Winner: Ben Langford - deck of the year 2006

Overview

My client wanted to create an outdoor room in their back yard, providing space for entertainment and relaxation. My solution was to frame the room with brick columns in the same color as the house to tie the two together, and to create a seamless flow from the house to the deck, eliminating the immediate drop that existed prior to building.

We chose 5/4” cedar decking and rough cedar for the pergola.

The spacing of the joists had to be closer for the shorter span, and while this resulted in using about 50 blocks, it was far easier than digging, and allowed us to keep the deck low.

We also created a stone pathway, and tied the dog run and the side gate to the deck.

A built-in doghouse was also included in the design.