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Ideas for deck over concrete patio and beyond-pics-

94K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  keratt14 
#1 ·
Hi guys, my name is Brian...just found this forum researching ideas for a planned deck, and I'm hoping I can get some good advise here.

In a nut shell, I have a boring ugly concrete patio in my backyard, and an even uglier, usless dirt/gravel, crap area as we call it, between my house and my beloved backyard.
We would like to put in a nice ground level deck to cover all that area up to our lanscaped yard which I put many many hours into:wink:

Using the pictures below for reference, I'd like to....

I will be either removing the patio cover or chopping the patio cover back halfway towards the house as it seems to close in the area not to mention the heigth clearance issus I will have with the added heigth of the deck

Build a deck that runs the span of my house(not the recessed garage area you can see) out to the landscaped area of my backyard.

I do not want to have to demo the concrete pad which is in really nice shape by the way. No cracks or damage.

The heigth of the sliding patio door and bedroom door is ~11", so this is the absolute max heigth of the finished deck.

I am thinking of maybe a floating deck. I originally was interested in the preformed concete pier that sit on the ground for over the patio, but my calculations using those puts my finished deck somewhere around 13"

The non cemented area is not level by any means, but that shouldnt be a problem.

I live in California so frost heave and such shouldnt be an issue as the ground doent freeze :)

Any ideas? Help? critisism, compliments, complaints???:thumbup:
Sorry to be so long winded, but I wanted to try and convey as much info as possible

Thanks Brian

Side shot of area


Looking out from patio(partial view)


Old shot looking back at patio

 
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#2 ·
I looked up your city, it follows the California UBC. I would contact your city's Building Department, as a permit is required.

Decks: Positively anchored(not toe-nailed) to resist lateral & vertical forces. UBC 2320.13 You will need to anchor it to the slab, to satisfy the Inspector. It also mentioned when It's time to sell your house, if not permitted, it may have to be removed.

You could build it the height of the door for 12' out, then step up to the height of the grass. That would tie into the second or third step up on the higher side. Be safe, G
 
#7 ·
What do you mean "You looked up the city."? I tried to get the New York building code and it's $100 on Amazon. I'm off to the local town hall this morning to ask if building a floating deck over a cement patio is legal here. I am in the Town of Brighton (Rochester, NY).
 
#9 ·
Good news and bad news (maybe)

Sorry I did not give enough information. Decking will end up being 27" above the patio (one step height below door sill leading to deck) so pavers are not suitable. I went to talk to the town building inspector and he said a floating deck resting on cement piers on a patio IS allowed. This resolves all the issues with this deck. Phew! The deck does not even have to be attached to the ground. He wanted 4x4 posts to rest on the dek-block piers rather than sit directly on the patio. The deck cannot touch the house (1/2" away) or be attached to it.
Now I have to convince the builder to NOT connect the deck to the old ledger board so the thing will really float. You can't have the deck floating on one end and fixed to the house on the other. I have to be diplomatic since I have never made a deck before and he has done many.
 
#11 ·
Inspector says, "Cannot touch house."

Not sure how fussy he is about things placed in the gap.
May be moot point since the contractor INSISTS on bolting the floating deck to the house to make it stronger. Bigger issue is what to do about the column holding up the corner of the roof above part of the deck. I think the column needs to have a frost-proof footer since it is tied to the house and should not touch the deck. Contractor says roof column will rest on the floating deck (but then it's not floating anymore!). Even worse the gutter downspout from the roof goes straight down the column into a buried storm sewer line which is adjacent to where the footer would be placed. So I'm not even sure I can fit a footer where it has to be dug. Sigh.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
maybe keep the concrete patio

have you thought about just staining the concrete and using a pattern to stamp it? That is a great alternative to adding a deck - concrete can be resurfaced and colored, so many options.. I realize you posted this over a year ago so your project may already be complete. We are in the process of putting a concrete patio under our 2nd level deck and I found this post while searching for ideas... good luck.
 
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