Accessory Structures
A great backyard is more than a beautiful pool. Shade, shelter, and somewhere to cook, all designed alongside the water so the whole yard works as one environment.
Accessory Structures
Designed as one environment, not assembled over time.
Accessory structures turn a swimming pool into a complete outdoor living destination. They provide shade, define gathering spaces, expand what you can do out there, and add lasting value to the property.
The best outdoor spaces are not assembled by several contractors over a few years. Every structure here is planned alongside the pool, so foundations, drainage, gas, power, and plumbing go in once, in the same trenches as everything else, and nobody ever sees them.
Every project is custom designed to complement your home's architecture while creating an outdoor environment your family will enjoy for years to come.
An open framework of posts and beams with slats across the top, built to define a space and filter the sun rather than block it. Around a pool it gives you somewhere the light is softer: a place for loungers, a dining table, or an outdoor kitchen, without walling off the sky.
- Gives you
- Shade you can specify
- Rain
- Only with a solid roof or closed louvers
- Needs
- Engineering and a wind permit
An aluminum frame wrapped in mesh covering the pool and deck: a room without walls. It keeps insects out, keeps leaves out of the water, cuts the UV reaching the deck, and adds a barrier between the pool and the yard.
- Keeps out
- Insects, leaves, some UV
- Shade
- Shelter from debris, not from sun
- Footprint
- The whole pool and deck
At minimum a grill set into a run of counter with storage under it. At the other end a full second kitchen with refrigeration, a sink, ice, a vent hood, and seating for six. What separates it from a grill on a patio is that it is plumbed, wired, gassed, and finished as part of the house rather than parked beside it.
- Range
- A short run to a full U with seating
- Needs
- Gas, water, drain, power
- If covered
- Ventilation, designed in
Beyond the pool
Rooms without a roofline.
Covered Entertainment Areas
Roofed outdoor rooms tied into the house or into the enclosure itself, with a finished ceiling, fans, and lighting. This is what makes the space usable in August, and in a storm.
- Often includes
- Stained wood or tongue-and-groove ceilings, fans, recessed lighting
- Watch for
- A grill under here needs a hood. Plan the ventilation with it
Built-in Seating & Dining
Seat walls, banquettes, and bar counters built in place, so the seating is part of the architecture instead of furniture that gets put away. It is also the cheapest way to make a large deck feel like a room.
- Takes the form of
- Seat walls with wide caps, bar overhangs, benches, dining terraces
- Pairs with
- Accent lighting, natural stone finishes, integrated planters
Which one first?
Pool After Dusk
If you stop using the pool at dusk, a screen enclosure with 20/20 no-see-um mesh low, where people sit.
Afternoon Heat
If the deck bakes from noon until four, a pergola, built larger than the area you want covered and specified to a shade percentage.
Cook Together
If one person misses every party cooking indoors, an outdoor kitchen. The value is not the cooking, it is where the cooking happens.
The View
If the view is why you bought the lot, panoramic framing on that one wall, conventional everywhere else.
A Covered Kitchen
If the kitchen is going under a roof, the ventilation gets designed in now. Added later it is a compromise.
FAQs
Mesh, shade, and ventilation questions come up on every project, so they are answered here.
Which screen mesh should I get, standard or 20/20 no-see-um?
Often both. The numbers describe strands per inch: 20/20 is the finer weave that helps keep out no-see-ums and reduces pine needles and fine landscape debris, and 18x14 standard mesh is more open, with better airflow and a slightly clearer view. The best answer on most projects is to mix them by panel, with the fine mesh low where people sit and get bitten and standard mesh high and across the roof for airflow and view.
Can I get a pool cage without all the bars in the way?
Yes. Panoramic framing, also sold as picture window or wide view, uses larger aluminum beams to carry load across much longer spans, which removes the intermediate posts and the chair rails at seated eye level. It can be applied to one wall only, the wall facing the lake, preserve, or garden, with conventional framing everywhere else. That gets most of the benefit for a fraction of the cost.
How much shade does a pergola actually give?
It depends entirely on how it is built, and the range is enormous. A traditional pergola with widely spaced rafters can leave you with only twenty to thirty percent shade at midday, which means you are functionally sitting in the sun. Tightening the gaps between the top slats roughly doubles that without losing airflow, and adjustable louvers take it from fully open to effectively closed. A fan underneath does as much for comfort as another inch of slat coverage.
Will a pergola keep the rain off?
Only if it has a solid roof or closed louvers. Open slats are designed to filter sun, and rain passes straight through. If you want a dry space out there, that is a solid roof or a covered entertainment area, and it is a decision to make at design time rather than later.
Do I need a vent hood for an outdoor kitchen?
Under a solid roof or a substantially enclosed space, yes, for carbon monoxide, grease, and fire safety, and often as a requirement. Fully open to the sky it is a non-issue. Anything in between is a question for your builder and your grill's manual. Get it designed in rather than added later: a properly sized and ducted hood is the difference between a kitchen you enjoy and one that stains the ceiling and smokes out your guests.
Can I add an outdoor kitchen or a pergola later?
Yes, but it costs more. The gas, water, drain, and power all have to be routed, which means cutting into a finished deck and working around a finished yard. Even if the structure itself comes later, run the utilities and pour the footings now, while the machines are still on site.
How long does pool screen last?
Years rather than decades, with UV and salt air the main factors. The aluminum frame outlives several rescreenings, so plan on rescreening as routine maintenance rather than failure. A rinse a few times a year and prompt repair of small tears makes a real difference, because tears spread.
Start your build
Ready to dive in?
Book a consultation with your local Oak Wells team. We bring the design expertise. You bring the backyard.
