Thanks budge! Oh cliff and joann! I have always loved your deck and yard. I only dream of having one as nice. As far as the deck, the reason it looks so bad is it went through alot with the remodel, the dogs' scooby doo impersonations and a bad choice of a dark color (by me.) The dogs don't "go" on the deck. (I think that would be Oceanna's.) I do want to work on it as soon as the weather cooperates so thanks for the advice/instructions. AS far as tables, I do have a dining set with six chairs on the other side of the deck and two adirondacks on a small patio. For the wicker set area I have one side table and would like to make another one. (I spent so much money on the equipment and need to use it!) Then I was thinking of a big ottoman in the middle that could also serve as a table if you put a tray on it. Here is my DIY table: Here is a pic of the dining set with a little snow: This pic was taken earlier this season. The bad news is that there is even more snow out there today :( I really love the privacy side of your deck. Is that freestanding or built in?

Have you already broken ground, or are you still in planning stages? Hard to give specific advice without seeing your floorplan and elevation drawings, but here are some general thoughts in response to your questions: 1) if the foundation hasn't yet been poured, the builder can pour a wall across the outside edge of the patio (I'm assuming your patio will be in a U-shaped alcove like in the picture above). Then the void underneath is filled with 3/4" clean gravel, and the patio is poured and tied into the wall with rebar. It's also possible to drill into the foundation wall and "pin" the patio to the house with rebar. The issue is that as the backfill settles, you get the sort of big voids that critters love. 2) In many cases, your builder gets better pricing from subs because of the volume of business they do with them. That said, unless it's a ginormous area you're probably talking a price difference in the hundreds of dollars on concrete. If you're doing stone or pavers, the builder's guys are not always the best. 3) A year? We find that the area around the foundation of a new home continues to settle for 5-7 years. There are a couple of ways you can have the patio built where settling isn't an issue. You can excavate all the way to the house footer (undisturbed soil) and backfill with gravel all the way up to where you need to pour the patio, Or, the contractor can dig to the house footer and either pour concrete support piers with sonotubes, or they can build support walls. In either case, the patio slab is tied to those supports with rebar. 4) Depends on what the wall behind the stone will bear on. If you do a lick and stick veneer stone over concrete board screwed to a stud frame lagged into the deck posts (and a nailer on the house walls) you should be fine. But if you try to do something that bears on the ground, you'll have the same settling issues - unless, again, you dig all the way down to the house footer. Stuff like this is why I suggest hiring a landscape designer long before the house is built :) It's not that the builder is doing anything shady, they just try and stay within what they're comfortable with.

so you want a deck that allows space to the window wells. (I don't know what code is for that in your state, so you'd have to check). These show ideas for decks that still allow light and egress from the window. I would advise you to do a composite decking. real wood may be cheaper, but it will need constant protection from weather and UV rays, which means painting or staining every year or two. along w/these decks, an arbor or patio cover would also be nice. and you could combine the decking material w/a hardscape depending on if you're building right on the dirt, or you want the deck up off the ground. combo of both would be nice be prepared to spend a good sum. getting all of this built isn't cheap. what you need is a patio/landscape designer to come out to your house and draw up something for you. I don't know what the big deal is worrying about the virus. everyone will be outside and has plenty of room.

My nephew had 4 hunting dogs and 3 young kids and had his yard split in two. The dogs had one side and the kids had the other. The dogs were just too big and rough and knocked the kids over and it was easier to have two spaces. Nothing wrong with making the space work well for your family. It might look less awkward if the fence met the corner of the house instead of splitting the porch, but I am betting the old owners didn't want to have to take the dogs to the fenced in area, so they made it so the dogs could come out the back door and be contained in just part of the yard. What more do you want from your outdoor space? Do you like throwing parties, or having a bunch of kids over? How often do you use the outdoor space? Would you want a big outdoor kitchen area, extended patio space? Do you need to keep your dog contained? Would it be a PITA to have to walk the dog out to the fenced area rather than just opening the door? Do you have kids and do you want them contained? Do you have any plans for a pool? Maybe you can use the current fencing but just reconfigure it, If you extend the patio/seating area out another 12' and create gardens outside of the fence it will feel like you are keeping people from walking through the gardens and guiding them to the yard through the gates.