The Tale of Two Choices – Decks vs. Covered Patios

When you live in a place like Texas, where summers are akin to one version of hell, the general consensus is that a covered patio is the preferred option. Why?  Shade of course.  We will park a 1/2 mile away from any store if there is a spot of shade to hide our car under in the summer.  This same rationale holds true for our homes as well.  Shade is a commodity that helps ease the stifling 100 degree+ heat that we have come to expect here during the summer.

Even though my Texas roots go way deep, I cannot, in good faith, recommend that anyone choose a covered patio instead of a deck, regardless of their location on this planet.  My reason for this trumps the Texas heat and goes all the way to my Feng Shui roots.  In Feng Shui we have guidelines and rules that give us insights and potential outcomes.  Ideally, a house will have a completely even line across the back of it.  In other words, there will be no missing chunks, i.e. incomplete life areas.  One reason this is important is because the back of any home contains the life areas related to Wealth, Fame and Love.  Where there is a missing chunk in one of these areas, imbalance is probable.  Clearly, imbalances in other areas of the home are also important, but I consider these the Big Three, and they frequently impact our lives the most.  I have personally lived in a home with an added area that cut out the Wealth and Love areas of the house and it was no small feat to bring it back to balance!

When a house is complete in the areas of Wealth, Fame and Love, and its owners build a covered patio halfway across it, they have most likely created at least one missing area.  When this happens, it can take a year or so before the repercussions are felt, but they will be felt and they will have to be balanced in some way.  However, if a raised deck is added to the back of an otherwise complete house, as the photo below clearly shows, no missing areas are created.  Shade can be added in the form of large table umbrellas, a gazebo or a pergola.  You get all the benefits of mowing less grass, and none of the imbalances that can develop with a covered patio.  What do you do if you already have a covered patio? Well, that answer will follow in another blog!