Deck
Posted by Chris
A rooftop deck was always something I had thought about adding, but I never thought I’d be able to make it happen. When I was designing the addition, I went over various 
options for building in beams for a future deck. I owe the idea to my construction consultant, Ryan Parnell, who came up with a design where the beams were set into the sides of the parapet walls, instead of bearing on top of them. This allowed for a continuous metal cap on the parapet walls, eliminating any chance of leaks where the beams bear. (I’ll have to upload a photo to explain this)
As I got further into the planning for the addition, it became clear that I should include the deck… doing it as part of this project would ultimately save money by incorporating the deck plans into the structural drawings that my engineer was going to approve, and not having to worry about pulling a separate permit and dealing with inspectors at some later date.
The plans called for a 6 foot balcony on the 2nd floor, accessible by a door from the new bedroom. From there, a spiral staircase would lead to the rooftop deck. Access to the deck was a source of debate. Using a doorway meant that traffic had to pass through the new bedroom, not through a common space. 
Having a stairway leading from the ground floor to the balcony exposes the roof and the 2nd floor windows to hoodlums, who can easily gain access from the backyard. I decided to go with the door, more because of the cost savings than anything else.
As I mentioned earlier, the beams for the deck were installed during the framing of the 2nd floor, prior to the roofing application. There were three tripled 2×10 beams to support a deck with dimensions of approximately 12 x 18 feet. I hired Design Builders, Inc. to build the deck minus the railings. I had a nontraditional design in mind for the railings, and wanted to save a bit of money on the contractor. Their expertise and more deck specific tools allowed them to complete the balcony and the deck in 2 work days. I also had to hold off on the railings until I knew exactly how the spiral stair would land.
When you order a spiral stair, you need to know the exact floor to floor height so they can calculate the number of risers you’ll need and the length of the center column. Once the decking was complete on the balcony and the roof deck, I had this dimension and was able to order the stair. It was 5″ in diameter to meet code, which was going to be a tight fit on the balcony. It barely cleared the rain gutter on the 2nd floor. Spiral stairs can be assembled to rise either clockwise or counter-clockwise, and the configuration you choose will effect how you enter and exit the stair at the top and bottom. In my case, only the clockwise configuration worked, and that left you ducking under the rising steps as you approach the bottom of the staircase. In the clockwise configuration, the entrance was completely inaccessible… I found that out after building 70% of it the wrong way. It’s tough to envision where all the parts will end up.
Evan Yakas and I built the railings out of 2×4 runners and electrical conduit for spindles. We cut 4 spindles from each 10 foot length of electrical conduit, and installed them into pre-cut and pre-spaced holes in the 2×4 runners
The finished product turned out better than I could have expected, and we wasted no time in hauling a gas grill to the roof and getting as much use out of the new deck as possible. It’s winter now, and I can’t wait for it to get warm again.
-C
One Response to “Deck”
Leave a Reply
February 7th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I just ordered a stair from the iron shop and received it. Did you get the primed metal stair?
I was very disappointed with how it was packaged and shipped. Every piece was in direct contact with another piece and had rubbed together and rubbed off the primer. Some pieces are scratched so bad they will have to be ground down in order ti be finished and most pieces will have to be re-primed after getting a good sanding and wire brushing. Pretty disappointed due to the amount of money spent on this! Thought it would come paint ready with only very minor prep work.