When you're building a new house, it's important to be cognizant of your budget, and also to get a feel for how things look before you commit
to them. One of the items we held off on was having a deck built in the backyard, because we couldn't gauge its extent and whether it would block light to the basement windows. So, we opted to wait until we lived in the house to decide.
COST: One of the things that we were surprised by was the cost of a small deck. We received quotes for a 10x10' deck for as much as $20,000! Wow. To me (I'm not an architect like Tom), I thought that was outrageous.
(Photo: What the door looked like before Tom built the stairs!)
NEXT OPTION: We have a door from our kitchen that opens to the outside into the backyard. When the house was built, the builders just nailed a railing against the house to block anyone from falling out of the door. As an architect, Tom knew how to design and even BUILD a stairway, so he did! It took him about 2 days to do it, and it looks amazing. It's also a much better option for us, because in a pinch, we can grab one of the dogs who needs an urgent outside break and take them out that way. So, it all works out.
INDUSTRIOUS - Tom has installed ceiling fans, under cabinet lighting, built himself a workbench, built this stairway and we worked together to make a forest path. He's been quite industrious (I feed him, so that's my contribution).
The lesson here is that before you go spending a lot of money on a deck, or anything else, live in the house first to see if you really need it. We didn't need it at all!
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