What style fence and where is going? I find the patio is best close the house and the larger the better. I have a deck that is 16x22 which holds 4 chairs in a circle and a dining table with 4 chairs then 1 step down to the patio where the grille is located.

Black chain link covering 300 linear feet basically enclosing 90% of the backyard. There was existing chicken wire fencing behind the masonry grill. So behind that, to the end by the far tree line and connecting to the detached garage. We were thinking the patio would be nice coming off the basement door with a step to the basement and out to the masonry grill but the guy that came out has a problem with the slope

No to chain link , please. ( for the dog?) Get better local help than a "guy who has a problem with the slope" . You can't do a long term project like an entire backyard and landscaping and patio ......online.

Good advice already - if you regularly let the dog out at certain times to do their business - you could think about creating a smaller dog run area away from the patio - it is a lot easier to maintain and keep clean than having them go anywhere/everywhere in a large yard

Agree no chain link and before you do anything else, get some ideas from a local landscaping/outdoor design company.

Since you are design disinclined would suggest you hire a landscape architect to help you with your design. In the long run it will be worth the fee.

What are your reasons for wanting a patio? Decide on that First Thing. How do you intend to use it?

Then get your fence in and study your options.

We had a patio at a former home that was built right outside the basement door, near a slope much steeper than yours. It was nice, but we never used it. Too much trouble to walk down to the basement and go out through that door, or to go out the main floor and walk down the steps outside, I guess.

If I were doing this project, I would build a DECK on the same level as your first floor, not a patio on the ground. Just greatly expand what you already have.

It's very hard to advise because in some parts of the country, a patio in the sun is great and in other parts, it's an oven. In some parts, a shady patio is a mosquito feeding station.

Do you use the brick grill? It looks like you have a gas grill on your deck. I would be inclined to have a circular patio in a spot where the sun/shade is right. Then, I'd expand the area in front of the grill (if you use it) to bigger semi-circle and join them with a curved path (you want just enough curve to be curvy, not enough that people take shortcuts on the grass.

I'd put woodland edge shrugs at the edge of the woods, inside the fence. I'd focus on the area closest to/with a view from your patio.

One way to test things out is to "draw" the outlines with a hose (but lime will also do) and use the area.

Actually, with the amount of property that you have and the view of the trees, I think chain link isn’t a bad idea but I would go with dark green over black.

Is the only door to the outside from the basement? Where does the deck lead to? If that is a bedroom, the deck can't be used for entertaining so expanding it would be pointless. You don't show any other angles of the house or grounds.

Let's call this a deck/patio project because one or the other might suit your needs better. Maybe it will come down to budget too.

How many people do you need to seat? Is this for everyday use by members of your household - how many? Two people to drink coffee on, four people to eat dinner on, 8 people to have a party on? Do you want to grill out there? Should it have access to the kitchen - a bathroom?

Do you have a good idea of the topography of your land - the slopes and importantly where drainage runs off to. Water will attract mosquitos.

Get lots of folding chairs and a table and move them around to different places to see how many people and what you want this to work for.

Chainlink fences can be wonderful when there are woods. Often you can see straight through them and they disappear. I don't think black is a problem.

We enclosed my sons' yard with black chain link fence. It does indeed disappear against the woods. Much more economical than a wooden/PVC fences. You can always plant in front of the fence as well.

I support the chain black chair link fence. First, for your pup, the fence will provide protection from predators. Where I live the coyotes are rampant. Then, there is the privacy bonus. Plant evergreen climbers like ivy or euonymus (which has berries throughout the winter and sweet small flowers in the spring). My other favorite is Cherry Laurel, a beautiful plant that also has berries and flowers.

Why no chain link???? I love the style where the posts are wood and they fencing is chainlink. Black or green. I find them very striking. It's good to see your neighbors, chat over the fence. From what I see around us PVC does not hold up and if you have iron in your water turns rust colored if you will be watering. The maintenance of a spite fence is sooo not worth the price!!

Some options to go with

or

I agree with others about the patio vs. deck. Granted, a patio will be significantly cheaper, BUT you will likely get more use out of a deck. We have both. Planned for both initially but installed the deck first, and then came back after that sticker shock and installed the patio.

In your case, all of this depends on the sun and whether or not you want your patio IN the sun.

