just an observation.. no decks? (townhomes, neighborhood, buying)

[Teebyrd86]

I have a ranting observation and while it may mean nothing to you I figured I'd post on city-data anyway. This has to do with decks. I am sure this goes on in every city but I have noticed it here more than anywhere else, possibly because there are so many houses here (of all kinds). I cant help but notice all of these very nice townhomes and especially mcmansions heck even very large upscale custom built looking homes that are built with NO DECK attatched to them, you look at the back of the house and see a large either slideing glass door or double french doors with either a strip of wood or metal railing or going out to nothing at all.. and many of them are up very high. So my question.... Why pay $300,000 or more for a place that dosent have a back deck built onto it? What happened to the builders at least building a stoop? It just looks silly to me, not to mention the saftey aspect of it all.. and for the life of me cant figure out how the bulders get away with not paying the extra $$ to put a deck on. I guess it is a builder option which again seems very silly especially for such high end housing!

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I guess people spend every penny then can to squeeze into their McMansion they have no money left for a deck which is probably a builders option - you know how they nickle and dime it.

[JD984]

People may be tapped out, or it may be that the homeowner thinks they can hire someone else other than the builder to build a chepaer and/or nicer deck on their own. It's like buying the floor mats at Trak Auto instead of from the car dealer.

[Caladium]

Maybe they figure people will want to build their own decks. When we bought our house, we had to tear out the existing deck so we could put in one that was made of Trex (not wood) and had a design that worked better for our needs.

I do agree that it looks funny to see "doors to nowhere" on on the side of some of the newer houses. Houses always look better to me when the deck is finally added.

[SFean]

Originally Posted by Teebyrd86

I have a ranting observation and while it may mean nothing to you I figured I'd post on city-data anyway. This has to do with decks. I am sure this goes on in every city but I have noticed it here more than anywhere else, possibly because there are so many houses here (of all kinds). I cant help but notice all of these very nice townhomes and especially mcmansions heck even very large upscale custom built looking homes that are built with NO DECK attatched to them, you look at the back of the house and see a large either slideing glass door or double french doors with either a strip of wood or metal railing or going out to nothing at all.. and many of them are up very high. So my question.... Why pay $300,000 or more for a place that dosent have a back deck built onto it? What happened to the builders at least building a stoop? It just looks silly to me, not to mention the saftey aspect of it all.. and for the life of me cant figure out how the bulders get away with not paying the extra $$ to put a deck on. I guess it is a builder option which again seems very silly especially for such high end housing!

I think it might be because outdoor living is not a high priority here in Va. While the Spring is the most beautiful time of the year, most of the time the climate and bugs make it uncomfortable outside. In Santa Fe (where our permanent home is) we practically live outside and our outdoor portals and decks are essential to that lifestyle. When building there, outdoor living spaces and outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces, etc. are a high priority. So, if outdoor living is not a high priority, that is the last place one might spend their money - especially when building these gorgeous homes here... IMHO. I do think the house looks unfinished without the deck.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by SFean

I think it might be because outdoor living is not a high priority here in Va.

LOL, you ought to come by our house! My husband is one of those people who barbecues all year 'round, even in the snow. We're always out on our deck. That's one of the reasons rebuilding ours was a priority. OTOH we can see a few other homes from our house, and deck usage seems to vary--so you may be right when it comes to them. We have some neighbors who use their decks a lot and others who never seem to go out on theirs.

[SFean]

Originally Posted by Caladium

LOL, you ought to come by our house! My husband is one of those people who barbecues all year 'round, even in the snow. We're always out on our deck. That's one of the reasons rebuilding ours was a priority. OTOH we can see a few other homes from our house, and deck usage seems to vary--so you may be right when it comes to them. We have some neighbors who use their decks a lot and others who never seem to go out on theirs.

Lucky you! It's nice to have a hubby who barbecues alot and takes on some of the cooking chores. I think we just cannot get used to the extremes in temperature (either too cold or too hot) and the bugs also 'bug' us. However, like I said in my original response...the Spring time here is fabulous. I spend as much time outside as possible during that beautiful time.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by SFean

I think it might be because outdoor living is not a high priority here in Va. While the Spring is the most beautiful time of the year, most of the time the climate and bugs make it uncomfortable outside. In Santa Fe (where our permanent home is) we practically live outside and our outdoor portals and decks are essential to that lifestyle. When building there, outdoor living spaces and outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces, etc. are a high priority. So, if outdoor living is not a high priority, that is the last place one might spend their money - especially when building these gorgeous homes here... IMHO. I do think the house looks unfinished without the deck.

That's a very good point. When we did get around to building a deck, we also built a screened porch with a ceiling fan, and we spent a lot more time on the porch than the uncovered deck (except to barbecue). Our current house just has a deck and when the bugs come out in force, I'm outta there.

[NOVA_almost_native]

Older houses (as in 25-40 years old) nearly always have decks, or at least a patio. I wouldn't buy a house without one, but it's unlikely I'll have to, because practically every house old enough for us to afford has one!

[cdmurphy]

When we built our house, we only had one option for a deck through our builder. We decided to do it, so we could roll it into the mortgage, but we had almost no design options for it - only size (up to the max allowed on the lot), whether or not to have stairs down to the yard, and what side to put the steps on. Many of our neighbors either had their own decks built later, or built patios. In my neighborhood, it seems like there are many more patios than decks - and with patios come other options like fire pits, types of stone, stamped concrete, etc. Production builders like Centex, Pulte, etc. don't offer that level of customization with their interiors - I'm sure they aren't interested in offering it with exterior options.

Also, the price per square foot through our builder was comparable to other contractors, but that's not true of all builders, and some people probably feel like they can get a better deal on their own.