Rear decks and egress stairs
We often, here on our blog, look at decks in the backyards of houses where they make a transition from a stairway to a deck on the back of the house that leads to a backyard. Often these decks are set off the kitchen because many homes, here in Washington DC, were built with kitchens at the back of the ground level of the house. Normally at the top floor rear of the building though there is a bedroom or study.
Sometimes an office might be found in that rear top floor room of the house. The deck that we’re looking at in the picture below is set off of the rear of a top floor of a pretty typical row home. This building is a typical brick double wythe (solid wall) masonry construction. This is clearly a historic building. However, at some point after the initial construction, the rear of this building has been modified slightly. Two tube steel post have been installed to support the corners at the outer edge of the deck off of the rear middle floor of the building.
This deck is built for the inhabitants of the building just to go outside and enjoy a little bit of fresh air or a little bit of the outdoors. It’s just like a balcony, highly desired and coveted, here in Washington DC, because apartments or homes without a little bit of backyard space are really improved or benefited by having at least just a balcony. If you look to the right though, the neighboring property has a set of landings connected by a staircase with several flights of stairs. In the case of the neighbors rear stairway, it’s set up as a means of emergency egress.
It can be used in non-emergency times as well, if the owners or residents choose to maintain it and keep it in good condition, but the main purpose is as a means of egress. Buildings without a secondary means of egress to all portions of the building which are used for habitation are required to have an added pathway to flee in an emergency, in most jurisdictions.
Like many historic urban areas throughout the United states, this particular row of buildings is built with houses side by side joined together at a shared demising wall. The row of these houses, shown here at the alley has a different type of configuration or exterior access or decks built at each one. In some cases they are just decks for the enjoyment of the outside, but in other cases they are just egress stairways. In some cases they are a mixture of both decks and landings with an egress stairway attached.
We continue referring to this as an egress stairway but these stairways could also be used for access too. In some cases, particularly where single unit dwelling row homes are split into multiple different apartments, one unit may enter from the front of the building at a single unit entry doorway and a additional unit for the upstairs, for example, may enter through the rear of the building.
In situations are configurations like that the upstairs apartment should also have a secondary means of egress in addition to the main entry at the rear of the building. And those types of circumstances, windows can also be used as a means of egress if the windows meet certain configuration and size requirements.
The picture below show is an example of a deck at the top floor rear of the building where the deck is set up just as a deck and has no stair for access or egress. If a secondary means of egress is used through a window, one of the types of requirements may be that the operable and opening part of the window has to be almost six square feet in clear net area.
The next picture below shows the hybrid type configuration or circumstance that we described where the deck and the stairway can be used in combination for both a place to enjoy the outdoor space and also as a pathway for access and egress to enter or leave the building or the specific units or apartments of the building.
The building assembly shown in the next picture below is very similar, but the overall construction is a little bit larger because it has a total of three decks and two large midlandings. One of the benefits to the configuration shown below is that people do not have to walk across the deck of one unit to access another one above.
In the picture above, by comparison, you’d have to walk across the middle level deck, for example, to access the deck or entry at the top floor of the building. In the picture shown below, this deck is different, and each unit or level of the building can have a bit of their own space where it can be private because other people don’t have to access the middle level deck, for example to get to the top floor, because the stairways run offset from the decks themselves.
Use a contractor who understands and cares about doing things right. Always, feel free to reach out to us here at Dupont Decks and Patios. We are happy to help with almost all steps of the deck building and design process. A backyard and outdoor space should make a significant, positive impact on both quality of life and home value. We can help with more than just decks, we also build patios, pergolas, ramadas, awnings, gazebos, arbors, and privacy fences.
Let us know about your ideas and talk to us if you have questions about possibilities. We are happy to participate in improving your outdoor space and quality of life! You can call us at (202) 774-9128. You can find us online at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com and you can email us there as well at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com/contact-us
