Deck Building FAQ

Across the Westside most finished projects run between $15 and $75 per square foot, and the material decides where you land. Pressure treated pine sits at the bottom of the band, redwood and western red cedar around the middle, capped composite and PVC above them, and ipe or similar dense hardwood at the top. Ground conditions matter almost as much: an elevated deck on a canyon slope with drilled piers, an engineer and hand-carried material can cost twice what the same square footage costs on a flat Culver City lot. We give a fixed number after a site visit rather than a range over the phone.

The construction itself is usually one to three weeks. A simple ground-level deck can be framed and surfaced in under a week; a multi-level hillside build with engineered footings takes three or more. The calendar around it is longer, because permits, plan check and material lead times all run in front of the build. Budget five to eight weeks from first call to final sign-off on a straightforward flat-lot project, and eight to fourteen on anything engineered or in a hillside review zone.

Late spring through autumn is easiest, because a dry framing window helps and because stains and sealers need warm, dry boards to cure. Santa Monica winters are mild enough that we build year round, and booking in winter usually means a shorter wait and an earlier start. The only thing we schedule strictly around weather is the finish coat, which we will delay a few days rather than apply to damp lumber.

There is no single answer, only a trade between cost, maintenance and how it looks. Redwood and western red cedar give the warm natural look most Westside houses suit, at a mid-range price, and want cleaning and re-sealing every two to three years. Capped composite and PVC cost more up front, need no coating ever, and carry 25 to 50 year warranties. Ipe and other dense hardwoods last longest of all and cost the most in both material and labour. Pressure treated pine is the budget option and the standard for framing underneath everything else.

Wood is cheaper to buy, warmer underfoot, repairable board by board, and it looks like wood because it is. The cost of that is a clean and re-coat every two to three years and a gradual loss of colour if you skip it. Composite costs more up front, never needs staining, resists rot and insects completely, and comes with a long warranty. Against it: dark boards get genuinely hot in August sun, a damaged board is harder to match years later, and it will never look quite like timber. On the coast the argument shifts towards composite and PVC, because salt air is hard on everything.

It depends on the material and, more than anything, on the framing underneath. Pressure treated pine gives roughly 15 to 20 years. Redwood and cedar, maintained on schedule, run 20 to 30. Capped composite and PVC are warranted for 25 to 50. Ipe and similar dense hardwoods pass 50 years and will generally outlast the house around them. Every one of those numbers assumes the footings are right, the ledger is flashed and the posts are not sitting in soil. Get the structure wrong and the best boards in the world will not save it.

Yes, and a large share of what we build here is exactly that. Sloped sites change the foundation and the framing rather than the finished surface: taller posts with lateral bracing, deeper beams, and footings that reach soil capable of carrying the load. On canyon lots that often means drilled piers or helical piles rather than poured pads. Anything significantly elevated needs a licensed structural engineer, which we bring in and coordinate as part of the job.

Poured concrete pad footings on stable, level ground; piers where more depth or capacity is needed; drilled caissons for serious loads or deep fill; and helical piles where access is too tight for a rig or excavating a slope would be unwise. Which one applies is decided by the soil and the load, not by preference or budget. In every case the footing has to reach undisturbed bearing soil, and it gets inspected before anything is built on it.

An attached deck ties into the house with a ledger board, which is structurally efficient and gives a flush transition at the door. It is also the most common failure point in the whole trade, so the flashing and the bolting have to be done properly. A freestanding deck carries its own load on its own posts, never penetrates the house envelope, and if it is low enough often falls outside the permit threshold entirely. On stucco houses, and anywhere the wall condition is uncertain, we frequently recommend freestanding.

Timber is the least expensive and matches a wood deck naturally, at the cost of blocking the view and needing the same maintenance cycle as the boards. Composite systems match the decking and never need coating. Stainless cable keeps the view almost completely open and needs correct tension and closer post spacing. Structural glass is the clearest of all and adds a wind break, at the highest cost and with regular cleaning. Whichever you choose, it has to reach 36 inches minimum, 42 on most elevated work, block a 4-inch sphere anywhere in the guard, and resist a 200 pound load at the top.

