Planning Pavers and an Outdoor Kitchen Around Your Pool Deck

Most backyards get built in pieces. The pool goes in one year, a patio the next, and a grill on a cart a few seasons after that. It works, but you can feel the seams. The yards that look best and work best were planned as one space before anyone started digging.

Start with how you move

Walk the yard in your head. Where do you step out of the house? Where do the kids head first? Where do guests collect? Wet feet and hot grills shouldn't share a path, so keep the cooking zone out of the main route from the back door to the water. Leave comfortable walking width around the island, and put the prep area and sink on the house side so you aren't carrying trays across the whole deck.

Choosing pavers for a pool deck

We offer brick or custom pavers in many colors and styles for walkways, driveways, patios and pool decks. For the area around a pool, three things matter more than color. The first is surface heat. Lighter colors generally stay cooler under bare feet in the Florida sun. The second is texture near the water, where you want grip rather than polish. The third is the base underneath, because a paver surface is only as good as what it sits on.

Pavers are laid piece by piece, so a damaged section can be repaired without tearing up the whole deck, and the pattern you choose can echo the tile or coping already around the pool. And if you don't have a pool, the answer is the same. No pool? No problem. Pavers work just as well for a patio, a walkway or a driveway.

Where the kitchen goes

Think about the sun, the shade and the wind. The cook shouldn't be squinting into the afternoon sun, and smoke should drift away from the seating, not into it. Keep grease and food prep away from the water's edge. Spilled grease on a deck is slippery and stains pavers.

Then think about what a kitchen needs to function: counter space on both sides of the cooker, a sink, storage, and lighting for evening cooks. Mannix builds custom outdoor kitchens and sells the cooking equipment, so the design conversation covers the island and what goes in it. That means you can match the cooker to the cutout before the stone is set.

Utilities and drainage: the unglamorous part

A real outdoor kitchen needs real utilities. Gas for the grill, electricity for lights and a refrigerator, and water and a drain if you want a sink. Decide on them early, because moving a gas line after the pavers are down is a headache nobody enjoys. Have the work done by qualified professionals.

Water movement matters just as much. A deck should shed rain away from the house, the kitchen and the pool. Florida storms test drainage every summer, and a low spot beside the island will show itself the first time it pours. Check early with your city or county and your homeowners association about what rules apply to the project, since they vary from place to place.

What the quote looks like

Our process has three steps. First, we provide a quote based on a fair evaluation of your needs. Then we do the hard work, on time, with no shortcuts. Then you enjoy the results. We say our goal is to establish relationships, not just contracts, and a good plan on paper is where that starts. A short list of things to bring makes the first conversation go further:

• A sketch or photos of the yard as it looks today
• Where the house, pool and any screen enclosure sit
• The cooker or appliances you already own or want
• Where the sun and shade fall in the afternoon
• A rough list of seating, counter space, storage and lighting

Leave room for next year

The best plans leave room to grow. Maybe the pizza oven isn't in this year's plan, but you know you want one. Maybe the shade cover or extra seating comes later. If you build the base and the utilities with those additions in mind, adding them won't mean pulling up what you just paid for.

The pavers page and the outdoor kitchens page show what we build across Polk County. Call (863) 326-9656 or stop by 3500 Cypress Gardens Road in Winter Haven to talk it through.