Carpenter
in Kansas City

Carpentry on an outdoor structure is load-bearing work. The joists, posts, stringers and railing posts carry people's weight, so how each piece is sized and connected matters more than how it's trimmed.

Our carpentry is done outdoors: framing and repairing decks, building stairs and railings, and repairing gazebos and other outdoor structures. KC Deck Builds is a locally owned, licensed and insured deck builder serving the Kansas City metro.

Exterior structural carpentry covers the wood framing that holds up an outdoor structure and the parts people use directly. On a deck, that means the ledger, beams, joists, posts, decking, stairs and guards. On a porch or gazebo, it adds the posts, beams and rafters that carry a roof. Johnson County's contractor licensing program describes this kind of work in its wood framing license, whose scope names wood decks, exterior staircases and their guard rails along with framed walls, roof assemblies and sheathing.

Most carpentry requests on an existing structure fall into four services:

Structural repairs

deck repair covers decayed boards, joists, beams, posts and the connections between them, along with the cause of the damage

Stairs

deck stair installation covers new and rebuilt stairs, stringers, landings and handrails, including moving a stair to a new location

Railings

deck railing installation covers new and replacement guards, with posts fastened into the framing

Gazebos

gazebo repair and replacement covers roof framing, posts, floors and railings on a gazebo that's leaking, leaning or soft at the base

Stairs and railings are where carpentry and safety meet most directly. Both attach to the deck frame, so a new stair or railing is only as strong as the rim joist and joists it fastens to. That's why carpentry on either one starts by checking the framing at the connection points.

The word carpenter covers two kinds of work that call for different skills. Structural carpentry, sometimes called rough carpentry or framing, builds the parts that carry loads. Finish carpentry is the visible trim and woodwork, mostly inside the house: door and window casing, baseboards, crown molding, cabinets and built-ins. The two differ in almost every way that matters to a homeowner hiring for one of them:

What the work carries

structural members carry people, furniture, snow and roof weight down to the footings, while finish pieces carry little or no load

What governs it

framing follows span tables, footing and fastener requirements, and it's inspected where the work needs a permit; finish work is judged by fit and appearance

How it fails

outdoor framing fails at its connections and wherever water stays against the wood, while finish carpentry fails at its joints and its paint or stain

How quality shows

good framing stays level, stiff and attached, while good finish work shows tight joints and clean lines

Outdoor structures need mostly structural carpentry, with some exterior finish work such as fascia boards and stair treads. The services described on our site are exterior structural carpentry on decks, porches and gazebos. Interior trim, cabinetry and other indoor finish carpentry aren't among them.

Licensing decides who can do permitted carpentry in much of the metro. Overland Park requires an active Johnson County contractor's license of the proper type before it issues a building permit, and the county issues framing work under its general, building and residential classes as well as the wood framing class. A handyman without one of those licenses can't receive a permit in Overland Park for deck framing, a rebuilt stair or other permitted work.

Kansas City, Missouri organizes it differently. Its code allows building trades subcontractors who aren't otherwise required to be licensed to work under a licensed residential building contractor who holds a valid building permit, directed by that contractor's qualified supervisor. The license and the permit sit with the company running the job. On either side of the state line, the questions that decide a structural carpentry job are whether the work needs a permit in that city and whether the company doing it holds the license the city requires for it. Small repairs that don't need a permit fall outside those rules, while building or replacing a deck needs a permit in Overland Park, for example, and that permit has to be issued to a licensed contractor or to the homeowner.

On a house with details like these, new exterior carpentry looks best when it takes its proportions from what's already there. A new stair rail or deck railing can repeat the size of the existing posts, the spacing of the balusters or the shape of a newel cap. Stock components chosen without reference to the house usually look thinner and plainer beside original porch work. Matching proportions doesn't require copying ornament, and it doesn't change the structural requirements: a railing that echoes a historic balustrade still has to meet the guard rules your city enforces.