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BulldogDeck

Designed · Permitted · Inspected · St. Bernard, OH · 45217

Deck Construction in St. Bernard, OH

Deck building in St. Bernard, where the closed alley behind the lot can add real depth to the deck. A new deck is a structure bolted to the side of your house, and roughly nine out of ten of the failures we are called out to start at that bolt line or at the bottom of a post. We design to the span tables, dig to the 32-inch frost line, flash the ledger, pull the permit, and hand you a deck that passes inspection and then keeps passing it.

Cut stair stringers and new joist framing standing on a concrete pad at a deck build
4.9/5 StarsAcross 600+ reviews
1,400+Decks built and rebuilt since 2001
PermittedPulled and inspected everywhere we build
W-2 CrewsEmployees, never subcontracted out

Building a deck in St. Bernard

St. Bernard (ZIP 45217) was platted with alleys running behind almost every row of houses. A good number of those alleys were closed years ago and stopped being roads.

What happened to the ground when that happened is the question. When a city vacates an alley the strip usually goes to the properties either side of it, which means the back of your lot may quietly have gained several feet. It may equally have gained nothing, because plenty of alleys were never formally vacated and are still public ground that nobody drives on. Only the record tells you which, and it is worth reading before a deck is designed, because on these short lots a few extra feet at the back is real deck. We check it as part of the drawing work.

There is a second half to the question, and it is the one that decides whether the extra ground is usable. Vacating an alley hands over the land and it very often does not hand over the easement, because the utilities that ran along it keep the right to reach what is still buried there. So a strip can be yours on the deed and closed to a permanent structure at the same time. We check for both, and where the easement stands the deck stops at it and the strip becomes lawn or a paved area that can be lifted if anybody ever needs to get underneath.

We cover everything in St. Bernard

A low platform deck sitting just above a lawn with no railing

Ground-level and floating decks

A low platform sitting close to the ground. Under 30 inches it needs no railing at all. That takes a real cost out of the job and leaves the view open. The thing to get right is airflow underneath. A deck sitting tight to damp ground rots from below, so it goes on blocks with room to breathe.

A built-in bench running along the edge of a deck

Built-in benches and planters

Seating framed into the deck instead of furniture set on top of it. It never blows over and never needs putting away. It works along an edge where a railing would block the view. A built-in bench pairs well with a couple of chairs that have backs, and most decks want some of both.

Lattice skirting closing in the space under a raised deck

Skirting and privacy screens

Boards or lattice closing in the gap under the deck, and slatted panels where you want to block a neighbor's window or a road. Both are built to breathe, so air keeps moving under the deck and the frame stays dry.

What is included in deck construction in St. Bernard

Deck building is framing carpentry that happens to end in a nice surface. The part you will look at, the boards, the railing and the stair treads, goes on last. Everything before it is footings, posts, beams, joists, hangers and flashing, and that is what decides whether the deck is still tight when you sell the house.

Cincinnati makes that harder than it is in much of the country. The frost line here runs to 32 inches. The clay heaves when it freezes and shrinks when it dries. A lot of the housing stock has a rim joist you cannot see until the siding comes off. A deck designed for a Carolina back yard and built on Ohio clay is a deck that moves. What you walk on is a separate decision, covered on its own pages, and we settle it with you before the plan is drawn. The frame under a composite deck and the frame under a cedar deck are not the same frame.

Footings below the frost line

Dug 32 inches down so a hard winter cannot lift the deck, and inspected where the county asks for it.

A flashed, through-bolted ledger

Bolted to the rim joist and flashed so water leaves the wall. A bad ledger is what fails on most decks that fail.

Permits pulled, debris gone

We handle the paperwork and book the inspections, and the old structure leaves in a dumpster the same week rather than over the summer.

A large multi-level deck under construction, stairs and railing posts framed in pressure-treated lumber

Is your St. Bernard yard ready for a deck?

Most people know whether they want a deck. What is less obvious is whether the yard and the house are ready for one, and these are the four things worth checking before you spend anything on a design.

A door that opens onto a drop

A slider or a French door with a two-foot step down to grass is the most common starting point, and it changes the design: the deck surface has to land about an inch below the door sill so water cannot run back inside, which sets the frame height and therefore the footing depth.

The yard falls away from the house

A slope of more than about a foot across the deck footprint pushes you toward a multi-level design or taller posts with bracing. It is not a problem, but it is the difference between a straightforward build and one that needs a beam line partway out.

