Sunken deck & fire terrace
An outdoor room that works in May and still works in October.
- Location
- Nigadoo
- Duration
- 4 weeks
- Completed
- 2025
- Category
- Exterior
Same vantage point, first morning and final day · Drag to compare
What we were actually asked to fix.
The back yard fell away 900mm in nine metres, so the old deck sat high, felt exposed, and caught every gust off the water. We split it into two levels: dining at door height, and a sunken fire terrace tucked into the slope.
A cedar pergola with a run of warm string lighting overhead gives the lower level a ceiling, which is what makes it feel like a room rather than a platform.
We eat outside from May to Thanksgiving now. The wind just goes over the top of us.
- Helical piers to 1.5m, engineered layout
- Pressure-treated frame, hidden fastener cedar deck
- Dry-laid stone terrace with fire table plinth
- Cedar pergola, benches with lift-out storage lids
- Low-voltage stair and rail lighting on a timer
The surprise, and what it cost.
Bedrock 900mm down on the north corner meant two piers could not be driven. We switched those to pinned poured footings — a change we caught on day two, priced the same afternoon, and absorbed inside the original schedule.
Where it landed.
Bench seating that swallows the cushions and the fire tools for winter, and a lower terrace that stays usable in wind that used to clear the old deck.
