Planning and Building A New Modern Deck

After we made the decision to stay in our house and focus on optimizing the space instead of moving to a larger house, we immediately started thinking about the deck and our outdoor living space. Our original deck was reaching the end of it’s life and many of the boards were starting to rot. It was a good time for us to rethink how the space was used.

Step 1: Determine Our Goals For The Space

In my professional life, I do a lot of solution engineering. I tell people that the best place to start is at the end. I do that for my home projects too. Our family spent some time thinking about how we’d like to use the space. The second thing I do is think about the problems we’re trying to solve. By understanding the goals and problems we need to solve, it makes it easier to plan the work.

Our goals for the new deck:

1. Larger space for our big family to gather
2. Fire pit on the deck
3. Room for everyone to sit together
4. Room for the grill / outdoor cooking
5. I wanted the new space to have a clean modern feel

Problems with the existing deck:

1. The stairs were in a strange place.
   • A corner of the deck that couldn’t be used for anything because of this
   • A chunk of our small yard was being wasted beside these stairs
2. Wood spindles. I never want to stain wood spindles again.
3. Without shade, it gets really hot on the deck, especially when the sun sets.

Step 2: Designing The New Space & Hiring a Pro

The Plan:

• Expand the deck from 10’x12′ to 18’x12′
• Changing the location of the stairs
• Using tall posts to be able to add shade
• Metal spindles
• Composite deck boards

I designed the new space. Then we saved money by taking down the old deck ourselves and then hired an pro to do most of the new construction. We ran into issues with material shortages. We had to settle for whatever composite we could get, but I don’t mind the color at all. The photo with the bare tall posts below is where the pro stopped. I think those tall posts confused the heck out of the neighbors! But I had a plan!!!

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Step 3: DIY Final Touches

I wasn’t comfortable building the structure (although after watching it, I feel like I could have!) however, I knew we could save some money if we did a lot of the final elements ourselves.

After the initial build, we added:

1. Louvered Sun Blinds
2. Pergola
3. DIY modern couch
4. Paint and Stain

The Result

I’m absolutely thrilled with how the deck turned out. We’ll be able to enjoy cool fall and spring evenings on the deck snuggled up under blankets around the fire. The sun blinds give us privacy and shade the setting sun. There is enough room for everyone!