A New Deck Opens Up the Backyard in Swedesboro, NJ

Before this project, the back of this Swedesboro home had only a small balcony off the sliding door — just enough room to step outside, with a modest wood railing and no real space to sit or gather. The backyard itself looks out over a shared pond with a fountain, and there wasn't anywhere on the house set up to actually take advantage of that view.

The plan called for a full 12x20 deck built from the ground up, set on helical piers rather than poured footings. Once the piers were driven to depth, our crew framed the deck and began work on the stepped landing that ties the stairs back into the main platform.

With the frame in place, we decked the platform in Deckorators Venture composite in Sandbar, finished with a single-board picture frame border in the same color along the perimeter. The fascia and stair risers are wrapped in matching Sandbar, and the stair treads are Deckorators Venture as well, giving the whole structure one consistent material and color from the decking down to the stringers.

For the railing, we installed Deckorators Aluminum Rapid Rail in black with 2.5-inch black aluminum posts along the full perimeter and down the stairs. Against the warm tone of the Sandbar decking, the black railing reads clean and modern without the maintenance a wood rail would need. This project didn't call for a cocktail-top rail cap, LED lighting, or a stair gate, so we kept the build straightforward and let the decking and railing do the work.

What used to be a small balcony is now a full 12x20 outdoor room, with a stepped landing down to the yard and a clear line of sight to the pond and fountain beyond the property line. If your own backyard has more to offer than your current deck lets you use, we'd be glad to walk the space with you and talk through what a build like this could look like at your home.

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