It is a beautiful day in Vancouver. I mean beautiful.
I’ve often said that I don’t deserve the view I have from my office window; the mountains, the water, and on days like this, a blue sky that goes on forever.
And one of the best things about where we are is that we’ve got is an outdoor space too, which can be viewed on our other blog, watchuswreck a floor. Hopefully in the next few weeks and months, we’ll use it again to have some friends over for refreshments and conversation without the need to test a laminate floor while we’re at it.
It got me thinking about outdoor spaces and how they’ve evolved. When I was a kid, a backyard when a blank space, with maybe a garden, a patio space, and a barbeque. But, since then expectations for outdoor spaces have become a little more involved.
Take a read of this article about decking and outdoor living spaces. One of the things that struck me in this article was that outdoor living spaces aren’t seen as separate entities from the main property in the same way that was standard in decades past. Now, they are often seen as extensions of them; outdoor dining rooms, kitchens, fireplaces, are becoming more and more prevalent.
Image courtesy of Miki James. Click image to view Flickr stream.
As such, deck materials derived from wood like red cedar, composite decking materials, vinyl decks and more are being called upon to create more elaborate floor plans for an outdoor space. This means multiple levels, and with multiple traffic areas to allowing for better access to the main property.
In this way, a deck is more than a recreational add-on to a property, as it might have been in the past. Now, it’s about bringing activities of outdoor/indoor life together.
Right. The next meeting we have here at BuildDirect has got to be outside!
Cheers!
Rob.
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Don’t forget the importance of dimensional stability, hardness and density when planning these decking/house extensions. If you’re planning on the deck seeing a lot of traffic (from parties, BBQs, etc.), you will probably want to stick with a stable, denser wood like Merbau or Ipe decking.
Wow, very cool idea and definitely creative… Adding your feed now. Thanks!
Merbau Australia