I am about to embark on building an elevated deck, the third and final phase of a re-model in Southern California. The second phase was gutting and re-configuring a kitchen where a new door was added to open out onto this proposed deck. I installed a pre-hung Kolby and Kolby which is now bolted shut because it opens out onto an eight foot drop until the deck is built. The threshold extends out 1 inch from the stucco. The elevation of the threshold puts the bottom edge at 1/2 inch above the surface of the proposed deck.
I’ll spare you the gory details but we had to have engineering details modified to reduce the expense of the deck, which triggered a Supplemental Permit and then many, many go arounds with the city to get the deck design to pass. It was always designed to be an unattached deck with a certain amount of space between the deck and house. It began as 2 inches, which means I had already made a mistake by installing the door with a threshold having only a 1 inch overhang from the stucco. So, at the root of this problem I have only myself to blame. But it gets worse.
The city ultimately required that the deck have a clear 3 inch separation between it and the house. This big space is required in the event of an earthquake, giving the deck and house more of a chance of avoiding a collision. That means there will be a 2 inch gap between the deck and the outboard end of the threshold. That’s not good.
Other than breaking out the doorjamb and rebuilding it with a spectacularly deep threshold, does anyone have an idea of how this might be solved? And — even if I rebuild the door jamb and re-install, I will have a threshold cantalievered past the stucco by over 3 inches… and that, in and of itself, makes me nervous because it seems likely to fail one day, splitting just as someone puts their full weight on it.
Thanks in advance… I appreciate any and all thoughts.
Replies
I think a plate that is attached to only the house and floats on top of the deck could work.
Modification to threashold?
First, you said:
>> The elevation of the threshold puts the bottom edge at 1/2 inch above the surface of the proposed deck. <<
I rarely put a door that close to a walking surface as the water splash up from rain can cause the door to leak and/or rot. It is not a concern though if the roof overhand is close above and fairly wide, like 18" to 2 '. Not sure how it is in your climate re these type of concerns but I would propose that the deck surface be 3" or 3.5" below the threshold.
Second, wouldn't some kind of threshold extention that is fastened above the threashold support board solve your problem? I'm not familair with this whole comcept of 3" of seperation for earthquake reasons... I'd recommend going and looking at some other houses and see how they did it - maybe even get a pic or 2.
I once had an apartment project where 24 entry doors had been ordered and installed with the wrong threashold. I resolved it by having blowes order me something from MD products. I think it was this:
http://www.mdteam.com/products.php?category=1779 and I see they have this one too:
http://www.mdteam.com/products.php?category=1780 In the end the fix acutally even looked like it was meant to be like that.
Matt,
Yes, I agree about the threshold height... but Building and Safety made a big deal about this. They don't want someone stepping out of the house and putting their foot lower than 1/2 inch below the threshold until it hits the deck. They mandated that it be written into the plan. I would give it more space if I had a choice.
Thanks for the idea about a plate that overlays... maybe. It makes sense... I just have to make it look right, too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Yeah, that's kind of an odd rule, but I've heard of it in other places.
Lots of homes around here where there's a 3-6" step up to the door, and 2" is kind of the minimum for rain splash reasons.
Be aware that the pieces I linked to are just thin AL. so they really need something behind them to make an assembly that is strong enough to hold up to foot traffic.
10-4 on the bldg department. They have made me do stupid stuff too.... Sounds like a decision that some "little emperor" made who probably has read lots of books but hasn't built much of anything much less done call-backs.
Yeah Matt...
Up here and most places I've lived, it is paramount that you leave 4" or so for splash and snow, but in Calif, just as certain things are know to cause cancer there, most californians apparantly cannot pick up their feet and negotiate a threshold with greater than 3/8" elevation change without rtripping. I guess evolution has produced an inferior subspecies of human in CA
;)
I would make up some sort of slip-joint there, but it gets hard with only a 1/2". Maybe after inspection, just replace that deck bd with a wider one.
Doesn't have to be a half-inch. The "plate" can be a stoop.
Yep, some sort fo "plate"
Yep, some sort fo "plate" (could be plywood) attached to the house and laying on top of the deck.