Building a Deck in Apex

[Phil in Apex]

All right, it has finally happened... the wife is ready for an extended deck. As many of you know in Apex, the town is super-anal about codes, permits, inspections, etc.. I figure I will take advantage of the fee holiday and go on and sign up for a deck extension.

I went to their website and looked at the deck checklist and they had some general guidelines of dimensions that need to be followed.. For most of the design, I was going to pretty much copy my existing deck, but that was built 7 years ago, and I don't know how much the code has changed.

Does anyone know of where I could get more specific guidelines to meet North Carolina deck building codes so when I do my design, it is right the first time.. I don't want to have to redo the design a few times to get it right.

Thanks in advance for the help
Phil

 

[scsmith42]

Phil, a good friend of mine is a contractor who lives in Apex and builds a lot of decks. I'm sure that he can steer you in the right direction.

Send me a PM is you'd like his name and number.

Scott

 

[junquecol]

Phil, this is a case of it better to ask, than to beg forgiveness. Go over to town hall, just not at 8:00 AM, lunch, or just before closing with a copy of your ideas. The people there don't bite, despite what you have heard. They actually are friendly. I have found them most helpful over the years-almost 30. Always got a straight answer to questions, and only on one job were they wrong. If I hadn't already faced the same problem on another, I wouldn't have known that the way I wanted to do something was OK. A quick sit down with code book cleared up differences of opinion. When I first came here, Mr Britt was only inspector, and he and I got along well. About six years ago I did a job that required working at night, which Apex has an ordinace against. He was kind enough to figure a way for me to work around this problem. All they are doing is enforcing the law (code) as it is written, not as someone thinks it should be. Best of luck!

 

[scsmith42]

Phil, I spoke with my buddy - he recommends that you go to the Town of Cary web site, then to their "inspection department" link, and there is all the info that you need there re building a deck.

Apex follows the same code, and apparently the builders in Apex use the Cary info.

Here is the link: http://www.townofcary.org/depts/dsdept/I&P/deckd.htm

Enjoy!

Scott

 

[DaveO]

Thanks Scott, that's a very interesting link. I will utilize it often.
Dave

 

[Phil in Apex]

Scott:

Thanks a lot!! That is exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully I will post some pictures when I am done.

Phil