For example, our back of house faces south & slightly east, which means our deck is in the sun all day until about 5-6 PM. This is wonderful in spring & fall (and evenings) but is not tolerable in the summer during the day. Since our family is at work or camp most days in the summer, not being able to use our deck during that time is not a huge deal. We still eat dinner out there & enjoy it in the evenings (and on these warmer spring days, we get to enjoy it now!).

Our patio is underneath our deck, and although it faces south as well, the deck above provides shade. So, we tend to sit down there more on weekend days in the summer. We also installed a TV down there, which has been fun for watching games.

If you don't want a deck and only a patio, make it accessible from the main level (put it at the bottom of your deck stairs).

Decks = maintenance. I would alway choose a patio. If you have kids you want to be down on the level where they are playing.

IMO black chain link on a lrge property is wise choice since no landscaping has been done plant plant trees and shrubs along that fence it will disappear. As for the deck or patio a deck very easy to install with a slope so info as to which side of the house faces South it is hard to advise . I would do a wrap around deck past the upper door and all around the right hand side The basement door looks like it is short , could be a camera angle maybe ???? I think a grill is best off a kitchen since it requires trips back and forth . We have 2200 sq ft of decking it surrounds a pool and the whole house with a outdoor kitchen, a huge dining area and a space for lots of seating. some of the deck levels are built to incorporate slopes no problem I actually think it makes the deck feel a bit interesting from level to level. I usually design outdoor spaces like indoors for entertaining. So kitchen , dining and seating. The sseating can be of course a nice fire pit . I would agree a good landscpe designer can help with a plan that can be done over time to keep in the budget and many things can be DIY like planting plants , staining decking . building a firepit all easy to do with no real skills required .

Our patio has actually turned out to be more maintenance than our deck so ymmv.

With just under half an acre, your backyard offers great potential for a patio that can be tailored to your needs. Consider placing the patio near the house for easy access, or along the side of the yard for a more secluded feel. The size depends on how you plan to use it—start with a smaller space, like 12x12 feet, and expand as needed. You can choose from materials like pavers, concrete, gravel, or even a wood deck, depending on the look you want. Surrounding the patio with lighting, plants, or a fire pit can enhance its function and atmosphere, and adding comfortable seating will help make it a relaxing spot. For privacy, consider using the new fence as a backdrop for climbing plants. If you're not sure where to start, begin with a smaller, cozy design and build on it over time.

4o

Patio vs deck maintenance always depends on the material used and the installer no doubt. Pavers can be a nightmare if not properly installed. PVC decks will be less maintenance than wood. I've lived in a home with and elevated deck. When kids are small or you are hosting yard games BBQ--we found the deck to be a hindrance. DH got very sick of spending weekends re-sealing the sun beaten down boards. Our current home had a 20 yr old deck on ground level when we purchased the home. Instead of dealing with the yearly power washing re- sealing, we are in the woods, shade rots wood, we took it off, had dirt brought in and put in a paver patio. 20ys later yes the pavers had to be resent in a couple of spots and we've brushed some polymeric sand in the joints but that's about it. There's no comparison. Outdoor spaces are high maintenance by their nature. Bugs/wind/dirt/animal debri are a constant to combat. These pictures of fabulous outdoor rooms are snapped seconds after the spaces are finished. The question becomes do I want to enjoy what's there or do I want to spend the time on maintenance. Everyone answers that differently.

@arcy_gw True enough. We have had the opposite experience - our deck is maintenance free (Timbertech) so we don't have to do anything to it. Our pavers are relatively new (2 years) but have required sealing and have actually stained, which is a total bummer considering how expensive they were. That's what we get for trying to do something aesthetic, I guess. We used polymeric sand as well, which is better than regular sand for maintenance but still comes out after power washing, so it has needed to be redone. We had regular sand at our last house and that was a pain. Constant weeding and power washing the moss off.

Regarding accessing the back yard - this all depends on your home layout. If you have a walkout basement (as we do), you can't access the yard from the 2nd level without some sort of stairs anyway, and it's nice to walk directly from our kitchen onto the deck. We also don't' host a lot of parties but when we do people tend to sit on the deck, not the patio. Kids are elementary aged and don't really require supervision (honestly, that time is so short I wouldn't use it as a reason not to build a deck).

On the other hand, our last home had a full basement so we did a patio. I would not want a low deck in that situation (our neighbors had a low deck and it was a rabbit hotel under there).

Anyway, long story short, it really depends on the house & layout.