Deck Extension

3 years ago

Looking for any creative ideas regarding extending our deck to cover the entrance to the basement. The decks look awful because the house had been hit by a tornado the day before. We still need to access the steps though. We just had our deck rebuilt and one of the things I wanted to do was extend the deck to cover over the area to our basement. Its more for safety reasons than anything. It’s made up of brick, which some of the bricks are loose. If a kid walks along the brick wall and missteps, they’ll be falling at least 20 feet to concrete. There is currently a balcony above it, which I’d like to connect to the rest of the deck. I haven’t been able to find much inspiration or ideas for spaces like this and was also curious of how much I might expect to spend?

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Comments (4)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
I doubt you'll be able to connect the decks and still have enough headroom at the stairs.
3onthetree
3 years ago
You have balconies, not decks. Here they are made by extending the floor joists out through the wall and cantilevering them. You'll see why I'm being a stickler for nomenclature in a minute.

I would not suggest covering the small basement pit with anything, as that will become a harbor for too much moisture. And you might have a headroom height issue at the stair. The best solution would be to install a guardrail on top of the brick kneewall. A black aluminum one would fit well with your house.

You cannot merely extend the size of cantilevered balconies. It would require a completely new structure with many posts and footings. That could possibly be quite complicated (meaning not a clean, simple design) working around/into the basement pit, the kneewall jogs, and having a brick veneer house.

As far as a stair from the upper balcony, it does not appear you have the room in width to begin with, and the length and posts would be an eyesore here. But, realize it is just a balcony probably from 1 closed room (Master?), not a deck with many circulating users, so a stair doesn't really lend much function for the seldom use it would receive from a balcony.
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PRO
Overland Remodeling & Builders
3 years ago
Installing a guardrail is also the only thing I could suggest, cause covering it up will not give you enough headroom at the stairs.
clshappy
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you. It is currently a balcony coming out of a dining room. I had wondered about the supports, which had me a little concerned. I think the railing would be a good idea and I will more than likely end up doing that. My main concern has been kids playing on there which would take care of that. I’m not sure what to do with the balcony. I wanted to get rid of all the balconies, which there are 3. There are two additional balconies on the second floor which we are getting rid of and turning those in to windows. Maybe I could just re do that balcony and possibly cover it almost as if it’s screened in. I like having the access. Thanks again everyone.