How Often Do You Use Your Deck?

[Ziploc]

Seeing borg's nice photos of family/friends on his deck celebrating Canada Day reminded me of a chat I had with a neighbor recently. When the subject turned to decks, he noted that he was about the only one in the neighborhood who hadn't added one. When I asked why, he in turn asked me 1) how often did I observe people actually using their decks, and 2) how often did we actually use OUR deck. In other words, he was questioning how worthwhile it was to build a deck when people didn't seem to use them all that much.

So, I thought I'd pose the same question to those of you with decks.....during an average month, how often do you actually spend time out there, even if it's only to take a short nap? (For those of you living in more seasonal areas, winter and early spring/late fall can be excluded for obvious reasons.)

[PNW-Pilot]

Since for whatever reason i can't do polls, this will have to work.

We average 1-3 days a month so far for outdoor dining. I plan to use it more often, it's covered, butnot screened, and it great on a sunny day.

[Alexandra242628]

We are always out on our deck. Even in the blazing heat. Our grill is out there as well as the table and chairs. The kids even ride their trikes on it.

[vellinga]

Nearly every day from May until October.

In fact our Intek pool is placed on the deck from June to Sept. and it gets used almost every day.

Now that we have a dog, he uses it every day, rain or shine, running, resting, sniffing, cleaning.....

[krygny]

In slashdot polls, when the poll question is presumptuous, someone always posts an "insensitive clod" response. For example ...

I have a concrete / paving block patio, you insensitive clod! No maintenance.

[Titans Fan]

We use our deck several times a week, but mostly only because of the hot tub and grill. The deck is on the west side of the house and summer afternoons in the mid-south get a little warm for my liking. A couple of years ago I built a frame over part of the deck and covered it with lattice, that helped some.

[Diesel]

we've been in our house for over 5 years and probably used the deck 10 times...

[jay]

My townhouse is the 4th unit in a block of the 5 builder's models, and is the only one without a deck. I was happy that it didn't have one, since that side of the house gets the hot afternoon sun beating on it. I never see my neighbors actually using there decks. Until they moved, I only every now and then saw my first next dooor neighbor on the deck, only long enough to flip whatever was cooking on the gas grill.

[kemosabe]

4-5 times per week...

[Ziploc]

Not surprising that a couple posts thus far mention a western exposure as discouraging use of the deck. That's what I happen to have, too. There's only one word for the midsummer afternoon sun in these parts: brutal.

After years of putting up with the flaming, we finally decided to try an awning. We installed a 17 x 14 auto retractable unit earlier this summer. While it's not a complete remedy, it does help quite a bit and adds to the number of occasions you can enjoy being out there.

[robrecht]

My 2-year-old son loves to walk around on the deck with Daddy in the evening. He marches on the seats so that he is taller and we sing our "Let's go walking outside, buddy" song. Here are the words:

Let's go walking outside, buddy!
Let's go walking outside, buddy!
Let's go walking outside, buddy!
You're the best buddy I know ... boom boom boom (repeat, endlessly)

I forget where the melody comes from, it's pretty simple, but I love that song! Now there's a wading pool out there for him too and it's hot enough that we finally filled it up today, which was fun.

But when entertaining adults, unless there's a large crowd, we usually stay in the screened in porch, which is my favorite room in our house.

Decks require so much maintainance! Awnings are nice. I much prefer an old brick patio with well placed trees.

[kemosabe]

Originally posted by Ziploc
Not surprising that a couple posts thus far mention a western exposure as discouraging use of the deck. That's what I happen to have, too. There's only one word for the midsummer afternoon sun in these parts: brutal.

After years of putting up with the flaming, we finally decided to try an awning. We installed a 17 x 14 auto retractable unit earlier this summer. While it's not a complete remedy, it does help quite a bit and adds to the number of occasions you can enjoy being out there.

One of the requirements when we purchased our house was to have the rear of the house face EAST so that the deck in the evening isn't under a blazing sun...

...with the front of the house facing WEST, in the winter when it snows, the driveway melts faster with the help of the afternoon sun!

[borg]

We use our deck everyday weather permitting, we often eat our meals out on the deck & whenever there is a large gathering I'm quick to volunteer my place because it can hold a large number of guests. In the winter I move my BBQ closest to the door leading to the deck to cook, so it kinda gets used year round.

The deck faces north west direction so it gets pretty hot in the afternoon, I have a couple of deck umbrellas for shade but I'm looking for a better way to get some shade. I'm looking at awnings as well as converting the deck to a screen room but that's not gonna happen until prolly next year or so.

[guitarman]

We use the deck mostly for cooking on the barbeque. The deck gets the afternoon sun, so we decided to build a screened-in gazebo off of the deck. That keeps the sun from beating down on us, and with the ceiling fan, it is quite comfortable. We probably eat out there 2-3 times per week, and I also like to sit out in the evenings and read.

[Ziploc]

Originally posted by guitarman
We use the deck mostly for cooking on the barbeque. The deck gets the afternoon sun, so we decided to build a screened-in gazebo off of the deck. That keeps the sun from beating down on us, and with the ceiling fan, it is quite comfortable. We probably eat out there 2-3 times per week, and I also like to sit out in the evenings and read.

Geez, guitarman, that's a beautiful structure you've got there!!!

We also have seriously considered adding a gazebo, but there were difficulties with our situation that made us give up on the idea (for now, anyway).