Replacing an Old Wood Deck With a Stone Patio on a Hillside Lot

If it dates from the 1980s or 1990s, it is probably close, and one check tells you whether it is unsafe today.

The National Association of Home Builders' study of component life expectancy put a wooden deck at about 20 years under ideal conditions, noting 20 to 25 years in dry areas and 10 to 15 in the South. It is an old study and decks vary, but a deck built when many Bella Vista houses were built is well past those figures.

The check that matters most is where the deck meets the house. The International Code Council's Building Safety Journal says deck collapses most often come from ledger connections made with nails instead of bolts, and that such decks have collapsed with as few as one or two people on them. Since 2009 the code has required half-inch bolts or lag screws. If you look at the ledger board and see only nail heads, the ICC's advice is to treat the deck as unsafe and repair or replace it.

• Only nail heads visible at the ledger: stop using the deck until it is checked.
• Soft wood when you push a screwdriver into posts, joists or the ledger.
• Posts sitting on the ground or on loose blocks.
• Railings that move when you lean on them.
• Stairs with loose or split treads.

Often, yes. The question is how high the deck sits above the ground below it.

A deck floats over a slope on posts. A patio sits on the ground. So replacing one with the other means either bringing the ground up to the house with retaining walls and compacted fill, stepping down the slope in terraces, or accepting that part of the space stays as a deck. The height of the existing deck decides which.

On a high deck, filling the whole space under it with soil and a wall is usually the wrong answer: it creates a tall wall, a lot of weight against the house and a drainage problem. The hybrid gives you a stone patio you can walk out onto from the lower level and a smaller, safer deck at the kitchen door. For how terraces are laid out, see retaining wall vs terracing.

Two layers: the City of Bella Vista and the POA's Architectural Control Committee.

The Bella Vista POA's own page lists decks and retaining walls as needing both ACC approval and a city permit, and says owners may need to satisfy the city, the POA and the ACC depending on the project. The city's retaining wall fact sheet says walls 2.5 feet and higher need a Miscellaneous Improvements building permit from Community Development Services. That threshold is lower than Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville, where the wall permit threshold is over 4 feet.

• ACC: (479) 855-8080, 626 W. Lancashire Blvd.
• City Community Development Services: (479) 268-4980, 616 W. Lancashire Blvd.

Removing a deck and building walls and a patio touches both. We prepare the drawings for both submissions. See patio permits in Bella Vista and HOA and POA approval for the detail.

Sometimes that is the right answer, and a good builder should say so.

A new deck is often the better choice where the drop is large, where a walkout lower level needs light and headroom, where a view depends on height, or where the ground beneath is so full of large tree roots that excavating for walls would harm the trees. It is also usually the quicker job. A stone patio wins on upkeep, on fire resistance around a grill or fire pit, on lifespan and on how it feels underfoot. Many hillside lots end up with a combination: a new, smaller, properly bolted deck at the kitchen door and a stone terrace below it, with the heavy use, the fire pit and the dining table on the stone. For trees near the work, see building near trees.

Who designed it, how the fill is compacted, and where the water goes.

A raised patio is a retaining wall with a floor on top. The wall is holding back compacted fill, the weight of the patio and the people on it, and whatever water gets behind it. Ask whether the wall is designed for that load, whether it needs an engineer at its height, how the fill will be placed and compacted in layers rather than dumped, and how the drainage behind the wall discharges. Ask too how the wall is kept from pushing against the house foundation. See when a retaining wall needs an engineer and why retaining walls fail.

Sized for how you actually use the space, which may not be the old deck's footprint.

Old decks were often built to a standard rectangle. The patio that replaces one can be larger where the ground is flatter and smaller where the slope is steep, and it can be shaped around the table, the grill and the chairs you really use. Start from furniture and circulation, not from the old outline; see how big a patio should be.

Deliberately, because a deck let rain fall through and a patio does not.

Under a deck, rain lands on the soil and soaks in or runs off down the hill. A patio collects that water and sends it somewhere. On a hillside lot that somewhere must not be the foundation or the neighbour below. The patio needs a steady fall away from the house, and walls need drainage aggregate and a pipe behind them. Our guides to patio slope and heavy rain in the Ozarks cover the numbers. On the chert and clay ground under much of Bella Vista, expect to find rock when excavating, and budget for it; see building on chert and red clay.

Fewer than you have now, if the design is done with that as a goal.

Many owners replacing a deck in their sixties or seventies want the reverse of what the original builder gave them: a level route from the door to the seating, and as few steps as possible. On a hillside that is not always fully achievable, but a patio at door level, a gentle path and steps with consistent risers and a handrail are. See step-free and age-friendly outdoor design.

A deck needs regular cleaning, sealing and board replacement; a stone patio needs occasional cleaning and joint care.

That difference is the most common reason people give us for making the change. A wood deck under Ozark oaks grows mildew and moss, needs stain on a cycle and eventually needs boards and fasteners replaced. A well-built stone or paver patio mostly needs leaves blown off and, depending on the material, occasional sealing. See sealing pavers and low-upkeep outdoor living under oaks.

It comes down in a planned order and leaves the site, with the house protected.

Removal is part of the job. The deck is taken down from the top: railings, boards, joists, then the ledger, with the house wall inspected once the ledger is off, because water behind an old ledger can rot the rim board. Old posts and footings are removed or cut below grade. Treated wood should not be burned. The wall where the ledger was is then flashed and repaired before the new patio goes against it.

The removal also shows what the deck was hiding. Old decks on Bella Vista lots often sit over bare, eroded soil, abandoned downspout pipes and sometimes old retaining walls of timber or loose stone. None of it is unusual, but it is only visible once the boards are off, so the design allows for a short review at that point before the final levels are fixed. If an old timber wall turns up, see old railroad-tie and timber walls.

1. Site visit with Paco: the deck height, the slope, the soil and what you want to do with the space.
2. Design: patio levels, walls, steps, drainage and any deck kept.
3. ACC submission and city permit, in parallel where possible.
4. Arkansas 811 call, deck removal and ledger repair.
5. Excavation, walls, drainage and base.
6. Stone, steps, rails where needed, lighting and cleanup.

If you spend winters away, the design and approvals can be settled before you leave and the work scheduled for when the ground allows. Ask about it at the first visit.

Projects with Gallardo Custom Builds start around $7,500. Francisco "Paco" Gallardo, the owner, walks the site himself before any number is given, because what is under the ground and what you want to do with the space both change the answer. The visit costs nothing. Financing is available through Acorn Finance. Call (479) 379-2226 or send the project form.