Keeping Safety in mind.

[badmomma]

We have added a deck to our home. We were reminded by our insurance people that we had to have guard rails and hand rails on all areas.
It is important to make sure that you are up to code in all areas when building anything. We added a ramp to our deck not because we need one. We added it for the future. Old age or accident may make it so that one of us may need to use a wheel chair. It is also a sell point if we ever decide to sell our home.
When we replaced our entry doors we opted for the wider ones. This is also for wheel chair accessibility. It also makes moving furniture in or out much easier.
We have grandchildren who visit so we had to consider their safety also. I don't want the little ones falling off the deck. We put up privacy fence around the deck. This keeps the nosy neighbors out of my business and potential thieves at bay.