Step 4: Get Plans Approved

Where were we? Oh yeah, make plans, get plans approved. So we started with a vague idea of what we wanted to do: big, all encompassing deck. Measurements against the side of the house revealed that it couldn't extend the entire width of the house because we have power running in on one side. So we located the edge of the deck just shy of the metre, past our back door. For the total area we staked out what we thought looked good: 23'x12', with a 45 degree angle for the stairs making the backyard side 19'.

My Dad provided us with copies of the plans for his deck that he and my uncle prepared and had approved when they built his deck. They were really helpful for the planning stages as, for non-specialists, it's hard to know what the building permit department would want from us in the way of plans. It's a whole new language to learn, getting into building. A few calls to our local building permit department, where I met the other Laurie, set us on the right track. It didn't hurt that we also bought a really big book that we poured over for tips.

Revised plans showing the new post-hole placement