Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Chicago (demonstration)

The deck that eats furniture

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When the outdoor sofa is open for leaving things out

Each month read on its 15th · 2026
Something left out here, through the year. The outdoor sofa cannot be read for leaving things out in any month yet. 0 months open, 0 shut, 12 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from midnight at the centre to 11 pm at the edge.

The outdoor sofa cannot be read for leaving things out in any month yet.

  • All year: cannot be answered, because ultraviolet dose has not been recorded here.
The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January——Ultraviolet dose closes it
February——Ultraviolet dose closes it
March——Ultraviolet dose closes it
April——Ultraviolet dose closes it
May——Ultraviolet dose closes it
June——Ultraviolet dose closes it
July——Ultraviolet dose closes it
August——Ultraviolet dose closes it
September——Ultraviolet dose closes it
October——Ultraviolet dose closes it
November——Ultraviolet dose closes it
December——Ultraviolet dose closes it
The house19.7 ftLive oak32.8 ftThe outdoor sofaWhere the dog liesN16 ft
BuildingNot yoursCanopyShadow nowCan see inProposed

Reading at

8:32 PM·September
September 14 · The outdoor sofa
The same day as a table
The same day hour by hour, in text.
HourSunVerdictConfidenceSun position
12:00 AMdark——
3:00 AMdark——
6:00 AMdark——
8:00 AMin sun——9° up, bearing 91°
9:00 AMin sun——22° up, bearing 99°
10:00 AMin sun——34° up, bearing 109°
11:00 AMin sun——46° up, bearing 121°
12:00 PMin sun——56° up, bearing 139°
1:00 PMin sun——62° up, bearing 166°
2:00 PMin sun——62° up, bearing 198°
3:00 PMin sun——55° up, bearing 224°
4:00 PMshaded by Live oak——45° up, bearing 241°
5:00 PMshaded by Live oak——33° up, bearing 252°
6:00 PMshaded by Live oak——20° up, bearing 262°
7:00 PMin sun——7° up, bearing 269°
9:00 PMdark——

Furniture, cushions, a rug, a finish. What this place does to it over a year.

Something left out here

The outdoor sofa is on the edge for leaving things out over a year here, and hours of surface heat is why.

  • Hours of surface heat is3h over— 8h against at most 5h

    Heat cycling opens joints, lifts finishes and warps boards.

  • How long it stays wet is1.4h over— 13.4h against at most 12h

    Repeated wetting with slow drying is what actually destroys outdoor things, far more than rainfall totals.

  • Ultraviolet dose is0 MJ/m2/day over— 1.1 MJ/m2/day against at most 1.1 MJ/m2/day

    Ultraviolet dose is cumulative and does not care whether anyone is sitting there.

Confidence low (43%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    Something left out here
  • Place
    The outdoor sofa
  • Weather
    Hot and humid, long cooling season (scenario shape) (from a published source)
  • Method
    Twelve representative days across the year, read at the month that punishes hardest
    • Try a changeMake a document

    How well this place is described

    Mapped
    1. Quick
    2. Mapped
    3. Annotated
    4. Measured

    Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from real geometry rather than assumed. This is the rung at which the product starts telling you things you did not already know.

    It cannot answer who can see in, and it cannot tell you whether the heights it is using are the real ones.

    To reach Annotated

    • Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
    • Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

    What that buys: The privacy question, and a check on the geometry. Most inferred heights are wrong by enough to matter, and a photograph settles it in a minute.

    Everything that was checked
    • Quick A place on the earth: Chicago (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
    • Quick Somewhere to read: 2 spots marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
    • Mapped The things in the way: 2 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
    • Mapped What is underfoot: 2 of 2 readings sit on a mapped surface.
    • Mapped Where the property ends: Drawn, so the product can tell you when the cheapest fix stands on someone else's land.
    • Annotated Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Annotated Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
    • Annotated Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.
    • Measured Heights off a tape: 0 of 2 objects are measured. The remaining 2 are this product's own inference, so no figure here is a survey figure yet.
    • Measured Something checked against the day: Nothing has been checked against a real afternoon. The model is unopposed, which is not the same as being right.

