You may want the complete backyard without building every part at once. A deck this year and a pool or garden later can be a sensible brief. The useful first step is to understand how those pieces will meet, then choose a first phase that works on its own.
BigDecks Design Assist can explore a phased approach for an Austin or Central Texas outdoor project. The design considers the wider space; each construction phase has its own confirmed scope, price and schedule.
Describe the finished backyard before choosing the first build
Start with how you want to spend time outside. List the places for dining, swimming, sitting quietly, outdoor bathing and moving through the garden. Separate the things you know you want from ideas you are still exploring.
Mark the doors, trees and existing features you want to retain. Include the route from the street into the yard. A future pool, sauna or large piece of equipment may need access that a new deck or fence would change. Bring those possibilities into the conversation before fixing the first layout.
Make the first phase useful by itself
A phase should give you a finished place to use, with the access and other required work resolved for that stage. A dining deck needs a usable route from the house and room to move around the table. Its value to you should not depend on a future project with no agreed start date.
Write two lists: what must be included for this phase to function, and what belongs to a later phase. Discuss any temporary arrangements with the project team rather than treating an unfinished edge or missing connection as a permanent solution.
Identify what today’s work could make harder later
Ask the design team to review the dependencies between phases. Some decisions can wait; others affect work already being built.
- Delivery and construction access: How would later equipment and materials reach their location?
- Levels and transitions: How will the deck meet a future path, pool setting or stone terrace?
- Utilities and drainage: What needs specialist review before an area is enclosed or finished?
- Privacy and views: Will the first fence or screen still make sense when the next outdoor space is added?
- Materials: Which selections should be coordinated now, and which can be reconsidered later?
Allow the team to establish which preparations are appropriate. A line on a concept plan is not confirmation that future structural support, utilities or approvals are already included.
An example of a phased design brief
Imagine a homeowner who wants a real-wood dining deck now, with a small pool and planting later. This is an example brief, not a completed BigDecks project or a recommended construction order for every property.
The overall design could explore the deck, water, paths and privacy together. The first construction quote would then identify the dining area and its required connections, while keeping later pool access and transitions under review. Any work to prepare for the future pool would need to be listed expressly. The pool, equipment and landscape would remain outside that first build unless included in its proposal.
Keep design and construction budgets separate
Design Assist is paid and tiered. Your proposal confirms the fee, deliverables and revision allowance before design begins. Tell us that you want to explore phases so the design scope can reflect that goal.
Construction, equipment and specialist services are priced separately unless expressly included. A future phase is not a locked price or reserved build date. Before starting it, review the design, current site conditions, selections and any approvals needed.
What to bring to the first conversation
Share your project location, yard photographs, any survey or existing drawings, your priorities and the amount of work you want to consider first. An undecided budget or timeline is a useful starting point for discussion.
Use the deck pricing tool for an early planning estimate. Then tell us about the whole backyard so the first build can belong to a considered longer-term plan.
Planning a project? Explore real-wood deck building in Austin, estimate your deck, or work through your layout with Design Assist. Material availability, pricing, and site requirements are confirmed for your project.