While not an official Vermont season alongside the likes of Sugaring Season, Mud Season, Black Fly Season, Foliage, Hunting Season, Stick Season, and the standards you’re much more familiar with; Barbecue Season comes as soon as the snow’s off the deck, lasts well into late fall, and is defined not so much by what you’re eating, but by how and where you’re eating it.
Sure, there’s your die-hards out there that’ll be huddled in front of the grill all winter long, but to truly enjoy Barbecue Season for all it has to offer, you need to not only be able to bundle up, fire up the grill, and cook outside, but enjoy the meats and veggies of your labor at the table on the deck with the whole family.
Undersized? Not on Our Watch!
Seriously, what’s the point of building a house without a deck; and then, what’s the point of building a deck you can hardly spread out on?
Size your deck accordingly to accommodate all the family and features you want to be entertaining out there. Make sure there’s room enough for the dogs to lope around safely and comfortably when the gate is shut, and the family to spread out and enjoy themselves.
In fact, make sure there’s room enough for all your outdoor furniture from chaise lounges and Adirondack chairs, to that handmade picnic table and iron clad bistro table in the corner.
All Shapes and Sizes
No one ever said your deck had to be a rectangle attached to the back of your house like a tag on the back of your t-shirt. Complement the nuances of your home and environment with custom curved faces, arcs, and angles that play into and counterbalance the unique shapes, styles, and design features that define your home and landscape.
For that matter, why not build your deck right into your landscape by incorporating instead of eliminating what’s already there. Build your deck around the trees, having them come right up through the deck itself, adding a living canopy to your entire deck experience.
Sticks and Stones
Traditionally you’d see decks built of wood, often pressure treated lumber to hold up to the elements, or patios of blue stone, field stone, or concrete; but there is nothing holding you back from incorporating all kinds of materials and motifs into your new deck that redefine the way we think and feel about outdoor spaces.
Why not have intricate stone steps leading to a post and beam arbor that opens up to an expansive hemlock deck inlayed with a fieldstone island, on which a copper bowl is set for outdoor fires, surrounded by benches of composite, recycled lumber? Seriously, why not!?
Natural birch balusters supporting a smooth maple handrail? Boulders defining corners where dead ends used to be? Multiple levels of different shapes and materials? The possibilities are virtually limitless, so long as you don’t limit your imagination.
The Barbecue is Just the Beginning
Sure, you’ll make room enough for the barbecue grill of your dreams, but you could also build the grill right into a complete outdoor kitchen: sink, countertops, wet bar, the works!
And why stop there, when just off the deck, or on the deck itself for the matter, a nice cedar outdoor shower… because nothing says summer like eating, cooking, entertaining, and showering outside!
Whatever you do, don’t limit yourself. The way you live outside your home is just as important as the way you live in it.
Smith Building Company will make sure you’re not holding back simply out of convention or tradition, but rethinking the way we look at our outdoor lifestyles, and firing up your imagination just as you will your grill.
