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

We had originally planned to install the deck using a ledger, a piece of 2x10 wood that is bolted to the joist that frames the house until we realized that we not only don't have said header joist or concrete foundation, we merely have sheathing (and old sheathing at that). The weight of deck, even if lag bolted to the house, would pull right through the sheathing and would be totally unsafe. So, off we went to the planning office to explain the situation and come up with a solution. The easiest remedy: more post-holes, more piers. This also meant revised drawings, more wood, and more hardware.   

In the end, after getting measurements together and running back and forth to the permit office a few times (and to Lowes, our second weekend home) we were all set to start building the uber-deck.