    What to measure next

    Ranked by how far the answer moves, not by a checklist
    1. 1Who can actually see inSit in the chair

      Sit where you actually sit and look around. Mark the one window or path you can see a person from. Until one exists, privacy is a question we are not answering rather than one that is fine.

      This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

      Mark it on the plan

      Currently assuming: nobody is overlooking this. Tested across one confirmed observer changes the whole privacy answer.

    2. 2What you are looking atSit in the chair

      Mark the direction of the view worth keeping. Without it, every screening recommendation is optimising against nothing.

      This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

      Mark it on the plan

      Currently assuming: no view is being protected. Tested across one corridor changes what screening is worth doing.

    3. 3Live oak heightTape measureHours of direct sun ±8

      Measure how tall live oak actually is. A pole and a phone photo is enough.

      The verdict holds either way, but the margin moves by 15 points, which is the difference between comfortable and only just.

      Mark it on the plan

      21 ft → tight 59 · 33 ft → tight 69 · 44 ft → tight 74

      Currently assuming: 33 ft, entered without measuring. Tested across 21 ft to 44 ft.

    What the place is doing at 8:32pm in September

    Hot and humid, long cooling season (scenario shape).

    What it feels like

    comfortable

    78.4°F

    Felt temperature · 54 on the reporting scale

    It feels about 1 degrees cooler than the air, near 78°F.

    What is doing it

    • How much sky is overhead

      −4.4°
    How this was worked out
  • Air
    79.8°F from Hot and humid, long cooling season (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Radiant
    64.2°F mean radiant temperature
  • Method
    Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

    • Direct sun

    after dark

    0 W/m²

    Beam reaching this point · 0 on the reporting scale

    The sun is down.

    How this was worked out
  • Sun
    below the horizon
  • Traced
    0% of the beam reaches this point

    • Glare

    none

    0

    out of 100

    Nothing bright is in the line of sight at this hour.

    How this was worked out
  • Facing
    180deg

    • Privacy exposure

    Unanswered

    No observer has been placed yet. Privacy is a question about who can see in from where, and until one is marked there is nothing to answer.

    Wind

    still

    0.7 mph

    Wind at the seat · 3 on the reporting scale

    Wind here is still.

    How this was worked out
  • Reference
    5.5 mph at 10 m from Hot and humid, long cooling season (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • At seat height
    0.7 mph before shelter
  • Shelter
    0% removed by what stands upwind

    • View

    Unanswered

    No view worth keeping has been marked, so there is nothing to weigh a screen against yet.

    Surface heat

    comfortable

    79.8°F

    Surface temperature · 23 on the reporting scale

    The surface is running about 80°F.

    How this was worked out
  • Surface
    Composite deck
  • Method
    Absorbed shortwave against air temperature, flattened by air movement (from a published source)

    • Wetness

    dries-fast

    1 x

    Drying time against the open · 5 on the reporting scale

    Still air here; moving air does a surprising amount of the drying.

    How this was worked out
  • Drying rate
    0.000 in/hour here
  • Method
    Penman combination equation on the radiation and air actually reaching this spot (from a published source)

    • Light after dark

    Unanswered

    No exterior or window light has been placed yet, so what changes after dark is unanswered.

    Ask something else about this place

    Who can see me?

    The sightline, the smallest screen that closes it, and what it costs you in view.

    What grows here?

    Usable light across a day, not the label on the tag.

    I already own this. Where should it go?

    The same reasoning backwards: every spot you have marked, ranked for one plant.

    What survives here?

    What this exposure does to the things you leave out.

    Dinner outside tonight?

    The forecast, read against this specific seat.

    What changes through the year?

    The same layout in May, August and October.

    What changes after dark?

    Light, glare and who can see in once the sun has gone.

    Everything on the plan, in text
    ThingReadingNote
    The house19.7 ft100 per cent solid.
    Live oak32.8 ft80 per cent solid.