Covered Deck Addition

Project Overview

Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Type: Residential Addition

A covered deck transforms an outdoor space from a seasonal feature into a year-round living area. This project added a new roof structure over an existing residential deck, providing weather protection and expanding the usable living space of the home.

Structural Design

Adding a roof to an existing deck is more involved than it might appear. The existing deck structure was designed for the loads of an open deck: people, furniture, and snow accumulation on a flat or low-slope surface. Adding a roof structure introduces new post loads, wind uplift on the roof, and lateral forces from wind that the original deck framing and connections may not have been designed to resist.

Frontier evaluated the existing deck structure and designed the new covered addition to safely transfer all new loads (vertical post loads, roof uplift, and lateral wind) either through the existing deck framing where adequate, or through new members and connections where reinforcement was required.

Connection to the House

Where the new roof connects to the existing home, a ledger or header connection transfers the roof loads into the house framing. This connection must be designed for both the vertical load of the roof and the horizontal pull of wind trying to separate the cover from the house. Proper flashing at this connection is also critical to keep the building envelope watertight at what is often a vulnerable intersection.

Ready to Talk Through Your Project?

Frontier Structural Engineering brings 20 years of commercial and residential design experience to projects across Colorado and California. Whether you're in schematic design or already in the field, we're available.