Which location works best for the stairs to the upper deck?
smyalk
14 days ago
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Unconventional deck location and door?
Comments (7)If I'm understanding you correctly, if you move the deck, the only access to it from indoors will be via a single door in your pocket office? Personally, I think that would severely limit the amount of use your back deck would get. Guests are unlikely to feel terribly comfortable traversing your little pocket office to reach the deck. And, if they do become comfortable doing so, you'll wind up with a traffic jam in your office anytime you have more than a very few guests. Also, you don't mention what part of the country you are in but if you live in a warm climate, lots of south-facing windows can make it awfully difficult to keep a room reasonably air conditioned in the summer. I'd leave the deck where it is. As for the "shoes on the floor issue", if you really wanted rooms that would always be pristine for guests, you probably should not have selected an open design and no formal dining room. One of the issues of an open design is that rooms for formal entertaining and rooms where daily family life occurs are blended into one big whole. How to keep family clutter out of the view of unexpected company is always an issue. The solution is either lots of daily cleaning OR a very well-trained family OR a more laid-back attitude about drop-in company getting a view of the family clutter. (When you plan on entertaining, you can always clean up the clutter before the guests arrive.)...See MoreUnconventional deck location and door - smaller pantry?
Comments (7)Rhome -- I see what you mean by the pocket door on the pantry. I wonder if moving it to the other side would give it the room it needs? My freezer will fit in the cleaning closet in my mudroom, which is just off the kitchen. My freezer is 3' 5" by 2 1/2 (including wall clearance behind) and that closet is 3 1/2 by 5 and intended for vacuum, brooms, and some shelving for cleaning products and bulk paper products. The freezer would be a little tighter squeeze there but would work and location would be fine. I am comfortable with waiting until some framing is up until I would make the final decision about where it would go. Rosie -- I got the idea about moving the deck from my friends house. She built a ranch with beautiful views and a similar kitchen/family/dining layout. She moved her deck to the corner of the house and it makes all the difference for lighting and views! I loved the way it felt! Especially since ours is covered, lighting would really be restricted. And regarding moving the entrance to the deck... I've always had a deck door in my main eating area (never use formal dining rooms) and I just don't like it. I'd rather it seem more like a room than a room + entrance to the deck. I know lots of people like the patio door from a breakfast area, but I'd rather not if I can help it....See MorePros and cons of glass vs cable railings for upper deck
Comments (45)Ontariomom, I wonder with the set up that Ice has if that still might work for you because the panels are not solid up to the railing. I think the opening above the frosted glass makes it much less a barrier than frosted glass all the way up. I don't think it would appear to block the house like other, more solid choices would. And it would give you a bit of privacy on that deck, plus solve the cleaning issues. You could explore the code for how much space above the glass to the railing you could have....See MoreDeck stairs conundrum
Comments (27)Sorry for the tardy reply...was on vacation. First the colors for the house- Body (dark gray)-Kelly Moore-Control number 14-3135-0612 French doors (almost black)-Kelly Moore-Control Number-14-3213-0612 Windows (white)-Kelly Moore-Swiss Coffee (stock color) Window/door trim (light gray/off white)-Benjamin Moore-Brushed Aluminum-#1485 Yes, the uppermost level of deck is intended to be exactly like you have it Yardvaark! The thinking was/is that the upper deck would be a nice transition from the house to the stairs...mostly because the 1 set of french doors to the right needs to have a landing before stairs as well. I like the way Kentc describes it above, just seems like it is difficult with the lone french door facing another way.. Though having the stairs off the upper level go down to a 2nd level deck would be easier for the slope issue, we would prefer the stairs end up on a patio for a few reasons 1-our last deck rotted faster than normal due in part to all the debri from surrounding oak trees getting stuck in between the planks (and it always looked messy with leaves poking out of the spaces between the planks. 2-to keep the deck nice, it needed to be cleaned and sealed almost yearly. With a 600' deck, railing and two sets of stairs, it was a lot of work and or money if I had someone do it. 3-getting down onto ground level is more private and intimate. Because the old deck was high and the way the yard is situated, people from the from the road in front could see us through the side yard while we were on the deck. Also, we looked down on a side neighbor that is out on his deck a lot and therefore we saw too much of each other (we are trying to grow hedges to screen him out, but they are growing slow under a giant oak tree). 4-i like the idea of blowing a patio quickly or a quick house down if need be. We intend to use the patio space for a large eating table (12 person), additional seating and potted plants etc. The BBQ area will be to the left of the deck/stairs if you are looking back at the house. This way it is a short walk to the side door the leads into our kitchen. Because the slope from the edge of the proposed upper deck is quite a bit higher than the lower end point of where the patio would meet a new lawn area (currently where the brick pathway surrounded the old deck), we figured we would have to have the low point elevated between 1'-2' which will create a step (or two) down onto the new lawn. I'm guessing I'm being as clear as mud like I've been on my previous two posts. Again, very much appreciate the comments thus far, it has certainly helped us to understand the project more. I've included pics that hopefully capture the yard better per the Yardvaark's advise above....See Moresmyalk
12 days agolast modified: 12 days agosmyalk
12 days agomillworkman
12 days agoRappArchitecture
12 days ago
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