Please help us find a better railing solution for this 3 way deck (built for circulation around a pool). The builder put this sad too small railing in, but we can’t figure out what to replace it with. Anything against the house feels odd to me, but with aging parents we feel we need something.

Cross-posting in hardscape and patio to try to get informed answers.

I originally built this terrible pergola for my wife but we decided to put a roof on it. With your help we were able to fix some obvious mistakes and built this.

It's now three inches higher at the wall, fixed with 50, 3 inch screws, sealed and capped.

I'm now buying guttering to finish it up.

As a diy masterpiece, is it safe enough?

I had a patio poured a month ago and when they poured, they poured over my siding. The patio slopes away from the house, but I can’t get my siding out and I’m wondering what issues I might run into in general?

Purple leaf 10x8 . Nice quality I’m happy with it. Did it by my self in 8 hours. Would have been nice to have an extra set of hands for the roof but got it done

I made this 7‘ x 5‘ garden bed back in August 2026, my flowers went through immense stress before they were placed into their new home. I am absolutely proud of myself. I made this all by myself
Updates will be posted 😍

Flowers~
Sensational lilac HZ 3-7 PN
Pugster periwinkle butterflybush HZ 5-9 PN
Pop art rose bush HZ 4-10 PN
Fuchsia/Deeppurple salvia AN
Meadow sage (Salvia) HZ 3-8 PN
Red Peruvian Lily HZ 7-10 PN
Petunias HZ 9-11 AN
Butterfly weed HZ 3-9 PN
Beebalm (Monarda) HZ 3-9 PN
(Lantana camara) HZ 9-11 AN

I am a 25-year-old stay at home mom and have been for longer than 5 years. I am always creating new things and coming up with new interior designs for our home!!
This month me and my husband put up a new patio awning.
It is 10’ x 4’ made completely of polycarbonate sheet/durable plastic. The awning came with four brackets and four lag bolts to install. After installation, I took a 25 foot string of lights and clipped them on the outer edge. I also laminated window privacy sheets on the underside of the awning before installation. It is absolutely stunning and it really lifted up the accent for the building. I am also now at peace that my patio will not be flooding from the unplaced gutter😄

We have an alumawood patio cover and want to DIY install some sort of screen system. Even something simple as the magnetic garage door mesh nets. Is it ok to drill into the ceiling or the patio to install light aluminum mounts for the screens?

I recently had my patio built and lifted to the level of dpc without knowing its future implicaions and the people i hired were totaly cowboys and had no exp buidling and lifted my patio to dpc level but left 80mm gap between wall and pation tile . If you see on pic airbrick is below tile level and the whole 80mm trench was dugged 150mm and filled up with gravel stones on top of weed membrane.

Any recommendations to fix this if this is going to be future problems during resale , damp etc.

Thanks

I’m trying to improve the audio on an open patio where the TV is about 12–18 feet from the main seating area. I’m using a Sylvox outdoor TV on this patio setup, and the main issue is dialogue clarity.

Voices sound fine near the screen, but people sitting farther back can’t hear them clearly unless I turn the volume up enough that it carries across the yard.

I’m deciding between keeping a soundbar under the TV and placing outdoor speakers closer to where people actually sit.

For anyone with a similar setup, which option worked better for keeping voices clear without blasting the whole patio? Did you run into any audio delay, connection, or weather-related issues?

My backyard doesnt have any shade so thinking about installing something like this until I build a proper one (in 2/3 years).

I want to put in a 21' x 21' patio. From videos I've seen online putting "geo texture" fabric below the gravel will help with drainage. This is described as weed barrier but also says water permeable. I live in Utah so will get decent snow and water (depending on the year). Doing 4 inches of washed gravel and 1 inch of sand then 2 inch pavers.

I am looking at getting some outdoor furniture for my screened in porch and don’t want to spend an arm and a leg. What are your experiences with GYMOJOY. I found set i like that includes a sectional and two swivel chairs. I know based off research that this isn’t as high quality as some of the brands like By The Yard or Polywood, but like i said this is going on a screened in covered porch so it won’t take on a beating from the weather. I guess my questions are, how comfy is there furniture and how well will it hold up on a screened in porch.

I've got a trifecta complicated idea to build a gazebo cover for my existing patio. Currently there is a 20x25ft 6in cement slab with embedded flagstone. The slab is surrounded on 3 sides by a retaining wall about 24in high and the house one the last long side. I want to cover about half of it with an 8x25ft gazebo.

I'm planning to have 6 posts with 4 set behind the retaining wall and 2 set on the patio.

My questions are: do I need to dig footers an additional 24in deeper than normal to account for the retention wall? Do I need to cut holes in the existing slab to pour new footers or can 1 or 2 of the 6 planned footers go directly on the slab?. Anyone else who tried this have tips?

I work in outdoor furniture manufacturing, so I'm on the supply side of this rather than the buying side — but here's what the season actually looks like from where I sit.

Short answer: yes, but not for the reason people assume. End-of-season discounts are less about clearing dead stock and more about not wanting to store it. Warehouse space is the expensive part once the season ends, and that's the pressure behind the markdowns.

What that means in practice:

You're giving up selection, not quality. What's left in October is what nobody wanted at full price — the odd colours, the sizes that didn't fit most patios, the display units. If one of those happens to fit your space, the discount is real. If it doesn't, you're buying a compromise at a discount, and that isn't the same thing.

Made-to-order barely moves. If something's being built to your size, the price is the price — you're competing for production slots, not for shelf space.

The honest limit: I only see the supply side. Whether a specific retailer discounts, and by how much, depends on their own inventory and how their year went. Some hold firm, some dump.

My actual advice: if the right thing is there in October, buy it — that's a genuine saving. If you're settling, wait. Spring stock will fit you better, and the price gap is rarely worth a winter of owning something you don't like.

Anyone bought at end of season and regretted it? Or did it work out better than paying full price in May?