Elmwood Backyard Deck Build

The Lindqvist family wanted a deck roughly the size of their existing concrete patio slab, extending off the kitchen with a stair down to the yard. During the design walkthrough, we corrected the footing depth they’d asked for after checking the actual local frost line — deeper than the family had assumed, and a detail that matters because footings poured too shallow can heave and crack over a few winters.

We built the frame in pressure-treated lumber sized for the full 320 square feet plus the stair run, then finished the deck surface in low-maintenance composite decking with a cable-rail system that keeps the lake view unobstructed from the kitchen window above.

The corrected footing depth added one day to the original schedule for extra excavation, which we explained and priced as a small change order before pouring anything.