Usually. In most Westside jurisdictions a detached, ground-level deck under thirty inches above grade needs no permit. Anything attached to the house, anything over thirty inches, anything with a guard rail and anything on a hillside lot does. Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City and Beverly Hills each run their own process on their own timeline, and hillside properties pick up an extra review layer. We file the drawings, meet the inspector at footing and at final, and hand you the signed-off permit.

Yes, and both are common. A pergola has spaced rafters that filter the afternoon sun without closing the sky in, and the spacing is calculated against your orientation rather than copied from a photograph. A patio cover has a solid roof, keeps rain off and makes the space usable all year, at the cost of some daylight in the rooms behind. Either way the posts have to land on structure below rather than on the surface boards, and the connections have to resist wind uplift.

Only if it was designed to. A filled spa with people in it comes to roughly 5,000 pounds concentrated over a few square feet, which is far beyond what standard deck framing carries. It needs its own beams, posts and footings directly underneath, sized for the specific tub. Dropping a spa onto a deck built for foot traffic is one of the most common structural failures we get called to, and by the time it visibly sags the surface has to come up to fix it.

Low-voltage LED does almost all of it: recessed lights in the stair risers, small fixtures in the post caps, strip lighting under the top rail and under a bench edge, and uplights in a planter. It makes the deck usable after dark and takes the stairs out of the hazard category. The wiring is easiest to run while the deck is being framed, so lighting is a design decision rather than something to add later.

Softwoods such as redwood, cedar and pressure treated pine want a clean and a re-coat every two to three years here, sooner within a mile of the ocean. Dense hardwood such as ipe is roughly annual if you want to keep the brown colour, or you can let it silver and simply keep it clean. Composite and PVC never get coated but do need washing once or twice a year, because grime and algae film build up on them the same as on anything else. Everything benefits from an annual look at the fasteners and the post bases.

Often, and it is much cheaper. If the framing, ledger and footings are sound, individual failed boards can be swapped, or the whole surface and railings replaced while the structure stays, which is resurfacing. That is a fraction of a full rebuild. What decides it is the framing, not the boards: soft joists, movement at the house connection or rotten post bases mean the structure has to be dealt with first. We probe at the site visit so you get a straight answer before any money is spent.

Outdoor living space is one of the additions buyers on the Westside genuinely pay for, and national remodelling surveys put the return at roughly 60 to 75 percent of the build cost, with wood decks typically recouping a slightly higher share than composite. It matters more here than in most markets because the climate makes outdoor space usable most of the year. The permit matters for this: an unpermitted structure is a problem during escrow rather than a selling point, and it can hold up a sale.

Our workmanship is warranted, and the material carries its own manufacturer warranty on top of that, which on capped composite and PVC typically runs 25 to 50 years and often includes fade and stain coverage. We register the product warranty in your name and hand over the paperwork with the signed-off permit at the end of the job. If something we built is not right, we come back and put it right rather than sending you to the manufacturer.

Across the Westside most finished projects run between $15 and $75 per square foot, and the material sets where you land in that band. Pressure treated pine sits at the bottom, redwood and cedar around the middle, capped composite and PVC above them, and ipe or similar dense hardwood at the top. The other big variables are height, footings and access: an elevated deck on a canyon slope with engineered piers and hand-carried material can cost twice what the same square footage costs on a flat Culver City lot. We quote a fixed number after a site visit rather than a range over the phone.

The construction itself is usually one to three weeks. A simple ground-level deck can be framed and surfaced in under a week; a multi-level hillside build with engineered footings takes three or more. The calendar is longer than the labour, because permits, plan check and material lead times run in front of it. Budget five to eight weeks from first call to final inspection on a straightforward flat-lot project, and eight to fourteen on anything engineered or in a hillside review zone.

Late spring through autumn is easiest here, because a dry framing window matters and because stains and sealers need warm, dry boards to cure properly. That said, Santa Monica winters are mild enough that we build year round, and booking in winter often means a shorter wait and an earlier start date. The one thing we do schedule around weather is the finish coat, which we will delay a few days rather than apply to damp lumber.

Usually, yes. In most Westside jurisdictions a detached, ground-level deck under thirty inches above grade needs no permit. Anything attached to the house, anything over thirty inches, anything carrying a guard rail and anything on a hillside lot does. Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City and Beverly Hills each run their own process with their own timelines. We file the drawings, meet the inspector at footing and at final, and hand you the signed-off permit at the end.

Often, yes, and it can save money. If the slab is sound and drains away from the house, we can build a low sleeper system on top of it and lay the surface over that, which avoids digging footings altogether. If the slab is cracked, heaving or holding water against the house, it is better taken out, because building over a drainage problem simply hides it until the framing above pays for it.

An attached deck ties to the house with a ledger board, which is structurally efficient and gives a flush transition at the door. It is also the single most common failure point in the trade, so the flashing and the bolting have to be right. A freestanding deck carries its own load on posts, needs no ledger, avoids penetrating the house envelope entirely, and often falls outside the permit threshold if it is low. On stucco houses and on anything where the wall condition is doubtful, we frequently recommend freestanding.

Yes. Restaurant dining platforms, office courtyards, multi-unit roof terraces, ADA access ramps and slatted trash enclosures are all regular work for us. Commercial projects run to commercial code, which brings different load requirements, slip ratings and accessibility rules, and we coordinate directly with your architect, general contractor or property manager on the permit set.

We tell you, we show you, and we price the fix before doing it. On a rebuild we probe the existing framing at the site visit specifically so this does not happen, but hidden damage at a ledger or behind stucco does occasionally turn up once things are open. What we will not do is board over it and hand you an invoice, because it will come back and it will be worse.

Yes, on every project. You see the shape, the levels, the stair placement, the railing style and the material before committing to anything. It is the fastest way to find out that the stair belongs on the other side, and finding that out on screen costs nothing.

Most first drafts are back with you within a week of the site visit, with a price alongside them. A revision round adds a few days. A full permit set with structural details takes longer, typically two to three weeks, and longer again where a structural engineer has to produce stamped drawings for a hillside or elevated project.

Yes. The drawings are yours once the design fee is paid, and you are free to take them anywhere. The fee only comes off the build price if we do the construction, which is the only string attached.

Constantly. Most of the Palisades, the Brentwood canyons and half of Mar Vista fall away from the house. Sloped sites need more design work rather than less, because the level changes, the footing depths and the stair runs all have to be resolved on paper first. Anything significantly elevated also picks up structural engineering, which we coordinate.

That is generally the point. A Spanish revival bungalow in Mar Vista, a mid-century in Culver City and a contemporary in the Palisades each want different proportions, railing styles and board widths. We take cues from the house rather than dropping a standard shape into every yard.

We will build to them. What we will do first is check them against the footing conditions, the material lengths and the local code, and flag anything that will cause a problem in plan check or on site. That review is free and it is worth having before the permit goes in.

Yes, if it is designed to. A filled spa with people in it comes to roughly 5,000 pounds concentrated over a small area, which is far beyond what standard deck framing carries. That means additional beams, posts and footings directly under the tub, sized for the specific model. Retrofitting a spa onto a deck built for foot traffic is the most common structural failure we get called to around pools, and by the time it sags the surface has to come up to fix it.

For most Westside pools it comes down to ipe, capped composite or PVC. Ipe is dense, stays relatively cool underfoot, handles chlorine and salt air without treatment and lasts decades, at the highest material and labour cost. PVC absorbs no water at all, which makes it the strongest choice within sight of the ocean. Capped composite sits between them on price and needs no staining. Lighter colours matter regardless of material, because dark boards get uncomfortably hot in direct August sun.

Chlorinated and salt water will corrode standard galvanised fasteners and connectors over time, which is why we specify stainless throughout the splash zone as a baseline. The boards themselves are more forgiving: composite and PVC are unaffected, and dense hardwoods handle it well. Softwoods such as redwood and cedar can discolour with repeated chemical exposure, which is one reason we rarely recommend them right at the water’s edge.

Frequently, and it is often the better answer. If the slab drains away from the house and is structurally sound, a low sleeper system over it carries a new surface without any demolition, which saves both money and a skip. If the concrete is cracked, heaving or holding water against the house, it needs to come out, because building over a drainage fault only delays the consequences.

Three things do most of the work: a textured board finish rather than a smooth one, correct spacing so water drains through instead of sitting on the surface, and regular cleaning to stop algae film building up. That film is the usual cause when a surround becomes slippery a few years in, and a scheduled low-pressure wash removes it.

Usually yes, and the pool enclosure rules apply on top of the normal deck requirements. Barrier height, self-closing and self-latching gates and the maximum gap in a guard are all checked at inspection, and changing levels around a pool can change what complies. We handle the filing and the inspection either way.

Yes, and it is a large share of what we do here. What changes on a slope is the foundation and the framing rather than the finished surface. Posts get taller and need lateral bracing, beams get deeper, and the footings have to reach soil that can carry the load, which on a canyon lot can mean drilled piers or helical piles rather than a poured pad. Anything significantly elevated needs a licensed structural engineer, which we bring in and coordinate.

It depends entirely on what is under the surface. Stable native soil at a reasonable depth takes poured concrete pad footings. Deeper or looser material needs piers or drilled caissons. Where the slope is steep, the fill is deep, or access is too tight to bring in a rig, helical piles get screwed in instead. On any of these the depth is set by a soils report and the engineer, not by what is convenient to dig.

Walk on it and feel for movement. Sway or bounce on an elevated structure usually means missing or failed lateral bracing. Push firmly on the guard rail at the top of a post; it should not flex. Look at the base of every post where it meets the ground, and press a screwdriver into the wood. If it goes in easily, that post is rotting. Look at the ledger where the frame meets the house for gaps, rust streaks or lifting. Any of those is a reason to call before using it again.

Frequently. The structure gets temporarily supported, the failed post is cut back to sound timber, a proper footing is poured underneath, and the post is reset on a standoff base so the end is never sitting in water again. The same approach works for joist ends, which get sistered with a new member alongside the damaged one. Whether that is worth doing depends on the ledger and the footings, and that is what the site visit establishes.

Expect an additional layer of review, which in practice adds three to six weeks over a flat-lot application. On top of that, the engineering and any soils work has to be complete before the package can be filed. Realistically a hillside project runs eight to fourteen weeks from first call to final sign-off, and the crew is only on site for two to four of those.

In much of the Palisades and the canyons, yes. Properties in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone carry ignition-resistant construction requirements for exterior structures near the house. That steers material selection towards dense hardwood, mineral-based composite and enclosed or fire-blocked underdeck framing, and away from open framing with a wood skirt. We work through what actually satisfies the code for your address rather than what sounds reassuring.

On the Westside, most redwood, cedar and pressure treated decks want a clean and re-coat every two to three years. Beach-adjacent addresses in Venice and Marina del Rey are at the short end because salt and sun both work harder there. Dense hardwood such as ipe is roughly annual if you want to keep the brown colour, or you can let it silver naturally and leave it alone. The water test is more reliable than the calendar: if water soaks straight in instead of beading, it is time.

A stain adds pigment, and that pigment is what blocks ultraviolet light and stops the wood going grey. A sealer repels water and keeps it out of the grain. Most modern products do both in one application, which is what we normally use. A clear sealer on its own protects against water but gives almost no UV protection, so the boards will still silver.

No, and it should not need it. Capped composite and PVC boards have their colour and their protection built into the cap, and coating them creates a film that has nothing to bond to, so it peels. What composite does need is regular washing, because surface grime and algae film build up on it the same as on anything else. That is covered under Deck Cleaning.

