Deck frame of joists and beams resting on concrete pier blocks

Deck Building in Shawnee, KS

New decks drawn to the 2018 IRC Shawnee adopted, on piers that reach 36 inches, with the permit drawings put together before anyone touches a shovel.

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Also Available

Every Deck Service We Offer

A new build usually pulls in two or three of these. All of them are handled by the same crew.

Deck Building

New decks from the pier up, drawn to the 2018 IRC Shawnee adopted.

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Brown composite deck boards being laid across timber joists

Composite Decking

Capped composite and PVC boards, gapped the way the warranty requires.

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Old deck boards with dark paint flaking away from the grain

Deck Repair

Rotted joists, spongy boards, and ledgers that were never bolted or flashed.

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Red-painted deck steps and rail with the finish worn through

Deck Staining

Cleaned, brightened, dried to moisture, then finished in a dry window.

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Raised deck on posts with a painted guard rail and open stairs

Deck Railings

Guards at 36 inches with no opening a 4-inch sphere can pass through.

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Screened porch with mesh panels under a slatted timber roof

Covered Decks

Pergolas, solid roofs, and screened porches on framing sized to carry them.

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Scope

What You Get in a New Deck Build

Everything from the hole in the ground to the last board. Design, the permit set, footings, framing, decking, guards, and stairs. Nothing subcontracted out in the middle and handed back half-finished.

A load path all the way down

Decking to joists, joists to beams, beams to posts, posts onto piers bearing on undisturbed soil.

Piers to 36 inches

Inspected before concrete goes in, with clean hole bottoms, the way the county guideline asks.

Ledger done right

Minimum 2x8, through-bolted, flashed, and never hung off brick or stone veneer.

Lateral hold-downs

Two tension devices rated 1,500 pounds each, set within 24 inches of the deck ends.

Metal that matches

Hot-dip galvanized to ASTM A153, or stainless, with connectors of the same composition.

Drawings you keep

Scaled plot plan, footing and post sizes, beam sizes, joist direction, spacing, lumber type.

How a Deck Build Actually Runs

Four steps from the first phone call to the final inspection, with the price settled before step three.

Call

Tell us the yard, the door it comes off, and roughly what you want out of it. We book a site visit from there.

Site Visit

We measure, check grade and setbacks, look at the band joist behind the siding, and find where utilities run.

Written Price

One number in writing, with the drawings, before ordering.

Build

Footing inspection, framing inspection, then decking, guards, stairs, and a final walk with you.

Fresh deck boards being fitted down onto the joists below

36 INPier Depth

Why a New Deck Here Starts Below the Frost Line

Because the ground moves. Johnson County runs a genuine freeze-thaw cycle, which is why Shawnee's deck guidelines put the minimum pier depth at 36 inches. Above that line a footing lifts in winter and settles in spring, racking the frame and driving movement into the house on an attached deck. West of I-435 the ground rolls toward the Kansas River bluffs, so walkout basements are common and the posts run tall, which is exactly where pier sizing and post height limits start to matter. We design and build new decks, ground level or elevated, wood or composite, with railings, stairs, and permit drawings included. One crew throughout.

✓ Ground level or elevated
✓ Wood or composite
✓ Guards and stairs
✓ Permit drawings included
✓ Footing inspection first
✓ Written price up front

Call (913) 786-3911 ☎ or request a quote

Compare Builds

Which Deck Type Fits Your Yard?

Height above grade changes the footings, the guards, the stairs, and the price. The 30-inch line is Shawnee's own permit trigger, though the county guideline asks for a permit before any deck is built, altered, or replaced.

Deck Type	Height Above Grade	Permit Trigger	Guards	Best For
Freestanding platform	Under 30 inches	Below the city trigger	Not required under 30 in	Flat yards off a patio door
Attached low deck	Under 30 inches	County guideline still asks	Not required under 30 in	Ranch homes on level lots
Elevated attached deck	Over 30 inches	Required	Required, 36 in minimum	Walkout basements west of I-435
Multi-level deck	Mixed levels	Required	Required on the upper level	Lots that step down to grade

Our Promise

I would rather lose a job on price than hide what a deck actually needs. If your footings have to go deeper, or the band joist behind the ledger is soft, you hear it before you sign anything, not after we open it up.

Service Area

Deck Work Across Johnson County

We cover Shawnee first, then the rest of Johnson County: Lenexa, Overland Park, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Lake Quivira, and De Soto. Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, and the Kansas City, KS side are in range too. Permit rules change at the city line, so we confirm which office your address answers to.

Shawnee Lenexa Overland Park Merriam Mission Olathe Prairie Village Roeland Park Lake Quivira De Soto Bonner Springs Edwardsville Kansas City, KS Woodsonia Grey Oaks Monticello Lakeview Estates Bristol Highlands

Questions

New Deck Questions in Shawnee

Shawnee lets a deck encroach 6 feet into the required rear yard, and everything else has to meet the zoning setbacks for your lot. A typical R-1 single-family lot runs 30 feet in front, a side yard of 20 percent of lot width with a 7-foot minimum, and 30 to 40 feet at the rear. Corner lots are the trap: they have two front yards.

Treated lumber is not one product, and the AWPA Use Category is printed on the end tag of every board. UC3B is rated for above-ground exposure and UC4A for ground contact. Posts are UC4A. Joists, ledgers, and cantilevered beams are technically above ground, but because they carry load and are miserable to replace, industry guidance treats them as UC4A too. That is what we specify.

Not to the brick. A ledger may not be supported on stone or masonry veneer, because veneer is cladding and cannot carry deck load. On a brick home the deck either reaches through to the structural framing behind it or, more often, gets built freestanding on its own posts.

Every time. Kansas One Call is 811, and the locate has to happen before piers get dug. It is free, and hitting a gas or fiber line is the fastest way to turn a deck into a very bad week.

Only if it was framed for one. A filled tub is a large concentrated load and needs dedicated framing and footings underneath it, not a standard 40-pound-per-square-foot deck bay. Tell us at the site visit and it gets designed in. Added later, it usually means rebuilding that section.

The two that matter are footings before the pour and framing before decking covers it. Those are the gates a cheap crew tries to skip, because once concrete is in the ground and boards are over the frame, nobody can see what was done.

Ready to Talk About Your Deck?

Call and tell us what you have in mind. We walk the site, take measurements, and put the number in writing before a single board is ordered.

(913) 786-3911

Mon to Sat, 7am to 6pm

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