Fence or deck costs in Greensboro

Around Greensboro, the office that checks your deck depends on where you live. Guilford County's Inspections Department serves the towns that use it, such as Summerfield, Oak Ridge and Jamestown. In those towns, you get a development clearance from the town before you apply for any permit.

The county's deck guidance is specific. Decks and porches built on decks must follow Appendix M of the NC Residential Code. A deck floor more than 30 inches above grade needs guardrails. Once the floor sits 4 feet or higher, the deck needs detailed bracing, whether it stands alone or attaches to the house. If you want a hot tub on it, or the posts run tall, a North Carolina registered design professional has to design it. That adds a design step before the build.

High Point, the metro's second city, runs its own counter. It wants a zoning fence permit for any fence, on any lot. Fences can't go in a street right-of-way, or in an easement or protected drainage area unless the holder approves. In a local historic district, the Historic Preservation Commission may approve a fence or deck but ask for evergreen screening from the street.

More than four in ten of Greensboro's homes were built before 1980. If your deck dates from those years, have someone check how it's fastened to the house and how the posts meet the ground, not just the boards on top.