Benefits Of A Software Deck Design

We finished building our second story deck last year and it looks great and it's everything we wanted in a new deck.

We walk out onto the second story part from our kitchen and we have a nice large area for the barbecue and our new patio furniture with a table. There is also a space off to the side for a sitting area where we can soak up the sun and read the paper.

Underneath this deck we have a covered area that we installed stamped concrete. This is great because it provides a nice area if it rains and we are thinking about installing a hot tub.

Our Second Story Deck I don't think our new deck would be exactly what we wanted if we didn't spend some time planning and discussing what we wanted.

There's been a lot of talk about software for deck design but how does it actually benefit you when you are planning your new outdoor space?

Before building a deck or even a patio it is good to know what you want your new outdoor living space to look like. Despite all plans and drawing on paper it is generally difficult to imagine how the deck would alter the external look of the property.

Understanding Deck Design Software

Thanks to the new era of computer and 3D designing, it is now possible to actually “look” at the completed deck and how it changes the overall look of your home. You can even benches, barbecues and tables to get a feeling on how much space you will have.

Such advanced visualization is enabled by using custom software for deck design. This software helps you build, even if only visually, a wood deck and allows you to understand in depth about planning, designing and building a real wood deck.

The best advantage of the deck design software is you can omit the risk of a surprise job, which if turned sour not only costs you a good deal of money but may also end up making your property look unsightly.

How Does The Software Help To Build Your Deck?

The problems with building a deck are many. It may be getting the dimensions right. It may be investing lots of money into a design that ultimately did not fulfill the requirements. Or it may be buying materials in excess as you are unable to calculate how much may actually be needed.

Deck design software can help eliminate all these issues and assist in designing the perfect deck that one always dreams of.

Another big advantage is you can take your completed plan to city planning and ensure it conforms to the code for your area. When we took our plans in the city planner was very impressed with the details and thought we would get it approved very quickly.

If you are not building the deck yourself you can take the plans to your builder and they give you a very good estimate of the cost and if they would recommend any changes to your plans based on their years of experience.

Effectiveness Of Deck Design Software

Software for deck design is available in various pricings and to suit different skill levels and needs. There are versions for home and professional architect. The professional architect version will be more expensive will have a lot of features that you may not require if you are just planning on building one or two decks.

Using this software one can plan and design common types of decks like the low profile deck for ground floor or make multistory decks complete with steps, deck railing and balusters. Some versions will also come with additional modules that you can use to design landscape and outdoor lighting.

The software helps you choose the type of material you want to use for your deck and can even create a complete list of everything you need o purchase to build your deck.

The end result is a realistically looking 3D image into which you can make the necessary changes.

Cost To Build Your Deck

The software will not provide the actual price of the materials you need but it can provide a list of materials. You can take the list to your local building store to get the prices or give it to your contractor and have them estimate.

Some software packages will include a built-in estimator. Key in the rates of the material as you design and the estimator will compile a spreadsheet with the total estimated cost of the final deck. This quite obviously means once designed you will not need to scurry to find your calculator and calculate the actual cost, the designing and the estimating job is all done at the same time.

Knowing the price of the materials before you start the project will ensure you do not go over budget. Or if the deck is already to expensive you can modify your design and quickly get a new list of materials.

Ease Of Use

Learning to use the software like drawing may take a little time but it will be well worth the effort. Most software packages have tutorials or pre-designed decks you can use to quickly get up to speed on the software.

And the time you spend on learning the software will help you save thousands in building the deck in the real world. For those who find time a major constraint, they can even choose from the various sample decks that are provided in the software.

The sample deck designs can be used as a base and you can make changes to suit your design.

Software Compatibility

One important aspect that you should look out for while purchasing the deck design software is whether it is compatible with your computer and operating system. If it specifically doesn't state that it will work with your operating system I recommend you email the manufacture to ensure it does.

The software deck design can be used for purposes other than just designing the deck such as landscaping the garden, creating pathways, planning trees, plants and shrubberies around your garden etc.