You can do loads of things to your garden to enhance its appeal. Even a quick mow of the lawn and trim of the weeds will go a long way to improving it. Nevertheless, a deck can be the crowning jewel in your back garden. It could be the key thing that sets your backyard alight and makes your entire home look a lot better.
Clearly, decks come with some advantages and disadvantages. For the sake of being fair, let’s briefly go over the main downsides. Typically, it’s the cost of installing the decking and the maintenance it requires. Decks need constant cleaning or else they’ll deteriorate quickly, meaning you wasted a lot of money.
Still, these reasons shouldn’t be enough to put you off a deck! It can bring loads of benefits to you and your home. Below, you’ll see some of the superb advantages of owning a deck:
Extend your living space outside
Decks are incredible because they give you outdoor living space. Without one, you have nothing that connects your home to the garden. You go from indoor living space to a grassy area. There’s not really anywhere for you to sit and relax while outside!
Installing a deck will let you bring loads of outdoor furniture and create an extension of your living space. It helps you blur the lines between your interior and exterior design. This can be so handy during the warmer months where you want to sit outside a bit longer. It’s also excellent for instances where you want to entertain guests outside. Effectively, it provides your garden with a new function – it’s no longer just a grassy area, it’s an outdoor living space!
Improve the aesthetics of your home
Secondly, decking does a fantastic job of improving the aesthetics of your home. If you don’t believe me, check out before and after photos online. Here, you’ll see loads of examples of houses going from quite bland/boring to absolutely stunning. The only difference is that a deck was installed!
Now, I know what you’re thinking, how will a deck improve your house from the front on? Well, it won’t…however, don’t let that dissuade you. The rear of your home is just as important as the front. After all, you’ll probably spend more time in your back garden than out the front. Most of your guests will see the back of your house more than the front as well. A deck upgrades your exterior design and really brings your house into the modern era. So, from an aesthetic point of view, it’s well worth the investment.
Increase the value of your property
Speaking about investments, that’s exactly what a deck is. It’s an investment in your property that will offer long term gains. Like all home improvement projects, a deck will add value to your home. Why? Because it adds something desirable to your property. People love decks, so it can help you command a higher asking price if you choose to sell it.
Even if you have no aspirations of selling your home, it’s worth thinking about the value you can add to it. You never know when you might have to sell your property – or when you randomly choose to move elsewhere. At the very least, it ensures you pass a valuable property down for your kids to have. Also, it just makes a lot of sense to choose things that will add value to your home, rather than some improvements that don’t really influence the value.
Add levels to your garden
If you talk to any design experts, they’ll tell you that levels make a difference. This means having things at different heights, creating different levels in your garden. With a deck, you can achieve just that! It can be built so that it’s slightly raised above the lawn level. There are often steps leading down from the decking to the grass. This brings new dimensions to your garden as you now have two different levels. There’s the ground level, then the raised platform where the decking lies.
It sounds strange, but this does wonders for the design of your garden. The different levels are striking, and they can actually make your garden seem a lot bigger. For some, this is what pushes people to choose decking over a patio. With a patio, you get most of the benefits a deck brings, but it stays on the same level as the grass.
Relatively easy to install
Seeing as we’re talking about a patio, decks have one big advantage over them. Well, two actually! You saw earlier that we spoke about decking being a big investment. One of the main downsides is that it costs a lot of money. While this is true, decks are still cheaper than patios. So, if you want a more affordable addition to your garden, a deck is the right choice.
Similarly, decking is fairly easy for you to install. It’s something you can do by yourself, though most experts recommend you get a company to install it for you. Either way, it requires less effort than installing a patio. Funnily enough, this is partially why decks are cheaper than patios – the cost of labour is less. Regardless, decking doesn’t present any significant installation challenges, which makes it an attractive proposition.
In summary, a deck will bring lots of different benefits to you and your home. While it can seem like an intimidating investment, it is more than worth the money. Maintaining a deck can be annoying, but you soon get used to it. Make it one of your regular garden maintenance tasks, and it won’t feel like too much effort! A lovely deck can reinvigorate your home and give you some additional living space.
What’s more, you can style and design your deck however you like. There are loads of different styles of decking to choose from, and another benefit is the diversity of colours available. You’re guaranteed to find a style that compliments your home.
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