A raised deck can make a house
much more livable, especially if there
is a view. But in most cases the deck is
an afterthought. A typical raised
ranch with an awful porch added on
to the back wall is the worst variety of
the species: Altiplanus Appendix
Horribilis.
Designing For Deck and Railing
Though this column will focus
primarily on railings, I'll first give a
strategy for deck design.
Solve the functional problems of the
deck first. For instance, a deck can be
flush with the house floor, or placed
down a step or two so as not to
obstruct the view, so consider location
and orientation. Decide how big it
will be, and if you want