The patio is always in the sun or always wet

A concrete pad that nobody uses is usually a shade or a drainage problem rather than a surface problem. Building a deck on top of it fixes neither. This is where a covered deck or a pergola may be the better spend.

Utilities or a septic field in the footprint

Gas, water and electric runs, and anything to do with a leach field, decide where the footings can go before anything else does. It is worth knowing at estimate stage, because it can move a deck three feet sideways and change the whole plan.

Worth knowing

The ledger is where decks fail in St. Bernard

When a deck comes off a house it does not break in the middle. It peels off the wall, because the ledger, the board bolted to the house that carries half the deck load, had the wrong fasteners, or the right ones into the wrong thing, or no flashing and a rotted wall behind it.

A correct ledger is bolted through into solid rim joist on a published schedule, with flashing that runs up behind the housewrap and out over the top, so water lands on the deck instead of in the joint. Where the rim joist cannot be reached, the answer is a freestanding deck with its own beam line.

What the permit buys you in St. Bernard

The argument for permits is not really compliance. It is that an inspection puts a second set of eyes on the footing depth, the ledger connection and the guard load. Those are the three things you cannot see once the deck is finished, and the three that hurt somebody if they are wrong.

It costs a few weeks of lead time and a fee, and what you get for it is a structure on the record. When an appraiser or a buyer’s inspector looks at the deck, the permit and the signed-off inspections are already there. We pull it and book the inspections as part of the job.

FAQ

Deck Construction in St. Bernard questions

Does the old alley behind us belong to us now?

Sometimes, and only the record says so. It shows in your property description and not on the ground, which is why we read it before designing. Plenty of alleys here were closed to traffic without ever being formally vacated.

How do we find out?

It is on record with the city and it shows in the property description. We check it as part of the drawing work, and it is worth doing because on a short lot those few feet matter.

Can we build on it if it is still a public alley?

No, and that is exactly why the question gets asked first. If the strip is still public the deck stops at your line and the design is built to that from the start.

If the strip is ours, can we build on it?

Only if nothing is reserved over it. The utilities that used the alley often keep the right to dig there even after the road is gone, so owning it and being able to build on it are two separate questions.

What is under an old alley surface?

Usually cinder, brick or gravel under a few inches of soil, which is firm ground and easy to dig. What we watch for is anything still running through it, which is why the record gets read before the first hole.

Who issues the permit in St. Bernard?

The city, and it is its own city with its own building department. We confirm what your address needs, prepare the drawings and handle the inspections.

We bring your vision to life

Most of our work starts as a sketch on a kitchen table. A door that opens onto a drop, a slope nobody wants to mow, a corner the sun ruins at four in the afternoon. We measure it, draw it, price it line by line, and build the deck you signed off on rather than the one that was easiest to frame.

Bulldog 6 step process

A deck that is still tight in fifteen years is not an accident of good lumber. It is the result of standards you can count on.

  1. Design & Layout

    We measure up, then agree the size, the shape, the materials and where the steps go. You get a drawing and an itemized price before anything is ordered.

  2. Engineering & Permit

    We draw the plans, get them stamped by an engineer where the county asks for it, submit them and pull the permit. Inspections are booked and the boards go on order.

  3. Demolition & Footings

    The old deck leaves in a dumpster the same week. The utility locate goes in two working days before digging, the footings go below the frost line, and the holes are inspected before concrete.

  4. Framing & Flashing

    We bolt the frame to the house and flash where the two meet, so rain runs off instead of into the wall. The county inspects it before any decking covers it.

  5. Decking & Railing

    Boards go down with the right gaps, the railing is built to take a grown adult leaning on it, and every step is the same height. We sweep up daily.

  6. Inspection & Sign-Off

    We walk the finished deck with you and fix your list before the final payment. That last pass is the Bulldog Finish, and the paperwork is yours to keep.

Our work

Decks we have built

The space beneath a raised deck, ceiled in white panels with fans hung off them, so the paver floor underneath stays usable in rain. An outdoor kitchen runs along the brick at the back, and a fire pit sits out past the columns.

Dry patio under a second-story deck

Under-Deck WaterproofingDeck Lighting
Warm string lights run the length of a striped canopy over the seating end of a deck, still readable after the sun has dropped behind the tree line. A sectional and a round table sit under them, with the black guard and the field beyond.

