Built for weather: what The Block 2026 pool week rewarded
Rain arrived in Mount Eliza on reveal morning, which turned Outdoor Terrace and Pool Week on The Block 2026 into an honest test. Decks were wet, umbrellas dripped and the sky stayed grey. The judges had to score each terrace on how it would live through a year, not how it looked on a clear afternoon. Adam and Jolene in House 1 took the week by three-quarters of a point after playing their bonus-point gnome, but the terraces that scored well all shared a few habits.
Give cooking and dining room to work
Courtney and Sev in House 4 earned the highest combined score from the three judges this week. Much of it came down to scale: a covered entertaining area large enough to cook, eat and gather without anyone getting in the way. Darren Palmer put a seven-figure value on the backyard.
The dining setting is the Corsica 260-320cm Teak Extension Dining Table with Corsica teak dining chairs. The table extends from 260cm to 320cm on stainless steel tracks, with a butterfly leaf that stores inside the frame, so a weeknight dinner and a long Sunday lunch use the same table. Its chairs are built wide, closer to an armchair than a standard dining chair, on FSC-certified Grade A teak frames joined with mortise and tenon. Sunbrella cushions hold their shape season after season, and the teak silvers to grey if left untreated.
Plan for the evening
Marty Fox singled out House 4's heaters, fans, sound system and lighting as getting the balance right. Terraces that went without lighting or heating drew the opposite reaction, because a deck that goes dark at six o'clock is only used for half the year. The Riva 2 Exterior Wall Light in black casts LED light both up and down the wall, outlining the edges of a terrace after sunset without glare at the table.
Point the lounge at the outlook
House 5 sits on the largest block of the five, and the judges counted Rick and Tayla's backyard among the strongest of the season for its size and setting. Darren Palmer called the palette harmonious, and Marty Fox named their feature stone his favourite of the day. A separate lounge area takes in the leafy outlook, furnished with the Audrey range: the Audrey 3 Seater Sofa, Audrey Armchair and Audrey Footstool in sandstone, with the Audrey 120cm and 80cm coffee tables in coastal white.
Audrey is built for outdoor use. Each piece sits on a galvanised steel frame, with water-resistant olefin cushions over foam and fibre fill, in a mid-century tub shape. The sandstone tone that worked against timber on Lisa and Rosco's Week 5 terrace sits just as comfortably here against stone and an olive tree.
Choose materials that age outdoors
Concrete and teak carry through the rest of Rick and Tayla's deck. Kala folding teak chairs with sage rope and Rhodes teak dining chairs in moss green rope bring texture to the dining area. Both use outdoor rope over teak: the Rhodes rope drains quickly and resists fading, and the Kala rope is solution-dyed and UV resistant. Like the Corsica setting in House 4, the teak in both chairs weathers to silver grey if left untreated.
Lisa and Rosco in House 3 took a similar line with their whole outdoor area, carrying the darker, natural palette of their interiors outside and choosing the only dark pool on the street. Darren Palmer likened it to a billabong.
Furnish for the wet days
A terrace furnished for wet weather is one that gets used in the dry. Pieces chosen for how they will look after five summers, rather than on reveal day, are what turn a deck into part of the home.
