Trex Deck with Built-In Planters

It has been a while since I have done an outdoor project and after six months of working on my Trex deck with built-in planters, I realized why. When doing outdoor projects you are at the mercy of weather and daylight and neither are consistently cooperative. Add going to work and being limited to sunny weekends to those restrictions and you can understand the extended timeline.

Before

No matter how long it took, this project needed to be done badly. The old deck was a mess! The decking had been painted over so many times that the deck boards no longer drained leaving slimy puddles that were beginning to rot the decking.

I started demoing the old decking in February when daylight was short so work mostly took place on the weekends since it was pretty much dark after a full workday. We tore out the decking and the railings first which took a few weekends. Things for sure got worse before they got better.

The giant piles of old moldy lumber in the yard were not the best look.

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Decking

Next, we focused on replacing the decking. Fortunately, the framing below was still in good shape which meant only the decking surface needed to be replaced.

We decided on replacing the old wood decking with Trex Basics in Clam Shell (affiliate) So we wouldn’t have all the maintenance of a wood deck. With Trex decking, you also decided on using hidden fasteners which means no screw heads showing across the deck. It also makes for a quicker and easier install since no predrilling is required.

This could have been completed a couple of weekends but I ran into a delay. Some of my decking material was delivered damaged so it had to be replaced.

Planters

As part of the new decking, I also needed to rebuild the step up to the house. Rather than have a single step floating out on its own, I decided to flank it with a built-in planter clad in the same Trex decking as the surface of the deck. For the edging, I used a contrasting Trex in Toasted Sand with a square edge.

Figuring out how this was going to work took a little thought but the real time consumer was getting all the mitered corners lined up just right.

Stairs

By April I was ready to start on the stairs. Since the decking on the stairs down to the yard needed to be replaced, I chose to tear out the old stairs altogether. The new stairs would be wider to allow for a better view of the yard and pond.

I added nine new stingers set on a cement base to allow for an 8′ wide stairway. Instead of railings, I flanked these stairs with a set of planters as well. I built one upper and one lower planter on either side of the now-widened stairs.

By May the verticle surfaces of the stairs and outer deck were also inclosed in the Trex decking.

Patio Furniture

Then summer came and if you live in the South you know summer is for beaches and air conditioning only! So during the unbearable summer, I worked on a vintage set of patio furniture I found to go on the new deck.

I sewed cushions and pillows and tiled the top of the coffee table, all in the A/C.

Completed

Fall is here again and It’s time to head back outside. Thankfully, my new Trex deck is complete just in time!

The planters are planted with a mix of beautiful plants of all different colors that have filled out nicely.

The wide expanse of stairs now allows a clear view of the yard and our pretty pond.

The addition of my vintage patio set filled with cozy cushions makes my new Trex deck with built-in planters the perfect place to sit and relax. Just in time for the cool fall weather. Does anyone want to come by and hang out?

Want to see more? Check out some other outdoor spaces below.

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