Deck Designs, Plus Railings, Planters, Benches, is a combination idea and how-to book that contains 25 deck designs, plus general design information, for those contemplating building a deck. For homeowners, one of the most challenging aspects of building a deck is choosing a design that works for both the family and the yard where the deck will be installed. To help generate ideas, Creative Homeowner presents the best designs from four of the top deck designer/builders in the countr…
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If it hadn’t been for this little gem of a book, I’d have ended up with exactly what I thought a deck was: a 10×30′ rectangle on stilts outside my back door.
Thanks to the inspiring designs outlined here, I was able to upgrade my $4K do-it-yourself deck with some snazzy details and useful layouts with little additional work and expense. Please do yourself the favor of flipping thru the pages of a book like this – if for nothing else than to see how it can be done by the best designers and builders.
No, just like me you will never be able to afford the hand-sanded grade A redwood beauties that are featured on a couple of these spreads – materials alone would run into six figures. But you will be able to steal the design of the railing, or perhaps the notion of a split level or a nifty little nook for a bench or some other detail from the top end decks. There’s enough closeups and sketches of the design to run with a concept that you find appealing, and the narrative will help you think thru the elements of your design that might open up new possibilities.
After reading it from cover to cover a couple of times I shared the book and my comments on post-its with the contractor I had hired to help me complete my project, and it inspired him to come up with some ideas of his own, as well as better understand where I wanted to go with the project.
Deck Designs packs in a wealth of deck design ideas and patterns, featuring designer’s unique approaches and their tips on how the deck feature was achieved. Color photos of patterns and decks supplement information on design considerations and details on construction techniques for the homeowner who wants to create his own custom deck.