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Patio Building Advice

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:54:21 +0000

With summer just coming to an end in a few months you may be rushing to get your new patio/deck built. It depends on where you live and what you are doing to your patio but you might need a permit to do anything. You should find out a few weeks ahead of time if a building permit is needed, if so apply for it two to three week beforehand. Not getting the proper permits can cause some serious issues when building or even cause real issue down the road. (even to the point where you can be asked to take it all apart). So make sure you the right permits and don’t let a contractor tell you different.

You need to determine what the shape of the patio is going to be. Patios can be built in many shapes like square, oval, rectangle, or a couple of these shapes together. Another consideration should be the size that you want your new patio to be. When deciding the size think about what you are going to use your patio for and what would look the best with your house.

Start by putting everything on paper. If you use a graph paper you will be able to maintain a straight line. Once this is finished you may want to make an outline of where your patio is going to be on your lawn by ding this it gives you an ides of what it will look like in the end.

Now you need to decide what your new patio is going to be made of. Talk this decision over with the people at the hardware store or with your contractor, they have a good idea about what ages and lasts the longest.

Some people like to have a patio cover to shade them from sun or to keep the rain off of them. By doing this it can be put over half of the patio or over the entire patio. Either way that you choose has pros and cons however it is a good idea to cover your patio.

When all of your decisions have been made you now need to hire a contractor. Be choosey in what one you do pick because you will be living with your new patio for years to come.

Make Sure You are Building a Child Safe Deck

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:51:02 +0000

Everyone in the family can enjoy a deck but just how child safe are they?

Your new deck needs to be child friendly and that can all be thought about in the planning stage of your project. It’s not hard to use some common sense when it comes to the safety of your family.

Whenever a deck is even a few feet off the ground, you should plan on building a rail all the way around it to prevent falls. A child safety gate is a good idea if you plan to have stairs so ensure that a gate can fit at the entrance/exit.

Summertime brings walking barefoot outside and you want to avoid getting splinters in little feet that are running and playing on your deck. This is why you should always look for building materials that are smooth and rounded. Once the deck is built, inspections should be performed once in a while to ensure that there is no splintering occuring. If this happens, the area will need to be sanded down.

A summertime necessity is shade. One can only take so much sun, especially for the safety of little children who have no concept of the dangers of it. Why don’t you consider building an overhang or a canopy over your deck and then there are no worries of too much sun exposure. This is not to replace sunscreen of course.

If you’re going to be hosting little children on your deck, then try to create something that will keep climbing at a zero because there is nothing to climb on. Also the railing’s slats should be close together so there is no risk of little arms and legs getting stuck in between them and as well as no room for little ones to crawl through and fall.

A safe deck is a fun deck for everyone. When you’re planning your deck (whether it’s a DIY project or whether you have a deck builder to construct your deck), plan to have a safe deck so your family can stay accident free to enjoy it for many years to come!

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