A decent deck can add lots of extra living space to your house, as Justin Newcombe discovers.
When daylight saving rolled around I had an amazing day. It was sunny and clear and blue and it was Sunday. I was doing odd jobs at home but it didn't really matter because the door to summer had been flung open. No matter what happens, I know it's going to be a massive summer including heaps of surfing, fishing and swimming with the kids. Because I live in the greatest country in the whole wide world and we're about to have the best summer of the millennium (so far at least), I feel patriotically obliged to be doing as much as possible outside, pretty much everything except sleeping. That's the primary reason for making a deck.
A few weeks ago I put a fence up to screen the deck and last week I spent some time getting the profiles right. Making the deck was something I've wanted to complete for ages. With a set of French doors about to go in, this deck is going to add a whole lot of extra space to my little house this summer: a veritable outside room.
I've gone for pine decking primarily because I plan to give it a stain. But there are a few great-looking hardwood options available at Bunnings and in wider widths too, which on a big deck especially, can look amazing. It's easy to get complacent when you live in New Zealand, but you don't have to travel far to know how good we've got it.
Every night that I hang out on my new deck this summer, I'll be thanking my lucky stars. That'd be the Southern Cross.