Deck Builder in Catonsville, MD

Is my Catonsville lot in the floodplain?

Check before you design anything. Catonsville borders Patapsco Valley State Park, and properties near the river or a stream may sit in a mapped floodplain. The county’s Permit Review Tool shows your parcel’s status, and we look it up before drawing a deck.

If your lot is in the floodplain, two things change. A deck needs a county permit no matter how small or low it is. And a floodplain building permit can’t be closed until a professional land surveyor supplies two elevation certificates. Baltimore County’s floodplain rules were last amended by Council Bill 6-24, effective May 2024.

Designing a deck for an older Catonsville house

Old Catonsville’s Victorian and colonial houses and the streetcar-era homes of Summit Park have trim, porches and rooflines that a generic deck can clash with. We spend time on the details that tie a deck to the house. Railing style and color matter, along with where the stairs land, skirting that hides the framing, and a stain or composite color that works with the siding or brick.

Winters Lane’s wood-frame singles and duplexes, built from 1867 into the 1940s, need particular care where the deck meets the house. On a wood-sided wall, the ledger and its flashing are what keep rainwater out of old framing, so we open the siding, flash the ledger properly and close it back up.

On some older houses a ground-level patio fits better than a raised deck. Our patios and walkways work covers paver patios and seat walls.

National Register listing doesn’t send a deck through county design review. In Catonsville, Landmarks Preservation Commission review applies only to the two single-property county districts, the Ahearn-Braid House and the Rest-Melby House, and to Landmarks List properties.

Decks behind Westview Park and 1980s homes

Westview Park’s 1955 to 1967 houses and Catonsville’s 1980s neighborhoods have simpler rear walls, and many already have a pressure-treated deck that has aged. Before recommending anything, we look at the ledger and its flashing, the posts where they enter the ground, joist ends and every railing post.

If the frame is sound, refinishing may be the better value. We’ve sanded and refinished wood decks with sunburst railings and stained others a reddish brown. If the frame is failing, we rebuild from new footings, in composite or wood. A rebuild is also the moment to rethink the size and stair location, since the old layout was often chosen decades ago for a different household.

Paperwork the county asks for

A deck under 600 square feet needs a site plan for its permit. At 600 square feet or more, construction plans are added, and above 3,000 square feet they must be sealed by a Maryland-licensed design professional. Outside the floodplain, the permit trigger is the usual one: higher than 16 inches above grade or bigger than 120 square feet. We draw the site plan with the deck’s dimensions and its distance to property lines. Confirm for your address.

See our main decks page for materials, our exterior stairs page for steps and landings, and kitchen remodeling in Catonsville if inside work is next.