Deck Size Limitations

neilz -- just a suggestion, but you could help make these forums a lot easier to read by cutting out a lot of the unnecessary replies and re-replies in your posts. (latka too, I guess. It's just that I notice it a lot more in neilz' posts.)

IMO you shouldn't have to scroll through several pages of replies in order to see a 2-line post. But maybe I'm the only one that is bothered by this. If so, never mind...

 

YEAH! Cut the unnecessary lines and not the trees!

 

Sorry ... old USENET reflex ... you always kept the thread in the reply, so that newcomers can see exactly what you were replying to.




Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

I thought the same thing....but we saw two decks this weekend where the stairs protruded beyond the sides of the houses...it surprised me, frankly. Not that I think it looked bad or that I have a problem with it....

 

That was changed about 2 years ago, and was sent up in a manual update. The original guidelines allowed for decks only behind the house, it also included any 'bumpouts' on the side of the house as part of the 'behind the house'. So if you had a 2 or 3 foot bumpout, you were allowed to build that far out.

That was changed to allow 4 foot wide stairs (as measured from the sidewall of the house) as they don't have the same mass as a full deck with supports, etc. However, bumpouts are no longer included as part of the 'sidewall of the house'. Also, no structure higher than the standard deck railing can be put on that 4 foot wide area that covers the stair landing, etc.

But please remember, each case is evaluated as a single entity. We take into account the size of the backyard, location, etc.

Neil Z.
Resident since 1999