Castle Rock Deck Builders

The Town's 2024 residential code sets ground snow load by elevation: 30 pounds per square foot below 6,000 feet, 35 from 6,000 to 6,499 feet and 40 from 6,500 to 6,999 feet, with no reductions. Two decks in town can carry different design loads depending on how high each lot sits. Unincorporated addresses follow Douglas County's table, which uses the same steps and keeps rising above 7,000 feet.

NOAA's Castle Rock weather station averages about 167 days a year with a low at or below 32 degrees and about 17 when the high stays there too (1991 to 2020 climate normals). The Town's code puts the frost line 36 inches below grade. For a deck attached to the house, the residential code calls for footings protected from frost, and the first method it lists is taking them below that line.

The World Health Organization's UV Index guide says UV radiation levels increase 10 to 12% for every 1,000 meters of altitude. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory describes UV as the driver of surface breakdown in wood and finishes, with moisture and freeze-thaw cycles making it worse. For boards in full sun, that puts the finish you'll maintain, or Trex decking that resists fading, in the plan from the start.

The deck runs across the back of the house, supported by stone-veneer columns, with black metal railings along its edge. Metal is one of three railing materials we work in; our custom railings also come in wood and composite, measured and fitted to the deck.

Under the deck, a finished ceiling with fans shades the patio, and lanterns are mounted on the stone columns. The patio reads as its own room.

If you want the space under an upper deck to stay dry, ask about under-deck ceiling systems. Among our deck drainage options, ceiling panels with integrated gutters carry water to a perimeter gutter and out through downspouts, designed for Colorado snow and ice.

A long, high deck puts the frame to work through snow loads and wide temperature swings. Steel framing bridges longer distances without intermediate supports and minimizes movement over time. Wood framing costs less than steel, but a deck of this size and height is where its limits can show, so the scale of the deck steers the choice.