Jeff Wilson, host of DIY Network’s five-part program “Build a Deck,” says you can fine-tune the outside of a home to make it stand out and at the same time have more room for entertaining. One way is to extend the deck.

Even before you draw up a set of plans, he says, you have to find out if you can do it. A neighbor of his cut down two large trees in her yard to build a deck before discovering that her plans violated local ordnances.

“Honestly one of the big, big issues is to check the building codes,” Wilson says, pointing to the laws in his own community of Athens, Ohio. “There is only so much of a percentage of a lot that can have a covered structure, and you can be only so close to the property line.

“Before you start your grand ideas, find out what is possible.”

He notes that even in a “nice-size yard,” a deck extension “eats up space.” So if you have children, for instance, make sure you consider how much of their play area you will take up with an enlarged deck.

He also advises perhaps doing something different than just continuing the deck:

— Build a different entrance to the deck.

— Run the extension at a different angle from the old deck.

— Separate the extension with planters.

— Add a hot tub.

“I know a couple that built a gazebo 20 yards from the old deck,” he says. “They separated it with a stone path. It was semi-private, removed and it doesn’t take up deck space.”

As hot tubs and saunas are becoming more deck friendly, Wilson says people are looking more at their decks as outside living areas. Dining and cooking areas, particularly outdoor kitchens, have become more elaborate, with brick ovens and marble preparation tables finding their way outdoors.

Having recently left the contracting business, Wilson says his clients have been adding bathrooms, and even bedrooms, off of their decks. The outdoor deck, he says, is moving from an outdoor living area to an outdoor house.

The future of decks is unlimited, so when homeowners have the chance to expand or change their decks, Wilson has encouraged them in extreme directions. In the last episode of his DIY Network series, “Build a Deck,” Wilson explored with Hamilton Brock, project manager of Graham Vannoy Construction, Inc., what they called “extreme” decks:

— A deck off a swimming pool is perched more than 100 feet off a mountain bluff, with some support beams as tall as 35 feet.

— A deck built with a circular design, with several trees growing right into the decking.

— A deck reflecting its natural surroundings that is so embedded into the design of the secluded home that it looks like a tree house.

— A roomy deck featuring cedar wood with a built-in screened porch (built to look exactly like the house) with latticework and a tall staircase.

— A deck built with a custom waterfall off of the end; the deck was actually built into the waterfall.

According to homestore.com, a 16-by-20-foot pine deck addition would cost on the average of $6,000, adding that such an addition would return 75 percent of the cost on resale.

“This is an opportunity to change the shape of your deck,” Wilson says. “In the early ’80s when decks started getting big, the fad was to make them square or rectangular. Now it’s time to do something different.”

On the Web:

Build a Deck: http://www.diynet.com/diy/shows_bdk/0,2044,DIY_14264,00.html