Category: Deck

If you are lucky enough to have a deck or are about to have one built, you are probably dreaming of summer evenings in the open air, by the light of your outdoor lamps. But to take advantage of it, you will have to connect this deck to electricity. At deck company, we explain how to proceed to finally lounge outdoors all year round.

 

Subscribe to an electricity offer

 

Taking out your electricity contract is naturally the first step in thinking about supplying an electrical circuit. Two scenarios may concern you: either you are in the process of building your house and do not yet benefit from any contract. The connection of your deck is an evolution within a home already connected to the electricity network.

 

In the first case, you must take out your first electricity contract. You can subscribe to your electricity to EDF or any other energy supplier. The formalities are carried out similarly by gathering the information concerning your accommodation: type of accommodation, its surface, its insulation, it’s heating, etc.

 

From there, EDF will offer you an offer and an amount to pay each month. If that’s okay with you, all you have to do is subscribe using your contact details. Also, note that you can subscribe to EDF online or by phone.

 

If your home was already connected to the electrical network, make sure that you have the necessary power to supply new devices. Like other most deck companies and us, w always urge you to do not hesitate to contact your supplier to see to what extent the amount of your bill may increase with the excess consumption.

 

Connect your deck to your power supply

 

Then, to power your outdoor lighting and other devices that you may want to install on your deck, you have to start the work. A professional electrician should do these unless you have the necessary skills. Indeed, you will need to follow the following steps:

 

• Prepare the installation: trench, cables, circuit breaker, etc.
• Connect the deck, remembering to cut off the power supply
• Install your lights on their own

 

These are precise jobs that can be dangerous if you handle the equipment improperly. It is essential to think about standards, circuits, fuses, or even differential circuit breakers. If these terms do not speak to you, call an electrician to discuss the installation with you.

 

Enjoy your deck

 

Here is our last tip and not least: ENJOY! Once installed, connected to electricity and your operational LED spotlights, you can finally taste the pleasure of long summer evenings.

 

A few more arrangements will add character to your wooden deck: garden furniture, a brazier, or even pretty flower pots …

 

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The deck is an open-air interior courtyard, generally square, whose origin dates back to Roman Antiquity. This deck was then called the “atrium”. In traditional Mediterranean architecture, in Spain and North Africa in particular, it is (and was) not uncommon for houses to have no windows to the outside, and for all openings to be turned inward … and therefore towards the famous deck. Therefore, he had a very important role, since it was in a way he who lit the house and brought in light.

This central courtyard generally has a fountain or a basin. The traditional deck is sometimes also decorated with columns and colorful ceramics. It has a central place in the building but also in domestic life.

What does the deck look like in Western countries?

Unlike Spanish or North African houses, Western houses are almost always turned outwards. The deck, therefore, has a different function: it then takes more the form of intermediate living space between the interior of the accommodation and the garden.

However, old houses and more and more contemporary houses have an interior courtyard that takes up the Hispano-Moorish principle. In our regions – colder – we do not hesitate to close the courtyard with a glass roof, thus creating a deck that can be enjoyed all year round, even during the colder seasons!

How to green your deck?

By definition, the deck is enclosed, and it takes advantage of the heat released by the accommodation, which must be taken into account in the choice of plants. As such, you can opt for:

• Exotic plants, which will find an ideal space in a deck. But pay attention to their light needs.
• Shade or partial shade plants, especially if your deck is small and lacks a bit of sunlight. Indeed, plants accustomed to the sun would risk withering and / or would be attacked by parasites.
• In particular, tree ferns and aralias thrive enormously in these closed and semi-shaded environments.

The ideal is to have a thickness of soil of 30 to 50 cm (one-third of topsoil and two-thirds of good quality potting soil, all enriched with good compost). Unless you prefer container planting, but the effect will not be the same. Think of automatic watering, which will be very useful to you, especially when you go on vacation. It is also possible to grow lights and foggers to optimize the development of your plants in your deck.

What about decorating the deck?

Good news: when it comes to decorating a deck, anything goes. Here are some great ideas that may inspire you:

• You can vegetate part of the deck and cover the rest with the hard ground (wood, stone, pebbles, tiles, etc.).
• You can also make a small Asian garden by playing on the differences in materials.
• If you have space, you can install a fountain in the middle of the deck, just like in Andalusian decks: the water’s sound will be a pleasant palliative to stress!
• If your deck is very sunny, install a shade sail using three hooks, which will be easy to put on as well as remove, depending on the sunshine.
• As for the furniture, choose chairs, armchairs, and tables with a nice design (don’t forget that you will see them permanently from inside your home) and stay outside all year round if you don’t have room to store them in winter.

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