Decks & Backyard Features Archives - Page 3 of 8

7 Stunning Outdoor Rooms Under $40,000

May 5th, 2016|Blog, Deck Design Tips & Trends, Decks & Backyard Features, Life On Deck|

Whether it’s inside or out, there really is no big difference in how people use their space. They like to cook, eat, and relax with their favorite beverages possibly around or in front of a fireplace, watch and follow their favorite sports teams, and they like to entertain with friends and family. But instead of being surrounded by walls covered in tapestries or pictures, you’re looking at beautiful landscapes and extended views. Things just feel healthier and more relaxing when you’re outside enjoying the open air. As it grows in sophistication, outdoor living has become even more important to homeowners’ leisure lifestyle. In addition, outdoor living structures have become the highest returning home improvement investment you can make. Imagine creating a beautiful space to enjoy with friends and family while adding value to your home. Browse these beautiful custom DeckTec designs to get a sense of what we can do [...]

Heaven’s Kitchen: Bringing the Kitchen Outdoors

May 1st, 2016|Deck Design Tips & Trends, Decks & Backyard Features|

In many cases, the kitchen is your most-used room and likely the heart of your home. Many types of events involve food, and as people’s leisure living migrates outdoors, it’s only logical that the kitchen would move outdoors as well. Having not only a nice barbecue, but a nice barbecue area is becoming more appealing and in demand as an important element of the outdoor living environment. While the barbecue is still the key appliance needed for cooking your food, it doesn’t address all the aspects of meal preparation, serving, and outdoor enjoyment, especially when you’re entertaining, so outdoor kitchens are becoming more popular, and even necessary. Too often, the little wings on a grill fail to provide sufficient space for all the ingredients and utensils necessary to conveniently cook and serve a meal. The outdoor kitchen provides space for food prep, serving, side dishes, and condiments, which are often [...]

Inside Out: Defining The Outdoor Living Room

April 1st, 2016|Deck Design Tips & Trends, Decks & Backyard Features|

Here’s a little bit of a trick question for you: What’s the difference between an indoor and an outdoor living room? Answer: The walls! This may seem like an obvious answer, but there really is no big difference in what people do in their living spaces, whether they’re inside or out. They like to eat (barbecue), relax with their favorite beverages — possibly in front of or around a fireplace — and they like to entertain with friends and family. But instead of being surrounded by walls covered in tapestries or pictures, you’re looking at beautiful landscapes and extended views. Things just feel healthier and more relaxing when you’re outside enjoying the open air. Of course you can enjoy outdoor living on a nice deck or patio. However, to create a true outdoor living room you need to incorporate a deck or patio roof addition. Only then will you be [...]

7 Dazzling Decks Under $20,000

March 30th, 2016|Blog, Deck Design Tips & Trends, Decks & Backyard Features, Life On Deck|

These days, $20,000 will not get you even the most modest of new cars. However, you can create a custom deck with all the bells and whistles starting well below the $20,000 benchmark. As it grows in sophistication, outdoor living has become even more important to homeowners’ leisure lifestyle. Imagine creating a beautiful space to enjoy with friends and family while adding value to your home. Browse these beautiful custom DeckTec designs for inspiration for your own decking project! This beautiful curved mahogany deck has custom redwood and cedar railing with metal pickets. Its large landing and partial shade coverage make it the perfect spot to host a dinner party with the extended family, while the side stairs provide easy access to the back yard. Here’s a bit of builder vocab: the word ‘cantilever’ describes any structure that is fixed at one end but not the other. This [...]

Maintaining Your Outdoor Centerpiece

March 7th, 2016|Deck Care & Repair, Decks & Backyard Features|

You’ve created a stunning outdoor space. You’ve made your deck into an outdoor centerpiece using beautiful exotic wood. At Decktec we’re very familiar with many exotic woods but the two we work with most frequently are mahogany and ipê. Mahogany According to eHow, mahogany is “commonly regarded as the world’s leading wood for fine-quality furniture, cabinetry, sculpture, carving, interior trim, and other applications.” The mahogany used for building decks typically comes from a tree called Swietenia macrophylla, also known as the big-leaf mahogany tree. These trees grow in tropical environments and they get huge. Rainforest Alliance says they can grow at tall as 200 feet. Reminiscent of a tropical oak, the Mahogany tree yields a gorgeous auburn colored wood that’s quite durable, which makes for a tough, long-lasting deck. Ipê Another exotic tropical wood called ipê comes from a tree known in the scientific world as Tabebuia spp.. These graceful [...]