Outdoor Living Areas – Plan Now for Spring Fun

Winter is the perfect time for designing and building your outdoor living spaces and backyard oasis. While you spend the winter enjoying your covered patio, deck or veranda a contractor can create new entertaining areas and structures such as gazebos or arbors. With the hardscaping and construction completed in late winter you will have plenty of time to order new outdoor furniture and be ready for spring entertaining.

Outdoor living areas were once reserved for mild, sunny climate inhabitants. However, the growing popularity of outdoor fireplaces, firepits and space heaters have made outdoor entertaining a viable option for people that live amongst all types of atmospheric conditions. Additionally, with the wide range of outdoor patio and deck designs on the market, whatever you can conceive of your outdoor space, you can achieve. It is easy to learn how to design outdoor kitchens, dining spaces and entertaining areas with the help of the right outdoor living contractor. Educate yourself now on outdoor living design area conceptualizing, bidding and project management to ensure that your area is ready for the busy Spring outdoor season, as well as throughout the rest of the year.

Outdoor Living Area Design

Outdoor living areas generally consist of an outdoor kitchen, dining spaces and an entertainment area. Some homeowners incorporate TVs and stereo systems throughout their outdoor living spaces, while others make it a cozy, quiet respite from the rest of the world. These smaller outdoor living areas generally have just a table and chairs, or an outdoor sofa and chairs. Whatever your preference, you will need your outdoor living design area to be functional for the type of entertaining that you do most frequently. If you are the chef in your family or friendship circle, you will want to work with a contractor who knows how to design outdoor kitchens to ensure that you end up with a fully functioning outdoor food preparation, cooking and serving area. If you prefer to cook inside and serve the meals outside, then you only need to worry about hiring a contractor well versed in outdoor patio and deck designs.

Soliciting Contractor Bids

Once you are sure of your outdoor entertaining style, and general outdoor living design area, it is time to start getting bids from contractors. You will want to exercise your due diligence in choosing the right contractor to ensure that you do end up with shoddy or unfinished work. Therefore, you should research the reputation of every contractor you are considering employing before you ask for a bid on the work. Once you’ve checked contractor references, and his or her online reputation, get bids for the whole entire project. Be sure to have the contractor include prices for building permits, materials, labor, lumber drop-off services, and clean up and waste removal after the work is completed.

Bid Review & Contractor Selection

After you have secured bids from a number of contractors, it is time for you to compare bids. While comparing labor costs is generally easy, comparing building materials might take a bit of research on your part. Find out the quality of each type of name brand material mentioned in the bid. Then, factor in the quality of the materials before you make a final decision. You might also find, like many other homeowners, that the frequency in which the contractor can finish the job is a big deciding factor. If a contractor tells you that he or she cannot guarantee to complete the work in the time frame you have established, do not accept his or her bid. Wishing thinking that the contractor will miraculously will come through for you often backfires. More often than not, you will be left with uncompleted work that could have been finished already by another contractor.

Project Scheduling and Payments

Do not give your chosen contractor more than 1/3 of the total project price as a deposit. One third of the outdoor living design area project is a fair deposit that the contractor can use to buy materials for the job. Then, once he or she sticks to the outlined schedule clearly stated in the written contract, you can pay an additional 1/3 when half of the job has been completed. Then, after the successful completion of the work, and subsequent clean up and waste removal, you can pay the contractor the remaining 1/3 balance.