Outdoor Features
Outdoor features is the Handis trade for everything that gets built on the deck and in the back yard after the deck framing is down — the outdoor kitchen counter that needs to hold a built-in grill and a side burner and survive nine months of Seattle rain a year, the built-in cedar bench around the perimeter that doubles seating without dragging chairs across the boards, the planters integrated into the rail so the herbs are six feet from the cook surface, the stairs and landing that connect a raised deck to a sloped yard, the lattice skirting and storage door that turns the four feet under a second-story deck into bike storage, the reinforced pad that lets a 600-gallon hot tub sit on framing that was specified for a barbecue and four people, and the low-voltage path and step lighting that makes a deck usable after the sun goes down at 4:15 in November. Six service families, all Handis carpentry, all sized for Pacific Northwest weather and code. The honest handoff is named on every page — anything that needs a gas line, any line-voltage circuit, any 240V hot-tub hookup routes to a licensed Washington L&I gas fitter or electrician. From $800 for a basic low-voltage lighting run to $25,000 for a full outdoor kitchen counter build.
Services
Outdoor Features Pricing
Final pricing depends on the deck footprint, the cedar or composite selection, the existing framing capacity (a 1996 deck rated for residential live load often needs reinforcement for a hot tub or a built-in kitchen), and whether a licensed gas fitter or electrician is in scope. Each sub-category page lists detailed pricing for that family. Licensed-sub fees pass through transparently with the line item named. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the deck and the outdoor feature you have in mind — we will quote the carpentry and name the licensed-sub handoff up front.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Outdoor Features
Outdoor carpentry in the Pacific Northwest is a different trade from outdoor carpentry in a dry climate. Cedar that survives twenty years in Phoenix rots in five in Seattle if it sits in trapped water against a galvanized fastener. Composite decking that stays cool in San Diego cups and gaps in the Cascade winter freeze-thaw cycle if it was installed too tight. A hot tub on a deck framed for residential live load splits a joist in season one. None of these are exotic mistakes — they are the failure modes of crews who learned the trade somewhere else and never adjusted the fastener spec, the gap spacing, or the load math for the rain and the climate. Handis builds outdoor features for the climate we actually live in. We use stainless-steel exterior screws on every cedar surface, we leave a 3/16-inch gap on composite per the manufacturer's cold-weather table, we calculate live and dead load before we put a hot tub on a deck, and we run gas and 240V to licensed trades because that is what state law requires and what insurance underwrites.
Estimate
Tell us the deck (existing footprint, age, board material), the outdoor feature you have in mind (outdoor kitchen, bench-and-planter package, stairs, skirting, hot tub, low-voltage lighting), and any known constraints — a sloped yard, an existing GFCI outlet location, a specific grill or hot-tub spec you have already chosen. We send a clear estimate with the licensed-sub portions named line by line.
What Our Customers Say
Recent outdoor features reviews from verified Seattle-area customers across all six service families.
Built-in cedar L-bench around the back rail of our Bellevue deck with two integrated planters and a matching back-rest. Three working days. Hidden fasteners on the seat surface — my kid actually sits on it without complaining about catching shorts. The planters have proper drainage and the rosemary has been alive for fourteen months in our wet winters.
Outdoor kitchen counter on our Redmond deck. Handis built the structure — 10-foot cement-board frame, stone-clad surround, sealed-concrete top, drop-in opening sized to the Weber Genesis II we picked. They named the gas fitter on the quote and coordinated his visit on day five for the line and the regulator. The licensed electrician came in for the 120V side-burner ignition outlet. Inspector signed everything off. We have been grilling weekly since June.
Hot tub pad and deck reinforcement for a 600-gallon Caldera spa on our raised cedar deck. Handis assessed the existing 2x10 framing on 16-inch centers and called for sister-joists across the 8-foot span and doubled posts under the tub footprint. They cut and pulled the chase for the electrician's 240V whip before they decked over. The electrician hooked up the GFCI breaker and the disconnect. Tub sits dead level — no twist, no cracking.
Replaced the 1998 stairs off our second-story deck with a proper double-stair to an intermediate landing because the original single flight was too steep for code and my mother could not use it. Handis cut new stringers to IBC geometry, set the landing on concrete piers, ran a matching cedar guard at 36 inches, and even built a small bench into the landing. Five working days. Mother visits and uses the stairs.
Under-deck skirting and storage for the 14 by 16-foot raised deck behind our Issaquah house. They framed pressure-treated, ran cedar vertical boards with the proper ventilation gap (not closed-in like the previous owner wanted, which would have rotted out in five years here), put in a hidden access door for the bikes, and installed a Trex RainEscape system overhead so the storage space stays dry in the wettest months. Four working days. The bikes finally have a home.
Low-voltage path and step lighting on our existing cedar deck. Twelve fixtures total — post caps on the corner posts, step lights under each riser, two path lights along the walkway from the side gate. They ran the wire through pre-cut chases inside the post hollows and under the step risers so nothing is visible. Plugged into the existing GFCI on the back wall of the house. Two days. The deck is finally usable in November when it goes dark at 4:15.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis outdoor features — scope, licensed-trade handoff, scheduling, pricing, permits, weather-readiness, and what fits one Handis visit versus a multi-trade project.