Outdoor living

Face it away from the afternoon sun

A west-facing patio takes the worst of the afternoon and will be uncomfortable in July regardless of the roof over it. South is manageable with enough overhang. East gives you mornings and shade by mid-afternoon.

Where the structure cannot move, the answer is depth of overhang, screening on the exposed side, and fans placed for air movement rather than symmetry. Misting and heaters extend the Las Vegas shoulder seasons at both ends.

Pools and spas, under one contract

A licensed pool contractor builds the pool and spa under NXG’s contract and on NXG’s schedule. NXG holds no swimming-pool classification.

What NXG answers for is everything the pool touches: the deck around it, gas to a heater, power to the pump and lights, and where the water drains when it rains. NXG takes on a pool as part of a larger outdoor project or a build.

The barrier and the bonding

The code your authority enforces requires a barrier around a pool and sets what counts. Walls on the lot lines, gates that close and latch on their own, and alarms or other protection on doors from the house are the usual parts. NXG draws the barrier with the pool rather than after it.

An electrician bonds the steel in the shell, the metal near the water and the deck around it to one another, as the electrical code requires. That work sits under the deck, so it happens before the pavers go down.

Shade is a structure

Anything roofed and attached to the house is a structure: footings sized for the load, a connection detail at the existing roof or wall, and a permit with an inspection. A freestanding ramada or pergola stands on footings too.

The tie-in is where attached covers go wrong. A patio cover fixed into a fascia that was never meant to carry it is a leak, a sag or both, and it usually surfaces in the first serious rain rather than at the final walk-through.

Fire, light and the lines behind them

A gas fire pit or fireplace needs a gas line sized for it and for anything else on the same run, a permit and an inspection. Set it where its manufacturer’s clearances allow, clear of any cover above.

Landscape and path lights run at low voltage from a transformer on an outdoor circuit. Pool and spa lights need ground-fault protection and their own place in the electrical plan. Pulling wire under a finished deck means lifting the deck, so the electrician places the transformer and runs the wire first.

Outdoor kitchens

Gas, power, water and a drain all reach an outdoor kitchen from the house, each in a trench. The kitchen, from the trench to the counter, has its own page and model: outdoor kitchens.