I would also suggest a deck at the same level as the house floor. Merbau decking boards are hard wearing and reasonably priced $. Also look at a new sliding doors with insect screen built into the door frame as a second door. This will introduce cross ventilation and keep the mozzies at bay in the night and make your internal floor space appear bigger. I would also build a veranda over the deck and mimic the existing gable end of the roof ( keep the rafters high ) and use all laserlight transparent roofing material to keep natural light flooding in. You could also look at introducing a natural gas point and some outdoor power points for gas BBQ and entertaining. The space will effectively become your new Outdoor room - enjoy :-)

Hi Love the setting! From what you are describing, it sounds like you have a ventilation issue. A deck lower than 400mm off the ground needs to have ventilation just like the house. This typically means the sides are open (doesn't happen) and the spacing is around 5-6mm between boards. If you don't have this, the water that gets in cannot evaporate and will keep the ground and the underside of the deck moist, even with your drainage as it can pool in sections. This in turn means your deck is always wet. Once that happens, it is only a matter of time before fungus growth/soft rot etc occurs. We always excavate a low to the ground deck to ensure we have 400mm of clearance to the underside of the bearers. Another way is to ensure there is a moisture impermeable membrane across the ground (plastic) covered with gravel and graded down with vents placed all around. Cheers

Wow, that looks amazing, what a difference.

I actually quite like the landscaper's option, and I imagine that the house is higher up than the lawn, so the three decks terrace down to the lawn level providing a good connection between the house and lawn. A good landscape design is much about the third dimension of height as a well designed home, and these plans don't show this dimension. In addition the terracing allows planting around each deck level which softens the transitions even more. Each change in level also provides an opportunity for seating. A single level deck that is at the house level may need a balustrade which divides your outdoor space in half. I would ask your landscape designer to explain the thinking behind the smaller decks in terms of change of height, which you can't read on this plan. If you wanted a bog-standard deck that any carpenter can throw together why did you engage a landscape designer to come up with a creative and interesting solution? Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls