Decks and porches for homes in Greenfield and Gansevoort

A deck in Greenfield or Gansevoort sits on a different kind of property than one in a village. The lots are bigger, a lot of them are wooded, yards tend to slope, and most houses run on a private well and a septic system. All of that changes where the footings can go, how high the deck ends up off the ground, and how fast the boards weather. So we start a plan out here by walking the land, then look at the house.

What the land is like up here

Greenfield sits north and northwest of Saratoga Springs and is mostly rural. Along the older roads there are farmhouses from the 1800s, then mid-century houses, then newer homes on wooded lots built over the last few decades. The Gansevoort area, north of Wilton, has a similar mix of old and new on larger parcels.

On these lots the deck tends to be a real outdoor room, not a landing outside the back door. Trees crowd in close, so there's shade, leaf drop and slow drying. Rolling ground and walkout basements are common. And wells and septic are the norm.

None of that is a problem. It just raises questions a builder who works mostly in subdivisions might not think to ask.

Find the septic and the well line before anything else

Before anyone marks a footing, find out where your septic tank, distribution box and leach field are, and where the well and its buried water line run. Footings, an excavator and a deck frame don't belong on top of a leach field. The tank lid also has to stay reachable for the pump truck. If you don't have a septic drawing, the company that pumps your tank or the original permit records may be able to help.

Other things that turn up on rural lots: a buried electric line out to the garage or a shed, a propane line, an invisible dog fence. Call 811 a few days before digging and the public utilities get marked. Private lines on your own property are usually yours to locate.

Walkouts make for tall decks

A walkout basement on a sloped lot often puts the kitchen door eight or ten feet above the yard. A deck up there is a different animal from a low platform two steps off the patio.

Any deck surface more than 30 inches above grade needs guards at least 36 inches high, with openings a 4-inch sphere can't pass through. At ten feet up, nobody argues with that.

The stair down to the yard gets long. It needs a handrail wherever there are four or more risers, set 34 to 38 inches high, and depending on the total rise it may need a landing partway down.

Tall posts need proper footings, solid connections at top and bottom, and bracing against sideways movement. The building department will look at all of it.

The space underneath can become shaded storage or a patio, but rain and snowmelt fall straight through the gaps in the boards unless you add an under-deck drainage system.

When the ground falls away from the house, a deck that steps down in levels with the grade keeps each level closer to the ground and the guards shorter. On any raised deck, the ledger connection to the house carries a big share of the load, so read our post on deck ledger board inspection.

Trees are why you live here, and they're hard on decks

People buy in Greenfield and Gansevoort for the woods. The woods also decide how a deck ages. Shade slows drying after rain and snowmelt. Leaves, pine needles and pollen pack into the board gaps and hold water against the edges. Mildew and green algae grow on any surface that rarely sees full sun.

A wood deck under trees needs cleaning more often and closer attention to the finish. Our guide on how often to stain a deck shows how to tell when the finish is gone. Capped composite handles moisture better but still needs a wash in shady spots. We lay out the tradeoffs in composite vs wood decking in upstate NY, and on a heavily shaded lot we lean toward composite.

Look up before you build. Dead limbs hanging over a deck come down in ice storms. Roots also get in the way of footing holes, and digging close to a big tree can cut roots the tree needs.

Old farmhouse porches

The farmhouses around here often have a front porch or a wraparound that's been out in the weather for a very long time. What we tend to find: rot at the bottoms of the columns, soft floorboards near the outer edge where the drip line hits, loose railings, and a porch roof sagging where a post settled. Most of the time the fix is replacing the failed pieces with new ones milled to the same profile, not tearing the porch off. Our post on porch railing repair covers what to check.

Some owners decide a porch they rarely sit on would do more as a closed-in room. That's a bigger job, with its own foundation and insulation questions, covered in turning a porch into a four-season room.

Which building department?

New decks and most porch work need a building permit. Gansevoort addresses fall in more than one town, so the first step is confirming which town's building department covers your property. Ask them about footing depth, what drawings they want, and when inspections happen. Get those answers before the plan is drawn so nobody has to redraw it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a deck over or near my septic field?

Not on top of the leach field, and the septic tank has to stay open for pumping. Find the system before you plan footings, and ask your town's building department or the health authority about required distances.

Do tall decks on walkout lots need special design?

Yes. Guards at least 36 inches high, a proper stair with a handrail and possibly a landing, and posts, footings and bracing sized for the height. The building department reviews all of that on the permit drawings.

Is composite a better choice on a shady wooded lot?

Often, because it absorbs little water and never needs stain. It still collects leaves and can grow mildew in the shade, so plan on a spring cleaning. Wood works too, if you keep up with the cleaning and the finish.

We build decks, stairs and railings and repair old porches across northern Saratoga County. Some of that work is on our decks, stairs and railings page, and the rest of the towns we cover are on the Capital Region page.