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The humble deck, long the preferred location for hosting backyard events, is growing up. Gone are simple rectangular forms hung off the back of the house. Modern decks are getting bigger, some on several levels, and are functioning as an extension of the interior living space.
Modern deck materials allow builders to create excitement, with the ability to build a variety of shapes and floor plans, from octagons to multiple curves.
"My deck adds another room to my house," says Lee Colwill of her two-bedroom house on Triangle Mountain in Victoria. "I can have three meals a day on the deck. It's that beautiful."
With sweeping views of Victoria and the mountains beyond, it's no surprise that Colwill does most of her entertaining on her "ginormous" 1,000-square-foot deck.
While standard deck sizes used to be approximately 10-feet by 15-feet, large decks such as Colwill's are becoming more common outside the city core, according to Bill Phelps, a sales representative for Deckmaster.
"Larger decks are a growing trend. Homeowners are looking to decks as a method of adding square-footage to a house," he says. Increasingly, he is seeing customers ask for more elaborate and creative decks, with multiple levels and different shapes.
Construction of a small deck begins at $3,000 while a structure like Colwill's will cost about $13,000, according to Phelps.
Decks that overlook mountain and water views don't have to be large to be spectacular. To allow for minimally obstructed views, conventional railings have given way to glass panels. At Home Depot, a railing system with six-millimetre safety glass will cost a homeowner $30 per running foot.
A more expensive option is the curved, custom-fabricated, 12-mm tempered glass found on Dawn and Stuart Cameron's waterfront home in Saanich, north of Victoria.
"I wanted my deck to have high visibility but low maintenance," says Dawn Cameron.
Cameron chose to use a curved design for her deck because the flowing shape ties in with the nearby round hot tub and landscaping design.
The heavier glass is held on by side clips on the posts, eliminating the need for the upper and lower railings, leading to an almost unobstructed view of the ocean, even from a sitting position.
The Camerons also chose to use wood composite boards, which contain 50 per cent recycled plastic. These boards are ideal for use around wet environments, including pools and hot tubs, because they are resistant to the chemicals in the water, says Ed McDonald, owner of MAC Renovations, who worked on the project.
It is easier to bend and craft composite boards, something that was important in the Camerons' curved deck design, says McDonald. Composites are also attractive for their low-maintenance attributes. The colour and wood grain embossment gives the boards the look of wood while eliminating the need to paint or stain.
"Clients might pay a little more for the composites," McDonald says, but "most would rather sit on (their deck) than work on it."
Environmentalists sometimes choose wood alternatives such as solid composite planks because these reduce the need for logging, McDonald says.
Although composites and other alternatives to pressure-treated wood are widely available, they are not as popular because they are more expensive.
"Pressure-treated wood remains the most popular decking material, accounting for 70 to 80 per cent of the market," says Martin Rudge, department supervisor of lumber at The Home Depot in Victoria. The reason, says Rudge, comes down to the price difference between wood and the new generation of plastic/wood composite boards.
A 12-foot-long pressure-treated decking board costs $10. In cedar the same board is $15. A composite board costs between $40 and $46. Because of the higher price, composite boards capture only five per cent of sales.
The desire to make use of space under elevated decks has led to the increased popularity of waterproof flooring. Instead of planks, a vinyl membrane, usually 74 inches wide, is glued down to a plywood base. The space under the deck can serve as dry storage of outdoor furniture or can form the roof of living quarters below.
Regardless of the decking surface, pressure-treated wood is still the most common material for a deck's structural frame.
Other changes are less visible. Decks today can be put together with hidden fastening systems. Hidden fasteners give the deck floor a more finished look, sometimes mimicking the tongue-and-groove appearance of a quality indoor floor. Hidden fasteners are easy enough for the do-it-yourselfer to install, Rudge says. Construction of a deck usually falls under local building codes and will most often require a building permit.
Realtors say building a deck can be money well spent.
"A good deck adds value to a house; a bad one in need of work detracts,
It's unwritten: A good deck becomes a bonus when showing a property."
Many realtors estimate that a deck will offer a return equal to what the homeowner paid for it. Having a deck, no matter how small, is even more important in the condo market, he says.
"Downtown condos, with their compact dimensions, really benefit from the inclusion of outdoor space."
-- CanWest News Service
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