Fence or deck costs in Hartford

Hartford's signature apartment house is the Perfect 6: six units stacked three high and two wide, built from about 1880 to 1920. The city's preservation guidelines list a rear wood exit stair and balcony among its typical features. If you own one, your deck project may well be that back stair and balcony, with its treads, rails and posts.

Check the historic status before you plan the work. Hartford requires historic review and approval before it issues a building or demolition permit for any property in a local, state or national historic district, or one that contains a historic landmark. You can look up your lot on the city's planning map. Some requests can be approved by staff. Others go before the Historic Preservation Commission, and the city says changes in material in historic districts must be heard by the commission. The ordinance doesn't control paint color, but it does control materials.

For porches, the guidelines favor keeping and repairing what's there and putting back missing porch features. They advise against enclosing an open porch that was never enclosed. If you must enclose one, they suggest setting the enclosure behind the columns and railings and filling the opening with divided glass. Taking a porch off and not replacing it sits on the not-recommended list.