All Decked Out

It took us a while to get over the shock and disappointment of the landscape planning process. We knew we needed to do something because the outside really was not a pleasant place to be at our house. As we sat out on our deck, we determined that was the place where we could make the biggest impact. It was a very ugly, dated deck. It was small and when we were out there it was like we were on stage. Absolutely no privacy.

Here is the original deck:

This was how it looked before we purchased the house.

In earlier blog posts, you can see where we swapped this back door for a window and put in a laundry room.

Most of the back yard was unusable. There were scraggly shrubs along the deck and the house.

View from the deck. You can see every house in the neighborhood and they could see us.

We decided to invest in a new deck and got started making plans. We reached out to a contractor we had heard about and he told us we were required to get an architect. Really? We know what we are doing. We were told the town board had to approve plans and they would only accept plans from an architect. Good grief. Is there no end to the unnecessary expense in this part of the country? Apparently not.

This contractor had a referral for an architect and so we went through the process of drawing what we wanted, debating the architect, and ultimately getting him to provide the drawings we needed.

Our main objective was privacy and making the deck larger with more access into the back yard. My inspiration for the design came from this photo:

Frosted glass panels seemed like the perfect way to block off view of the deck, but allow light.

 Here are a couple of pages of the plans.

The idea was to make the deck the length of the house, use frosted glass panels around most of the perimeter, have steps going to both sides of the yard, vertical garden walls at each end of the deck for maximum privacy and sound attenuation, and a covered area for the grill.

Here you can see the detail of the design elements of the deck.

This took months. Our vision for a deck was very unique. There is no deck like this in our county. Not sure if there are many with these features in the tri-state area. When you have a unique vision it takes a long time to get others on the same page. They were not inclined to see it our way at first, so there is resistance. By the time we had the plans the way we wanted them, the original contractor was no where to be found. So, we searched for another one. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Our new contractor was quite good, reasonable, and easy to work with. He simplified some of the engineering on the plans and we got started. Turns out we weren't really required to have an architect after all. Our new contractor always drew his own plans and got them approved. Oh well. Too late now.

First, demolition.

Getting started.

Deck and shrubs gone. Looking better already.

I always know we are on the right track when taking away an element looks better than when it was there.

You can see we got started when there was snow on the ground. It did snow early and often that year. While we had hoped to finish the whole thing before winter really set in, it was not to be.

We did make good progress though.

After regrading the yard by the house, putting in the required footings, and adding a thick layer of stone as the base, ledger boards went in and construction went pretty quick.

The area near the kitchen was deeper than the rest of the deck. This allowed for the stairs on this side.

We wanted really nice finish elements to this deck. One way to do that is to put trim boards around the edges. This treatment allows bullnose edges all the way around and no cut boards show.

Posts for the grill station and the perimeter go in.

Decking finished. This was a rewarding day. The new deck was so much larger than the old one. And that new wood is so pretty!

New configuration for the stairs to the left of the kitchen was much more logical than the original stairs against the house. Bonus that the light fixture originally required for the door that was no longer there now made sense again.

We opted for closed stairs with risers just like you'd construct indoors. Much better look and safer.

Vertical garden wall behind the grill station. We would eventually plant herbs here as this wall gets a lot of sun in the spring and summer.

Vertical garden wall at the far end. This end would have shade tolerant plants. Even in the winter without the leaves on the trees the wall is shaded most of the day.

View from the yard shows the improved privacy even before the installation of the panels.

Really shaping up.

View from the yard on the west side of the house.

We had the iron spindles in our deck at our former house and we really liked that wood and iron look. These are aluminum, so lightweight, easy to install, and hold up well in the weather.

Grill station in place. This is the view from the kitchen. Really convenient.

Handrails are required by code. At first we thought we wouldn't like them and would remove after inspection, but they look good. And, they do provide security on the stairs.

Stairwell on other side.

We had to wait for the winter to be over before we could move forward with construction, but finally the panels were here and installation began.

You can see how these panels block view, but not light.

This was an exciting day. These panels really were the best idea and even unfinished looked terrific. Couldn't wait for this deck to be finished and Spring to be here!

Panels in all the way to the grill station.

We couldn't wait. We put the dining furniture out there even though it was too cold to use.

You can really see the privacy this design provides from the view that our closest neighbors have.

The design works with the house. It looks like it should always have been this way.

View from further out in the yard.

We wanted a finished look, so we had a skirt installed around the base. I really hate lattice, so we elected to use vertical deck boards. The western end had quite a bit of storage space, so we put a little door there for easy access.

Door in place.

We put concrete pads at the base of each staircase.

We bought this vinyl potting bench to use as a sink base.

We added water in a couple of places. Here it is near the vertical garden wall at the far end of the deck.

We added vinyl caps to all the posts. We chose black over other options as the glass panels had black trim and the stairs had black aluminum spindles.

 We really struggled over staining the deck. I wanted the stain to continue the unique and sophisticated design. After considering all types of colors and even multiple colors, we kept it simple with a cedar color on all wood. Really glad we did that. After we put all the plants and furniture in, it was good to have a simple palette in the background.

Stained and ready!

View looking East.

 We had originally thought that the dining table would go where we had it before, right outside the kitchen. When the furniture we ordered came in, however, it just didn't fit that well on the narrow end of the deck. We swapped it around, and it worked great.

Table and chairs worked great with the umbrella at the narrow end of the deck. We also painted large planters teal and put in a narrow trellis on each. We planted clematis, stonecrop, and vinca in them. The idea was to provide privacy since the stairs were open to the street.

The planters create a landing for the stairs in addition to the privacy they provide.

View looking East.

We wanted a fireplace and bought this little one. It couldn't be on the deck directly, so we couldn't use it until we figured out a hearth solution.

Sink in place. It runs hot and cold water and drains out into the yard from under the deck.

Spring was here and time to plant the vertical garden. I wanted an interesting design, but wasn't sure how to do it. So, I just bought a bunch of plants I liked that I thought would work and then started to set them out. I went with a diagonal pattern. I had flowering plants and showy leaves. I used a mixture of annuals and perennials.

Finished wall. I put dwarf English boxwoods across the top thinking that they would form a little hedge over time. The adirondack chairs are made of recycled plastic. They were as expensive as chairs I'd buy for the inside of the house, but they have a beautiful design and will last forever.

Added a rug under the table.

The living area furniture only came as set. I really didn't like the coffee table at all, so I bought one that I did like. Much better scale. Also added planters, small end tables, and accent pillows.

View from the stairs by the grill. Also added a rug in the outdoor living room area.

View from the kitchen door.

We designed and built this hearth for the fireplace. It is made from two by fours sheathed in cement board. Then, we clad the outside in stone, which came in sheets with mesh backing. Corners were a little tricky, but turned out great. It is also on wheels so we can move it if we need to and move it against the house for winter storage.

Fireplace can be enjoyed from either side.

That's a wrap! We have really enjoyed this new deck. We are out there all the time. It really is one of the best, if not the best, projects we've done to this house. Next post I'll share the lessons we learned about our plantings and the second year decisions we made.