Designing Functional Outdoor Living Space

Designing Functional Outdoor Living Space

Overview of the outdoor living space and materials used in outdoor living design. Material selection, care and design, will be discussed, and common misconceptions will be addressed.

Learning Objectives: 
  1. Understand the evolution of the outdoor living market. Discuss how new materials have longer sustainability on life cycle costs and how wood and older materials have continued to create maintenance issues and if not maintained can create safety issues with Code related materials on decking and railing.
  2. Address trends and materials used in outdoor living spaces. Trends are moving toward more Aluminum railing items. Some competitors don’t have IRC and IBC coded materials in the field.
  3. Apply standard design principles and how they relate to outdoor living spaces. Many of the design principles relate to safety because of life cycle maintenance as well as improper flashing and installation that lead to unsafe building practices.
  4. Identify and explain common misconceptions and safety issues in designing outdoor living spaces. Decking today has many options when it comes to installation and using the proper installation hardware. We review all code rulings for decking and railing.
  5. Explain proper use and care of outdoor living spaces and how to avoid them for extended performance. We review how some chemicals can harm the decking material and which products can be safely used to provide a non-toxic method to maintaining the life of your deck and rail material. Some products can react to PVC and cause issues to the capstop.
Provided By: 
Design Category: 
(01) Environmental Issues and General Requirements
Applicable Credits