Wauwatosa Outdoor Renovation With a Porch, Patio & Pergola

This Wauwatosa home had two outdoor spaces that were ready for an update. The front deck was failing, while the back deck had begun to rot. Instead of replacing both with versions of what was already there, the project gave us an opportunity to think differently about how each side of the home could be used.

At the front, we built a new composite porch with custom cedar railings. In the backyard, the old deck made way for a paver patio, a compact set of rear steps, and a custom cedar pergola. The spaces serve different purposes, but the repeated use of TimberTech Dark Roast decking and cedar gives the property a natural sense of continuity.

A Better Fit for the Front of the House

For the new front porch, we used TimberTech Legacy Collection decking in Dark Roast and paired it with custom cedar railings. The dark composite gives the porch a solid, finished look, while the cedar adds warmth and detail around the edges.

We liked the balance between the two materials here. The porch gets the durability of composite decking in a high-use area without losing the character of natural wood. The end result feels appropriate for the house and gives the front entrance a much cleaner presence than the failing deck it replaced.

Rethinking the Backyard Around a Patio

The back of the house gave us more room to change the layout. Instead of rebuilding the rotted deck, the plan shifted to a ground-level paver patio, installed by BlueStar Landscaping. We built a small staircase from the rear door using the same TimberTech Dark Roast decking and cedar details found at the front of the home.

That left the patio itself open for a custom cedar pergola. Rather than filling the yard with another large raised structure, the pergola creates some definition over the seating area while the patio stays connected to the surrounding yard. It gives the backyard a clear gathering space without making it feel boxed in.

Connecting the Front & Back Without Matching Everything

We didn’t want the two sides of the house to look identical, and they didn’t need to. The front porch is primarily an entrance, while the backyard is meant for spending time outside. What connects them is the smaller stuff: the Dark Roast decking, the cedar, and the way those materials show up in different forms throughout the property.

The homeowners started with two outdoor areas that had reached the end of their useful life. Now the front has a porch that feels like part of the house, and the backyard has a patio and pergola with much more room to be used and enjoyed.

If you’re looking at an aging deck and wondering whether rebuilding it is really the best option, contact Chisel and Vine. Sometimes the better answer is a new deck. Sometimes it’s something completely different.