Choosing The Right Location For Your Garden Decking

As the warm weather arrives, many homeowners will start to focus on getting their garden in shape for the coming summer months.  Flower beds will be weeded, lawns mowed and flowers planted.  And maybe this spring you will finally get round to installing that garden decking that you have been planning for the last few years?  But before you rush out and buy all the decking boards and handrails, you should first take some time to really consider whether your planned location is truly the right spot.  After all; you don’t want to be left with unsuitable materials or face the cost of having bought more materials than you need, should you be forced to reconsider your location at a later point.

Intended purpose

The first factor you should take into consideration should be exactly what you intend to use the decking for.  If it is to lay out on a sun lounger whilst you work on your tan then you will want to position the decking in a clear area of the garden away from the house, where it will not be covered by shadows.

However, such a location probably isn’t suitable if you plan to use the decking as an area to enjoy meals in the sun and host dinner parties.  In these instances it is much more convenient to be close to the house, so that you can easily keep an eye on how the food is cooking and fetch your guests another drink.  Fitting the decking so that pre-installed French doors open right onto it is also a great idea and almost provides an additional room for those larger parties, without splitting up the guests too much.

It is also worth considering whether you will be using a BBQ on a regular basis, either whilst hosting or for family meals.  If the answer is yes then you may decide that the decking would be better placed away from the house, where smoke can’t find its way into the house.  Or perhaps you will go for a separate piece of decking away from the hosting area, which will be specifically used to house the BBQ.  If you do decide to go down this route then it is a good idea to try and find an area that is shaded from the sun, which will help keep the chef cool and also protect the food.

Considering your Ability

The other important issue to consider is exactly how good you are at DIY.  There is no point trying to install the decking in a location that will prove to be more complicated than another area of the garden, if you don’t have the skills to finish the job off properly.  One factor that can make a decking installation more complicated than expected is if the garden surface is sloped and you are faced with cutting and securing legs and supports.  You may even be faced with having to incorporate some steps onto the decking if the edge where the entrance is located is raised off the ground.

Another issue that can often cause problems is when homeowners try to install decking in unusually shaped corners of the garden.  Suddenly there is the problem of cutting every board to length and also ensuring that the cut angle is accurate.  Such projects tend to take a lot longer to complete than ones where regular rectangular decking is installed.  However, if you are confident that you have the skills; locating decking so that it takes an unusual angle out of the boundary can really have a positive effect on the overall aesthetics of the garden.