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
