This Winter Create An Outdoor Living Space On Hardwood Decking

When the winter arrives, we tend to move indoors and many of us don’t even think about hardwood decking. However, the average number of rainy days over winter in Sydney is actually less than either of the other three seasons. So in Sydney, Winter is a much better time to be living outdoors than either Spring, Summer or Autumn. Now we not suggesting that average Winter temperatures aren’t lower, but it if you design and build your hardwood decking with a view to creating a Winter living space, Winter can be a fantastic time for outdoor entertaining.

Of course, like every other renovation, your hardwood decking needs to be designed to work well in the winter and other seasons.

• Ideally, hardwood decking should face the drier westerly wind, and face away from the easterlies which tend to carry rain with them
• If it’s not possible to face your hardwood decking towards the west, you will need to consider what type of barrier to stop the east wind

You should carefully consider the best form of heating for your hardwood decking. There are some amazing forms of heating available;

• Braziers, clay chimeneas, and fire pits have a lovely primal warmth – but should never be used when young children are about due to risk of burns, need to have a specially designed brick or stone base if used on hardwood decking, and need special fuel to burn
• Gas bistro heaters – can create a wonderful café-like atmosphere, but are more suited for small gatherings
• Electric strip heating – is flexible, is able to cover a large ceiling, but can only be installed if you are planning on building a roof over your hardwood decking.
• New Fashioned Gas Log Fireplaces – look amazing, are fuel friendly and are able create a wonderful atmosphere. However, they can be quite expensive to buy and install and might not heat a large living space

Which type of seating should also be decided on long before any building begins.             An upwardly trending seating option is to have built in lounge-like seating. This type of bench seating makes ‘dragging out of storage’ or ‘constantly cleaning’ outdoor furniture unnecessary. The drawback is fixed seating can be a bit inflexible, and if you are planning to use your hardwood decking as an dining and entertainment area, sitting around a table can be a problem.

Obviously, hardwood decking is going to have to withstand all the storms that Sydney’s weather will throw at it, so hardwood is always preferable hardwood decking to pine or other softwoods.

 

Hardwood decking comes in a good range of colours;

• Forest red gum is one of the types of wood which offers the rich red colour that is popular at the   moment.
• The lighter and less red hued tones of White Mahogany and Tallow Wood are also popular.
• One of the trends we are noticing at the moment is to make hardwood decking even more of an eye drawing feature by using a range of mixed hardwoods together.

Which species of wood chosen to build your hardwood decking, can depend entirely on which colour you prefer. Hardwood is always more durable, but is also quite difficult to work with.

The best price on premium wooden hardwood decking can usually be found at one of the largest Sydney Auction houses in Liverpool. They also carry nearly every other high quality building materials, and other home improvement furnishings, you need to finish off all projects. Check out their website by clicking here.

Pics repinned from @JohnWright, @Escea and @adrine