Until recently, Jennifer and Brian Frederick’s Helotes home consisted of two parts: a two-story, four-bedroom, four-bath, and two-part, gorgeous flagged pool that protrudes from the ground as the terrain slopes toward the green space behind the fence line.

The problem was that the two separate parts were too separate.

“We had what it takes to be a beautiful backyard, but the two parts didn’t merge,” said Brian Frederick, industrial engineer and operations manager for a Tier 1 Toyota supplier. “We wanted to do something to make it look like the house and pool were one unit, as if they were built at the same time,” he explained.

The couple, who have two college-aged children, needed a design that connects the two both physically and mentally.

A few years ago they brought in Bryan E. Smith, owner of Vision Design and Build, a San Antonio-based construction and remodeling company. Smith came up with a plan to completely remodel the rear of the house by adding 2,000 square feet of outdoor living space on two levels overlooking the pool, while combining it with a new hardscape that blended with the existing materials.

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“This was probably one of the toughest projects we’ve ever done,” said Smith, who has been a contractor and remover for 22 years. “From the technology to the drainage to making sure we didn’t damage the house, it was a complex task.”

Franklin declined to give the budget for the renovation, but took about a year to complete.

Smith’s first assignment was to remove the original deck of the house and replace it with something larger and more modern.

Even though the backyard deck was built from the first floor of the house, the plot slopes so much that it was 12 feet above the ground. From the pool, the deck seemed to be clinging to the rear facade and was perched on a small forest of tall, spindle-shaped wooden posts.

Smith designed the 1,200-square-foot high deck with the focus on a curved seating area extension with a natural gas fire pit overlooking the pool and back yard. It is self-supporting and leaves the space below free for a covered terrace.

The new deck is made of plastic and wood composite for a long service life.

Before that, the area below deck was, as Frederick put it, “nothing but dirt and stones”. Smith’s plan turned it into a one-level, open porch overlooking the pool.

“We talked about closing the room with accordion doors to keep the weather out,” Franklin said. “But why take away from the beauty? We enjoy being open. “

The 800-square-meter space is so sheltered from the elements that Franklin made little effort to equip it for outdoor living, save for the all-weather seating. The television is not weatherproof either. “They’re so cheap, why pay extra for an outside TV?” Asked Franklin.

The back walls of the covered terrace are lined with rich looking materials, including strips of stone cut in various heights, widths, and depths in various shades of matte brown with accents of green and gold. This is offset by smaller areas of similarly colored glass tiles. The ceiling is made of stained wood and is crossed by several beams that enclose the steel girders that support the upper deck, while dark wood cabinets complete the look, which gives the room a warm, comfortable glow.

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The space below the deck is so large that Smith was able to add a bathroom and shower by the pool next to the porch, as well as a storage room behind a barn door that he placed under the stairs at one end. On the other side, he installed a spiral staircase from Mexico.

“We had to get it custom-made to fit the room,” said Smith. “Requires a lot of engineering. You can’t just buy something off the shelf. “

Between the porch and the swimming area, Smith added additional Oklahoma stone slabs to match the ones that previously surrounded the freeform pool. He also poured concrete with additional aggregate from smaller stones that are more comfortable for bare feet.

“It really looks like the entire area was built at the same time,” said Franklin.

But what is Smith’s proudest thing about the job is invisible to the unconscious: It’s the technology that was used to handle rainwater drainage.

“We had to build the upper deck so that rain would collect below the deck and be directed to the downspouts that drain it on the sides so the water would not collect against the house,” he explained.

The resort-like deck connects the house with the pool both aesthetically and functionally as planned.

Richard A. Marini is a feature writer in the San Antonio and Bexar Counties. To read more from Richard A. become a subscriber. rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini

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