Multi-Level Decks in Fairfield, OH

Fairfield (ZIP 45014) decks are mostly framed in pressure-treated pine, like nearly every deck around here. It arrives wet from treatment and dries over its first months outdoors. As it dries, it gets slightly smaller across its depth.

On a single platform nobody sees that, because the whole floor settles together by a fraction of an inch. A two-level deck is different. Its two frames meet at the step, the one spot people cross all day, so any difference between them shows right there. Planning the two frames together keeps that step even for good.

Each level sits on its own stack of wood, and the stacks often differ a lot. An upper level on joists over a deep beam may have twenty inches of wood between footing and surface. A lower level with shallow joists hung flush may have eight. Wet treated lumber can lose a quarter inch or so of depth as it dries, and the deeper stack loses more. The step could end up uneven a few months after it was built, while the steps between levels need to stay within three eighths of an inch of each other.

So we design the difference out. Where the layout allows, we match the depth of wood under each level, often by hanging the joists flush on both. Where they cannot match, we use lumber dried after treatment, which has already done its shrinking. The steps between the levels go on last. Once both frames are up and loaded, we measure from the finished surface on each side and cut the steps to fit. Built in that order, every step stays the height it was on handover day.