Deck building
in Overland Park

The exemption in city code is narrow. A deck skips the permit only when it meets all four conditions: it is detached from the house, it covers no more than 200 square feet, it is no more than 30 inches above grade when measured 36 inches out from its perimeter at any point, and it doesn't serve an egress door the code requires. A deck attached at the back door fails the first condition no matter how low it sits, so nearly every deck built against an Overland Park house needs a permit.

Repairs are handled differently. Under the same guidelines, repairs to a deck's walking surface, guardrails or handrails don't require a permit. The exemption names only those three parts, so work on the posts, beams, joists, footings or ledger isn't covered by it.

The deck guidelines summarize setbacks for the city's R-1, RP-1, R-2 and RP-2 single-family zoning districts, and on many lots these numbers decide how large a deck can be:

Rear yard

25 feet from the deck to the rear property line. Open decks may project 6 feet into that setback, as long as the encroaching area is no more than 60 square feet.

Side yards

at least 7 feet, with the two side yards together totaling at least 20 percent of the lot width. A side lot line along a street typically requires 20 feet.

Low freestanding decks

an unenclosed, freestanding deck under 30 inches above natural grade may sit 3 feet from an interior lot line, if it stays entirely within 25 feet of the rear property line and at least 20 feet (R-1 and RP-1) or 22 feet (R-2 and RP-2) from any street right-of-way.

Corner and double-frontage lots

where the rear yard abuts a street, no accessory structure may be closer than 15 feet to the right-of-way.

The 60-square-foot cap is what limits most large decks. A deck that runs the full width of the house can push only a narrow strip into the rear setback, while a smaller section can reach the full 6 feet. Platted building lines and landscape easements can be tighter still, and the guidelines say decks generally may not extend past them. Those lines come from the subdivision plat rather than the zoning code, so deck builders in Overland Park draw the site plan from the plat.

The guidelines also note that some homes associations have requirements beyond the city's. An association's approval of a deck's size, materials or railing style is separate from the building permit.

Every deck in Overland Park sits on footings or piers that extend 36 inches below finished grade and bear on undisturbed soil. The bottom of a footing can't rest on backfill, which matters beside a basement, and the guidelines include a table for it. Beside an 8-foot basement wall, a footing 1 foot from the wall must bear 8 feet deep, a footing 3 feet away must bear 5 feet deep, and footings at least 5 feet 6 inches from the wall return to 36 inches.

Where the deck does attach, the ledger is at least a 2x8, fastened with half-inch hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel lag screws or bolts in a staggered pattern, with spacing set by the joist span. Ledgers can't attach to or through brick, masonry, stone, EIFS or stucco. On lap siding, the siding comes off and the ledger fastens to the house rim joist, with galvanized steel or copper flashing at least 6 inches up behind the siding and down past the ledger to a drip edge.

Inspections depend on the deck. Footing holes for open decks aren't inspected in Overland Park, but footings for covered decks are. A separate framing inspection is required when the framing can't be seen at the final inspection, which the guidelines describe as a deck surface less than 5 feet above grade. Every deck gets a final inspection. The guidelines also list electrical items: overhead power lines at least 10 feet above the deck floor or 3 feet away horizontally, an exterior light for the steps, and a GFCI-protected outlet within the deck's perimeter, no more than 6 feet 6 inches above the walking surface, wherever the deck can be reached from inside the house.

KC Deck Builds is a locally owned, licensed and insured deck builder in Overland Park and across the wider Kansas City metro. New deck construction designs a deck from the footings up around a lot's setbacks and the wall it attaches to. Deck replacement rebuilds a deck whose frame, footings or house connection has failed. Deck repair fixes specific damage on a deck worth keeping. Deck resurfacing puts new boards on a frame that's still sound. Covered deck construction adds a roof, which in Overland Park brings its own framing plan and footing inspection. Composite deck installation compares composite decking and railing systems with wood.