Almost always. Sanding removes the UV-damaged surface fibres, takes raised grain back to smooth, and gives the new coat sound timber to bond with. Skipping it is the usual reason a finish fails within a year. The exception is a well-maintained deck being recoated on schedule with a penetrating oil, where a thorough wash and a light scuff can be enough.

Typically 24 to 48 hours after the final coat before normal use, depending on the product and the weather. Furniture should stay off for longer, ideally three days, so nothing prints into a finish that has not fully cured. The whole job, from first wash to walking on it again, is usually three to five days on an average deck.

Almost certainly not. Grey is surface UV damage, usually only a fraction of a millimetre deep, and sanding takes it straight off to reveal sound colour underneath. What matters is what the wood is doing below that. If the boards are structurally sound and the framing is solid, a sand and re-coat will make it look close to new. If a screwdriver pushes into the timber, that is a different conversation.

It can, and badly, if it is done at the pressure most people use. On redwood, cedar and pressure treated pine a narrow tip at high pressure erodes the soft wood between the grain lines and leaves a furred, striped surface that soaks up water afterwards. Once that has happened the only fix is sanding the whole deck. Done correctly the pressure stays low, the tip is wide, the wand keeps moving, and a wood-safe cleaner does the actual work.

Once a year for most Westside decks. Twice a year if you are close to the water in Venice or Marina del Rey where salt film builds constantly, if the deck sits in shade, or if it is under a tree canopy dropping sap and pollen. Composite owners often leave it much longer because it does not look dirty, but the same film builds up and the same algae grows on it.

Yes, and it needs it. Composite and PVC do not rot, but grime, pollen and algae film accumulate on the surface exactly as they do on wood. Every manufacturer publishes an approved cleaning method and a maximum pressure, and exceeding it can void the warranty on the boards. We follow the specification for the brand you have.

On wood, if the existing finish has failed, yes. A clean deck with no seal is bare timber facing the sun, and it will start greying within weeks. The best moment to coat is right after a wash, once the boards have dried to the correct moisture content, which is why we usually book the two together. On composite and PVC nothing is applied afterwards.

Partly. A good clean lifts the dirt, mildew and algae and brings back a lot of the colour, and on a mildly weathered deck that can be most of what you wanted. Deeper UV greying is damage to the wood fibres themselves and only sanding removes it. We will tell you which one you have once the surface is clean, rather than promising a result the wash cannot deliver.

Most decks are done in a day, including the railings and stairs. The surface then needs to dry, typically 24 to 48 hours, before anything is applied or heavy furniture goes back. Very large or heavily soiled decks, or ones that need a second application on stubborn growth, can run into a second day.

For residential work the minimum guard height is 36 inches, and 42 inches is required on most elevated decks and on commercial work. No opening anywhere in the guard may allow a 4-inch sphere through, which rules out the wide-spaced rails common on decks built decades ago. The whole assembly also has to resist a 200 pound concentrated load applied in any direction at the top rail, which is a post-connection requirement rather than a rail one.

Structural glass, followed closely by horizontal stainless cable. Glass is completely transparent and adds a wind break, at the highest cost and with regular cleaning to keep it clear, which near the beach means often. Cable is nearly as open, costs less, and needs correct tension and closer post spacing so the cables do not deflect. Both are why so many Palisades and Brentwood rails get replaced while still perfectly sound.

Almost always the post connection rather than the rail. The usual cause is posts fastened to the outside of the rim joist with lag screws, which puts the load into end grain and works loose over time, or rot at the base of the post where water sits. The fix is blocking behind the rim, through-bolted posts with tension hardware, and replacing any timber that has softened. It is not a job to defer on an elevated deck.

Yes, and it is common. If the deck framing and surface are sound but the guard is short, wide-gapped or wobbly, replacing the rail alone is a fraction of a rebuild and brings the deck up to current code. What we check first is the rim joist and the post bases, because a new rail bolted to failing timber is a new rail that will fail.

