 | Art Bryan
is president and owner of Southwestern Remodeling Contractors, Inc. Art started Southwestern Remodeling Contractors in 1970. Southwestern is a fully-licensed residential and commercial licensed general contractor in Wichita and the surrounding counties. Art has been a member of the Wichita Area Home Builders Association and the National Remodel Council since 1974. In mid-2000 Southwestern received the distinction of being named one of the "Top 25 Most Diversified Remodeling Companies in the United States.” Southwestern is listed as the 84th Top Remodeler in the country by Qualified Remodeling Magazine. Art can be contacted at his office at (316) 263-1239, fax at (316) 263-6230, or you can e-mail him at ARTSWR@aol. Com |
Home Improvement
2003-07-01 16:09:00
Planning for a deck
ANSWER: (See part 1 in June ‘03 issue) Here are some more considerations when planning for a deck.What type of privacy, if any, do you require? Privacy is an important consideration with some deck designs. You may want to include a hot tub on the deck or have the deck built against an aboveground pool, so privacy in the visual sense is an obvious issue. However, privacy from noise is another thing often overlooked. Some houses are close to highways or busy streets, others have noisy neighbors and some of us can be noisy ourselves. By incorporating fences or privacy-screens into your deck, you can reduce the amount of noise and produce a higher degree of privacy from your surrounding areas. What will the view from your deck be like? Will you want to emphasize or mask any particular areas? The design of your deck is greatly influenced by the answers to these questions. A multi-level deck may provide you with a better way to take advantage of the scenic views your property offers, while the use of fencing or privacy-screens may help disguise unsightly areas when viewed from your deck. The proper positioning of stairs and landings is also influenced by the features that surround your deck. What safety considerations do you need to take into account? While all decks professionally built by a contractor will be to code, which means very strict guidelines are followed about the structural integrity and overall safety of your deck (handrails, for example, must be spaced no further than 4" apart, to prevent small children or pets from ever falling through), there may be other considerations you have. If you have very young children or small pets, we suggest that you consider adding extra elements to your deck design, such as safety gates. You may also want to prevent your children from playing under your deck if it is rather low-lying, so skirting with or without trapdoors might be a smart solution. What types of access do you require to your deck? Depending on the layout of your house, your design may need some "tweaking" to allow for the most functionality. Think of what doorways will provide access to the deck, and how stairs would be best positioned to allow for smooth traffic flow from doorways to multi-levels. What is the condition of the terrain or foundation that the deck will be built upon? Creating a stable foundation is imperative to the construction of a deck. If your deck is going to be built over a poured concrete foundation, a variety of footing applications can be used to stabilize the deck. If instead, holes have to be dug and concrete poured to hold the support posts, the ground content and pitch of the yard to create a stable foundation needs to be carefully assessed. If your yard has a large pitch to it, then more post-holes and posts will need to be used for support. The taller the support posts need to be, the deeper AND wider the holes need to be to allow for more concrete. Sometimes, retaining walls have to be added to help stabilize a foundation, consisting of stacked 6 x 6s nailed together with railroad ties. This factor greatly influences the overall labor costs and material costs involved.
