Deck building
in Belton

It depends on the deck's height and whether it has a roof. Belton's building permit requirements list every covered deck or patio as needing a permit, along with any uncovered deck more than 30 inches above grade. Uncovered decks, patios and walkways less than 30 inches above grade don't need a building permit, but the city notes that its zoning and development standards, including lot coverage limits and setbacks, still apply to them. A low deck can skip the permit and still have to sit the required distance from the property lines.

Belton's list doesn't treat a replacement differently from a new deck. A rebuilt deck that's covered, or uncovered and more than 30 inches above grade, falls under the same requirement as a new one. For a Belton deck builder, that means the permit question is settled by the finished deck's height and roof, not by whether a deck stood there before.

Every deck or patio permit application in Belton includes the city's Deck/Patio Project Information sheet. It's a one-page form, and it shapes the design more than its length suggests, because it asks for the structural sizes up front rather than leaving them to the inspection.

The sheet asks for:

A drawing

of the house, the deck and the property lines, with dimensions. A dimensioned drawing on an aerial photo is accepted.

Deck type

attached to the house or freestanding.

A material list

pier hole dimensions, post size, number of posts, ledger board size, beam size, joist size, joist span, floor decking size and the deck's height above ground.

Roofing and electrical

any roofing materials and any electrical additions.

Distances

from the deck to the nearest side property line and to the rear property line.

The applicant also initials four statements: that all deck materials are protected from decay and termites, that construction follows the 2018 IRC, that the project gets two inspections, and that ledger board flashing is corrosion-resistant metal at least 0.019 inch thick. Across the top of the sheet, in bold, it states that cantilevered construction is prohibited. We lay out Belton deck plans with that line in mind, so the frame is shown carried on its beams, posts and footings.

Belton publishes a Residential Deck Guide that illustrates most of the details a deck plan has to address. It was written for the 2012 IRC, and it says that where the guide and the IRC differ, the IRC governs. The current permit review is what decides a specific project, but several of the guide's details are specific to how Belton reviews decks.

Frost depth: The guide's typical footing detail shows a 36-inch frost depth, and its footing table sizes round footings from the deck's beam span and joist span.

Footings near the house: Deck footings closer than 5 feet to an existing exterior house wall must bear at the same elevation as the footing of the house foundation. Next to a basement, that can put the footings closest to the house well below the 36-inch line, which is often one of the first layout decisions on an attached Belton deck.

Ledger attachment: The guide prohibits attaching a ledger to brick, masonry or stone veneer, to a cantilevered floor overhang or to a bay window. In those cases the deck has to be freestanding. Ledgers fastened to the house band joist use half-inch lag screws or bolts at the spacings in the guide's tables, and lead anchors are prohibited.

The way a ledger is built and flashed is covered on our deck replacement page. On a Belton permit, the ledger size and the attached or freestanding choice both go on the information sheet before any of it is built.

Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the median year built for Belton's housing units at 1987. About 46 percent of the units were built in 1990 or later, and about 40 percent were built before 1980.

That mix produces two different kinds of deck work. Many homes from the 1990s and 2000s have their original decks, built to the codes in force when the house went up. Ledger flashing, footing depth and guard requirements have all changed since then, so when one of those decks is rebuilt, the new one is reviewed under the 2018 IRC rather than the code it was first built to. On homes built before 1980, the deck on the house today may not be the first one, and its age and construction can't be assumed from the house's age.

For a deck builder in Belton, a replacement is the point where those differences get settled. The new frame is drawn to the current code, the footings near the house are set to the depth the guide requires, and the attachment is chosen for the wall it's going on.