What Size And Shape Of Decking Is Best For Your Outdoor Area?

Garden Dimensions

The general rule of thumb is that decking should not exceed more than 20 percent of a home’s overall square footage.

You can surpass this recommendation, it’s entirely your call, but anything above that figure will pose a serious risk of the deck being too large for your property. Stand back, look at your garden and decide how much of it you would be happy to be occupied by decking.

Err on the side of caution if you’re fearful of going too big, then you can always extend with more decking at a later date.

Functionality

How would you use some garden decking? Most householders like it to be a location for entertaining, somewhere to chat away with drinks and food to hand, so we’ll use this form of functionality as an example.

To play host or hostess with the most for up to six people you’ll need a deck of around 150 square feet and roughly 300 square feet for double that number of guests.

Put out your garden furniture in the area where you see your new decking going, allowing for room for manoeuvre, to get a gauge of what size you need.

Home Architecture

A deck can either be attached to a house or freestanding and needs to work with the very fabric of the building and its garden, so it must be finished and shaped accordingly.

Rectangular and square-shaped decks are the most popular decking shapes because of their neat, angular lines, but you’re not obliged to follow tradition.

Decking may need to be shaped in an unconventional manner if there are any garden obstacles e.g. ponds, slopes, trees etc. to overcome. Lakeland’s regional teams have great experience in designing decks of all shapes.