A deck extends the interior living
space to the outdoors. It acts as a
functional and aesthetic transition
between the interior and exterior
environments, so it should not e
considered a separate structure from
the house. But before we discuss building
decks, let's look at some general
design considerations.
Space Planning
Traffic flow is an important design
issue. It's also the number one way to
waste space. Many designs allot too
much area for a pathway or locate a
pathway where it isolates a portion of a
deck and renders it useless. One good
approach is to offset the doorway to
one side, leaving more room for
functional areas (see Figure 1, next
page). In high traffic paths, allow