A broad run of wood, a limestone step, a planted edge: each can be beautiful on its own. The design work is in deciding how they belong together and how you will move through the yard.
BigDecks starts that conversation with the OG 4×12, our namesake real-wood surface board arrangement in Douglas fir or Western red cedar. When your project also includes landscape, stonework, fencing, shade, or outdoor bathing, Design Assist helps develop those parts as one considered plan.
Begin with a route through the yard
Picture leaving the house on an ordinary morning. Where do you want to sit? How do you reach the garden? Where would a path lead, and where would you pause? These simple questions give a deck and its surroundings a purpose.
Start with photographs of the whole yard and a short list of priorities. Include the things you want to keep: a tree, an existing view, a familiar place to sit, or a connection to another part of the property. A useful brief tells us what matters to you before it lists materials.
Give each material a role
The OG's substantial boards can establish the main gathering space. Limestone pavers or blocks can define a transition, steps can connect levels, and a pathway can carry the route farther into the yard. Steel edging and selective planting help resolve the edges between those elements.
Our landscape and stonework includes selective West Texas planting, limestone pavers, blocks and steps, pathways, and steel edging. It is developed through Design Assist and built by BigDecks. Plant selection and placement are considered for the actual site and the care you want to take on.
Look at materials together rather than choosing each from a separate image. A wood sample beside limestone and steel makes color and texture easier to discuss. Real project photographs help show how those relationships look at the scale of a yard.
Use the 3D plan to make decisions
Design Assist provides a 3D design and plan for projects needing a site plan or combining multiple components. It gives you a shared way to review the proposed space with the team that will build it.
- Compare the deck footprint with your intended furniture.
- Follow the route between the house, deck, steps, and paths.
- Review views and privacy from the places you will sit.
- Look at how planting, stone, wood, and steel meet.
- Decide which elements belong in the current project.
Use that review to resolve preferences and identify questions for further assessment. Construction details, drainage, existing conditions, and any required approvals are worked through for the project; a visual model alone does not establish them.
Include bathing, shade, and fencing early
If a sauna, cold plunge, hot tub, or outdoor shower is part of the idea, bring it into the first conversation. Equipment access, privacy, maintenance access, and its relationship to the deck all deserve space in the plan.
The same goes for shade and wood or steel fencing. BigDecks brings in-house carpentry, welding, and metalwork to its outdoor projects. Planning the elements together helps the finished space feel intentional and makes the boundaries of the work clearer before construction.
Understand the design fee and build scope
Design Assist is paid planning. Its fee is credited toward the build when you proceed with BigDecks. Straightforward builds do not require a design fee. We will help identify the appropriate approach for the scope you describe.
The deck pricing tool is a useful starting point for an OG planning estimate. Landscape, stonework, and other components need their own scope review. A written project quote confirms the materials, work, and price.
Bring us the whole idea
You do not need a finished design before getting in touch. Send your Austin or Central Texas project location, photographs, approximate dimensions, and the ways you want to use the yard. Include both immediate priorities and features you may want later.
Start a Design Assist conversation and develop a deck, landscape, and stonework plan with the team that will build it.
Planning a project? Explore BigDecks OG 4×12, estimate your deck, or work through your layout with Design Assist. Material availability, pricing, and site requirements are confirmed for your project.