When most people think of fall, they envision the leaves changing color, crisp air and some variation of their favorite pie. Kids return to school, football season starts and many of us are back at work looking a little less pale than normal.
Often, the changes fall brings represent a new beginning—maybe even more so than New Year’s Day. If this back-to-business, get-it-done mood invigorates you to take on fresh projects, it might be time to start building that deck you’ve been dreaming about adding. Home improvement centers sell spring and summer as the best time to work on outdoor living projects, but beginning a deck project in the fall has advantages for both the deck and deck owner. Here are five reasons why these underrated months are actually one of the best times to build your open-air space.
1. Be Motivated for More
Starting off the “new season” with a deck project might be exactly what you need to trigger the domino effect on your to-do list. A feeling of accomplishment can be a powerful motivator for future success. Psychologists, like Neil Farber in Psychology Today, state that a project needs to be big enough to invoke pride for a job well done, but not too large. A deck project strikes this balance. A little sweat equity or help from the skilled hands of a contractor is all you’ll need to create a stylish outdoor space. Once complete, it can serve as a catalyst for larger home improvement projects, ensuring your yard will be ready for warm-weather fun come spring.
2. A Time to Reevaluate and Refresh
With images of lazy days relaxing in the backyard still fresh in your mind, fall is the perfect time to reflect on your outdoor space and plan for the future. Is your current deck giving you splinters? Are fading deck boards becoming an eyesore? Maybe it is weak in areas or growing mildew.
Having an outdoor space that can weather the test of time and backyard barbeques is important. If your deck is on its last leg, or just isn’t the quality it once was, use your fresh summer insight to evaluate how you can best upgrade your deck. If you’re building a new deck, think about how you use your outdoor living space to create a design that fits your family’s lifestyle and backyard parameters.
3. Get the Best of the Best
During the spring and summer—when deck building season is at its peak—you risk long hours on hold and frustrating project delays. Why wait if you don’t have to? Get the best people to do the job, on time, and with the product you’ve been dreaming of. Fall is the start of the off-season for the decking industry. You can often get ahead of the deck crowd and hire the most popular contractors at a reasonable rate.
4. Milder Mother Nature
Compared to other seasons, fall is the most kind in its transition. Trees sleepily drop their leaves, the sun begins to set earlier and the weather slowly but surely gets colder. This temperate weather not only reduces the construction impacts on your land, allowing nearby plants to bounce back to full health sooner, but it also improves working conditions. Whether you’re DIYing a new deck or hiring a contractor, fall’s cooler weather will make it easier to build your dream deck.
5. Extend your Outdoor Time
One popular fall trend is to create cozy outdoor spaces. With decks becoming an extension of the living room, you can use this overlooked time to create an outdoor space that spans multiple seasons. Not only are you broadening the scope of your home, but you’re also getting the most use out of your product. Composite decks, specifically ChoiceDek, work especially well for the harsher weather that accompanies winter and spring. The boards are extremely durable, water-resistant and splinter free. Pair your new deck with outdoor heaters and a string of lights, and you’ll have a setting that is just begging for hot cocoa and good company.
