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Pro Spotlight: 3 Tips to Step Up Your Outdoor Living Space
A Baltimore deck and patio contractor shares advice for living large in the great outdoors
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Who: Dave Lombardo of American Deck & Patio
Where: Baltimore
In his own words: “You get both beauty and practical living space with a deck designed to fit your house and your yard.”
To increase your enjoyment of the world right outside your back door, a well-designed outdoor living area could be just the ticket. “With the right deck or patio, you can reduce maintenance and increase the time you get to spend enjoying the outdoors,” contractor Dave Lombardo says. His company, American Deck & Patio in Baltimore, designs and builds a wide range of structures for outdoor living.
Where: Baltimore
In his own words: “You get both beauty and practical living space with a deck designed to fit your house and your yard.”
To increase your enjoyment of the world right outside your back door, a well-designed outdoor living area could be just the ticket. “With the right deck or patio, you can reduce maintenance and increase the time you get to spend enjoying the outdoors,” contractor Dave Lombardo says. His company, American Deck & Patio in Baltimore, designs and builds a wide range of structures for outdoor living.
Building partnerships. Lombardo worked in construction while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in finance at Loyola University. After graduation, he spent two years in finance before realizing that his true interests were in designing and building outdoor structures. In 1989 he founded American Deck, now American Deck & Patio. “We do all forms of exterior construction,” he says. “I enjoy the low-key process of partnering with clients and with my construction teams.”
Put the fun in function. Lombardo recommends starting your outdoor living space by determining how you want to use it. “Once you have a sense of the function, you can decide on a design,” he says. “After that, you talk about materials.” He works with a wide variety of stone, stone veneers, wood and composite decking. “I like composites because you can use multiple colors and even multiple textures to create distinctive stairways and borders,” he says.
Below are some tips from Lombardo to help you get what you want from your new patio or deck.
Below are some tips from Lombardo to help you get what you want from your new patio or deck.
1. Go With the Flow
Use your deck or patio to create a graceful transition from your home to your yard. “Establish a flow,” Lombardo advises. “Consider the traffic. If people are going to be using the deck to go up and down from the pool, you want to design it so that any stairs are off to the side. This allows the middle of the deck to function as a dining or sitting area without steps breaking up the space.”
The cascading stairs of this easy-to-maintain composite decking in Parkton lead down to a sweeping lawn. “They provide clear access to the yard without interrupting the main sitting area,” Lombardo says. The deck also features contrasting colors, planter boxes and custom benches.
See more decks
Use your deck or patio to create a graceful transition from your home to your yard. “Establish a flow,” Lombardo advises. “Consider the traffic. If people are going to be using the deck to go up and down from the pool, you want to design it so that any stairs are off to the side. This allows the middle of the deck to function as a dining or sitting area without steps breaking up the space.”
The cascading stairs of this easy-to-maintain composite decking in Parkton lead down to a sweeping lawn. “They provide clear access to the yard without interrupting the main sitting area,” Lombardo says. The deck also features contrasting colors, planter boxes and custom benches.
See more decks
2. Get Cooking, Conveniently
If you’re among the growing number of homeowners opting for an outdoor kitchen, Lombardo suggests building it fairly close to the indoor one. “If you have a multilevel structure, put your cooking area on an upper level and put the eating area below it,” he says. “You don’t want to have to go back and forth through the party when you’re bringing food out from the house.”
Lombardo created the three-level stone patio seen here for a traditional Towson home. The middle level, a few steps below a small terrace, has both a grill and a bar. “The cook is part of the entertainment space but still within easy reach of the indoor kitchen,” he says. The patio echoes the home’s stone trim, further tying the spaces together.
See more outdoor kitchens
If you’re among the growing number of homeowners opting for an outdoor kitchen, Lombardo suggests building it fairly close to the indoor one. “If you have a multilevel structure, put your cooking area on an upper level and put the eating area below it,” he says. “You don’t want to have to go back and forth through the party when you’re bringing food out from the house.”
Lombardo created the three-level stone patio seen here for a traditional Towson home. The middle level, a few steps below a small terrace, has both a grill and a bar. “The cook is part of the entertainment space but still within easy reach of the indoor kitchen,” he says. The patio echoes the home’s stone trim, further tying the spaces together.
See more outdoor kitchens
3. Add Dry Storage Space
If you’ve been frustrated by the prospect of maintaining the space below your deck, Lombardo suggests taking a look at dry decking. Instead of draining through the slats, water runs off the edges of dry decking, leaving a waterproof space underneath that you can use for storage or a hot tub. For a Baltimore home with limited backyard space, Lombardo used composite dry decking for the deck seen here. The family uses the space underneath to store outdoor furniture during the off-season.
More: For more information on Dave Lombardo and examples of his work, visit American Deck & Patio’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
If you’ve been frustrated by the prospect of maintaining the space below your deck, Lombardo suggests taking a look at dry decking. Instead of draining through the slats, water runs off the edges of dry decking, leaving a waterproof space underneath that you can use for storage or a hot tub. For a Baltimore home with limited backyard space, Lombardo used composite dry decking for the deck seen here. The family uses the space underneath to store outdoor furniture during the off-season.
More: For more information on Dave Lombardo and examples of his work, visit American Deck & Patio’s Houzz profile.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
American Deck & Patio was created in 1989 on the premise that custom outdoor living projects could be built by a... Read More
Review by Bob Webber:
We had American Deck & Patio remove the old deck that was rotting and replace it with a new larger deck. They did a fine job and completed it on time. The work crew always cleaned up the work area at ...More
Very nice work. I've studied the maintenance free business since it began. I like your functional design's. The expense of these projects make longevity a practical necessity.