Yes. Pool enclosure rules cover barrier height, self-closing and self-latching hardware, latch height and the maximum gap anywhere in the barrier, and all of it is checked at inspection. We build gates that match the surrounding rail rather than bolting on something that looks like an afterthought, and we make sure the assembly actually complies.

Near the ocean, some. Stainless cable is the right specification within a mile of the water and it still benefits from a wash to remove salt film. Tension should be checked roughly annually, since cables relax slightly over the first year and any deflection past the gap limit matters. Timber posts in a cable system need the same clean and coat cycle as the rest of the deck.

That depends entirely on the rafter depth, spacing and direction, and it is a calculation rather than a style choice. Deeper rafters spaced closer together and run perpendicular to the afternoon sun give substantially more shade than the same timber run the other way. We work the spacing back from the hours you actually want to use the deck and the orientation of your yard, which is why two pergolas that look similar can perform very differently.

It depends on size, height and whether it attaches to the house. Small freestanding structures under the local size threshold often need nothing. Anything attached to the house, anything over the height limit, and most structures above roughly 120 square feet do need a permit, and the thresholds differ between Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City and Beverly Hills. We check for your address and file whatever is required.

A pergola has an open roof of spaced rafters, so it filters light and does not keep rain off. A gazebo has a solid roof and generally a more enclosed structure, which makes it usable in any weather but darker underneath. If you want something in between, a louvred canopy opens for light and closes to shed rain, and a solid patio cover gives full protection.

Usually, provided the deck framing underneath can carry it. The posts have to land on beams or on posts below rather than on the surface boards, and the connections have to resist wind uplift, which is a different load from anything the deck was originally designed for. We check what is under the surface at the site visit, and on some decks that means adding a beam or a footing before the pergola goes up.

If it is anchored properly, yes. Santa Monica gets a reliable onshore breeze most afternoons and an open frame catches it, so the connections have to be rated for uplift rather than just compression. That means posts bolted into footings or through-framed into the structure below, with the right hardware at every joint. Kit pergolas fixed to the surface with brackets are the ones that move.

Yes, and it is one of the best reasons to build one. Mature wisteria or grape carries real weight, especially when wet, so the structure has to be designed for it from the start with larger beams and closer rafter spacing. Retrofitting heavy planting onto a frame that was built light is how pergolas sag.

A patio cover has a solid roof, so it keeps rain off and makes the space usable all year, at the cost of light. A pergola has spaced rafters, so it filters the sun and looks lighter but does nothing in the rain. If you want most of the benefit of both, a louvred canopy rotates open for light and closes to shed water, and a partial cover with translucent panels is the common middle ground.

It can, and it is the thing most people underestimate. A solid roof over a deck against a south or west wall will noticeably reduce daylight in the rooms behind it, particularly in winter when the sun is low. The fix is designed in rather than bolted on: a run of polycarbonate or skylight panels along the house edge, or covering only part of the footprint. We raise this at the site visit rather than after the roof is on.

Effectively always. A roofed structure is treated as construction in every Westside jurisdiction, with engineering, setback limits, height limits and often lot coverage rules applying. The requirements differ between Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City and Beverly Hills. We check what applies at your address, prepare the package and manage the plan check and inspections.

Usually yes, and the tie-in is the detail that matters most. The new roof has to meet the old one in a way that sheds water rather than trapping it, and the ledger against the wall has to be flashed as a waterproofing element. Poor flashing at that junction is the single most common failure we get called out to on covers built by others, and it usually shows up as damage inside the house rather than outside it.

A properly built and permitted cover is a permanent structure and should last as long as the roof on the house, which means decades. Aluminium systems last effectively indefinitely with the occasional wash. Timber structures need the same clean and coat cycle as any exterior wood. Retractable fabric awnings are the exception, with fabric typically wanting replacement every eight to twelve years in this climate.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons to build a solid cover rather than an open frame. Recessed lighting, ceiling fans and infrared heaters all need something to mount to and something to reflect from, and all of it gets wired while the roof structure is open. Retrofitting the wiring afterwards means opening up a finished ceiling.