Deck Height
The height of your deck may seem like a trivial piece of info, but it does affect the cost of the deck in a few ways:
Obviously, higher decks mean longer support posts. What it can also mean is that you need to use thicker posts to support
your deck if it's high enough off of the ground. 4 x 4's are not always the post to use, and are often not even allowed by building
codes for decks over a certain height. If you plan on 4 x 4's, but are required to use 6 x 6's, your deck budget might not be as
flexible as you want it to be.
If your deck is only one step off of the ground, you may not need to have a rialing at all. But if it's much higher, you will need a
railing, both for safety and for meeting building codes. The size of the railing may vary a little also with height.
The height and plan of your stairs also depend rather heavily on the deck height. Will the stairs be a straight run up to the deck, or
will you turn a corner? What sort of support posts will the stairs need? How many stairs will there be for that height? [Hint: a normal
rise per step is around 7 inches.]
