me as a person who loves landscaping and gardens.

Right now I have the burning hot sun on the back deck and it does suck in the summer. That being said, now that it is cool out I love it.

We are moving however if we were staying I would landscape for shade. You can plant trees to try and create shade in the back.

I am house hunting as well. Good Luck!

 

[diznygirl]

I would love a fabulous view of a sunset, but since it's only more houses behind us, all we get is the heat and glare.

Visit the lots at sunset and see what you get. It might be a nice view.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Our backyard is on the west side of the house. Our master bedroom faces west and has a sliding glass door. In the summer it is the hottest room in the house, which is not good. And we never use the deck because the sun reflecting off the siding makes it too hot and unbearable.

 

[nene0182]

West here. Same as the others we have trouble grilling with the sun beating down.

The rising sun through our bedroom facing east is no picnic either.

The back is nice in the morning, the front is nice in the afternoon/evening.

Have fun building your home!

This is our exact situation. We are rarely in our backyard but spend hours sitting on our large front porch. Which I suppose for us is a benefit since the porch is one reason we fell in love with our house. I would love to be able to eat in the backyard but we never have, it's just too hot back there.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I'm guessing there are few if any trees on the property. On a heavily wooded lot, it's only the few hours when the sun is highest in the sky where sunlight is a problem. My backyard is to the southwest of the house.

 

[nkereina]

My concerns are that a west backyard will have too much direct sun with a glare in the summer so I'll have to keep a lot of the blinds closed and have a really hot deck or patio, but that a Northeast yard might be kind of gloomy in the afternoon. What do you all think?

We built three years ago. The front of my house faces west, and gets all the direct sunlight in the afternoon/early evening. The rooms at the front of the house need shades pulled when the sun reaches that point. It's usually that time of day when we want to go out back on the deck, and it works out perfectly because the sun is already in the front of the house. No need for shade or an awning. So, your concerns about the west backyard having too much sun is definitely a concern and the reason I wouldn't choose it. The only benefit of it would be growing grass, flowers, landscaping, garden, etc. Because the strong sun is at the front of our house, we find it difficult to keep flowers alive on our deck or even fill in the grass patches against the back of the house.

 

[LJSquishy]

Wow, you've all given me great suggestions and things to consider! You've been SO much more helpful than the folks on Houzz who just like to criticize everything (some helpful, most not). They made it seem like if I couldn't have a North facing home with a south backyard then it'd be doom & gloom all year and not worth building at all. LOL

I'm pretty sure we'll go with the lot that faces Southwest (northeast backyard) and try to include some extra windows where we can. The only downside is it might be tricky placing our vegetable garden in the back so we'd have to figure that out when the time comes. We like to spend quite a bit of time outside in the afternoon/evening so a shadier deck/patio would be beneficial, and it would be easier to watch TV in the family room since it would be on that same side. The lots are fairly small, about 10,000sqft (a little less than 1/4 acre). Hopefully we'll have enough room in the front to plant a shade tree on the southwest side of our property.

 

[DisneyOma]

We have a huge deck on the sunny side of our house, but we have plenty of shade from maple trees and a sun canopy. The canopy really makes it nice out there - it's shaped like a huge sail, and attaches to the house and one pole at the far side of the deck. In the summer it is really shady from the deciduous trees, and in the winter we get more sun on the house (solar heat ) which is nice.

 

[trip]

Besides deciding on sun locations - what is behind the lots you are looking at? Will you be backing into a wooded area with no houses able to be built or a road? Will there be other houses behind you? Will they be sitting higher than your house? If so you will always feel like they are looking down into your yard. Been there.

Back to sun locations, we live in a snowy area and are very happy to have the sun clear our driveway while our neighbors are chipping ice.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Back to sun locations, we live in a snowy area and are very happy to have the sun clear our driveway while our neighbors are chipping ice.

Oh yea, that is certainly something to consider. We have dogs that need to go out back and if we did not have sun it would stay ICE for a long time.

 

[NewRVLady]

My backyard is East and I lOVE it-in the front we planted 2 live oaks that completely shade our 2 front windows from the long hot afternoon

 

[tvguy]

Never considered what direction the house/yard faced when we bought our house 32 years ago. However, when we had Solar put in this year, all the solar companies said we were so lucky to have a south side back yard. All 36 solar panels are on the back (south side) of the house, where they can't be seen from the street.

 

[MickeySP]

East si I get sunrises on my deck. Plus with more sun it heats the pool.