String lights over a deck at dusk

Deck LightingDeck Railing
See more work

Who you are hiring

Cincinnati deck builders since 2001

A family-owned crew out of Cincinnati, covering both sides of the river and the communities around it.

What we are good at is structure that has to last. We are not the cheapest quote you will get, and the difference is under the boards rather than on top of them.

  • 1,400+ decks built and rebuilt since 2001
  • Built for freeze-thaw winters and clay that heaves
  • W-2 carpenters on payroll, never subcontracted out
  • Permits pulled in every jurisdiction we work in
  • Written, itemized estimates before you commit
Bulldog Deck medallion: building Cincinnati decks, 25+ years, established 2001

Why homeowners choose us

What makes us different

Six things you can check before you sign anything, and hold us to afterwards.

  • Family-owned and operated since 2001
  • Licensed and fully insured
  • 4.9 stars from 600+ reviews
  • Financing available
  • Decks built to last through Ohio winters
  • Composite, wood, covered decks and pergolas

In their words

What homeowners say

Great experience from the entire team. Very professional contractors, who deliver on their design (which by the way are spot on!). I hope to use them more in the future. My wife and I are excited to use our new deck with the entire family. Shout out
JJosephDeck Build
There is a reason why Bulldog Deck is an award winning company. Each time we step out onto our amazing deck, we are reminded of the all the designing, planning and constructing that puts them at the top. My wife found Bulldog Deck and was impressed
PPeterDeck Build
My family and I couldn't be happier with our new outdoor living space and Bulldog Deck were extremely professional throughout the entire process and the end result was just amazing! As important is the follow up and customer support that we
MMarkOutdoor Living Space
See more reviews

Related services

Custom Decks

Composite Decks

Wood Decks

Deck Railing

A back yard with a raised deck, stairs down to a patio and a pergola over the seating

Financing available

Spread it across the year, not the month

A new deck is one summer of work, and our financing menu is built so it does not have to be one summer of savings. Spread it across the year on approved credit and the deck goes in this season.

0%Interest for 12 months on approved credit
$40,000Available for larger builds and covered structures
Soft pullApplying will not affect your credit score
84 moLonger terms available on bigger scopes

On approved credit. Terms vary by lender and project size.

Materials

Decking materials we build with in St. Bernard

Pressure-treated pine

The most affordable and most common choice, and it takes a stain beautifully every time we re-coat it.

Redwood and cedar

Naturally resistant to rot and insects, with a rich warm color and a softer feel underfoot.

Tropical hardwoods

Ipe, tigerwood and cumaru. Dense enough to shrug off dents, insects and rot for decades.

Capped composite

Recycled wood fiber and plastic wrapped in a protective polymer shell. No annual sealing.

Advanced PVC

Fully synthetic with no wood content. Light, highly moisture-resistant and cooler underfoot in sun.

Aluminum

Fireproof, rust-proof and bug-proof, and lasts a lifetime with almost no upkeep.

Where we work

Proudly decking the Tri-State

Cincinnati and Surrounding Areas: southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. 170 communities, covered by our own crews.

Map of the Cincinnati region and surrounding areas covering our service area across southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Counties & cities we serve

Hamilton County, OH

  • Cincinnati
  • Blue Ash, OH
  • Norwood, OH
  • Montgomery, OH

Butler County, OH

  • West Chester, OH
  • Hamilton, OH
  • Fairfield, OH

Warren County, OH

  • Mason, OH
  • South Lebanon, OH
  • Maineville, OH

Clermont County, OH

  • Milford, OH
  • Batavia, OH
  • New Richmond, OH

Kenton County, KY

  • Covington, KY
  • Fort Mitchell, KY
  • Erlanger, KY

Campbell County, KY

  • Newport, KY
  • Fort Thomas, KY
  • Bellevue, KY

Boone County, KY

  • Florence, KY
  • Union, KY
  • Burlington, KY

Dearborn County, IN

  • Lawrenceburg, IN
  • Aurora, IN
  • Greendale, IN

No obligation

Get a written estimate, not a guess

We walk the job, measure it, and leave you with an itemized number. No obligation and no follow-up pressure.

Call (513) 657-3750

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Most estimates are scheduled within two business days.

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Deck Construction in 170 neighborhoods covered by Bulldog Deck

Cincinnati Neighborhoods(52)

Hamilton County, OH(54)