One Deck, Two Very Different Days
A Lake Villa homeowner sat down for a design meeting with a simple question: what could the yard do for him? The answer split in two directions at once. He wanted a deck for the days the weather cooperated, and a covered space underneath for the days it didn’t.
That’s a harder ask than it sounds. A deck built on open joists lets rain fall straight through to whatever sits below it, and a screen room that gets soaked every time it storms isn’t a screen room; it’s a wet porch with a roof.
Designing Two Levels as One System
Before construction started, the design team built the project in 3D, planning the upper deck and lower screen room as a single connected structure. That let the homeowner see stair placement, railing lines, and the footprint of the space below well ahead of time.
Keeping the Space Below Dry
A TimberTech dryspace system runs beneath the decking, catching water at the source and channeling it away before it ever reaches the room underneath.
A Space That Works Rain or Shine
Trex decking spans the upper level, paired with Trex aluminum railing for clean sightlines from the deck down to the yard. Azek trim finishes the structure with a crisp, low-maintenance edge that holds up against Illinois weather year after year.
Below, the screen room stays dry no matter the forecast, giving the homeowner exactly what he asked for in that first design meeting: a deck when the sun is out, and a covered gathering space the moment it isn’t.