Fence or deck costs in Albany

In Albany's suburbs, the depth of a deck footing comes from each town's design table under the state code. Guilderland's table, for one, puts the frost line at 42 inches. It rates termite risk as slight. It rates weathering, the code's measure of freeze damage to concrete and masonry, as severe. For you, that means deep piers and good concrete matter more than termite shields.

The city itself has old, shared housing. Roughly four in ten of its homes went up in 1939 or earlier, and about a quarter are in buildings with just two homes.

Inside the city, the fence sheet focuses on what you build with. It bans canvas, cloth, wire mesh, chicken wire and snow fencing for any permanent fence. There's no required gap between a fence and your lot line, unless another part of the zoning chapter sets one.

And the code doesn't stop once the fence is up. It says fences have to be kept structurally sound, and deteriorated parts or finishes must be repaired or replaced. So a leaning, peeling fence along your side yard isn't only an eyesore. Under the city code, it's something you're expected to fix.