Missing deck dangerous?

[BenSanderson]

I`m looking at purchasing a single detached with a sloping grade downward from the front of the house to the back. This means that the basement walks out to ground level and the main level is about 12 feet higher up. Main floor has sliders at the back that look out into the back yard, but no deck has ever been attached there. This means that when the sliders are opened, you could fall out of the house into the back yard, 12 feet down.

If I was to put an RTO tenant in there, what are my liabilities for this admittedly less-than-safe issue? Aside from forking out $8000 to put a deck on there, is there any other solution to fix this set up?

 

[housingrental]

Check with building department.
You don`t want to leave as is.
You might be able to block it off though from exterior and interior so it can`t be opened like a large window.
But check with city on this.

That being said even if so, in most properties buyers want to see decks.

 

[dplummer]

In Ontario I believe this is a code infraction at least a safety issue. I would strongly suggest installing something to prevent the door from opening or build a deck. I`m not a lawyer but I would think you`d be in some hot water should a child or anyone for that matter falls out that door. Just my 2 cents.

Doug

 

[RCrein]

QUOTE (housingrental @ Feb 28 2010, 01:05 PM) Check with building department.
You don`t want to leave as is.
You might be able to block it off though from exterior and interior so it can`t be opened like a large window.
But check with city on this.

That being said even if so, in most properties buyers want to see decks.

You can always screw a bracket or block in to keep the door closed or you could use the same solution to allow the door to be opened less than 4 inches to allow breeze. Most building codes set the distance between railing ballasters to prevent kids getting through them. If you limit the distance to the same or less used elsewhere on the house you should be safe. If you want to add an idiot label it`s easy to print off a small label and tape it to the glass near the handle. Best of luck with your investment.

 

[Tootse]

QUOTE (BenSanderson @ Feb 28 2010, 01:48 PM) I`m looking at purchasing a single detached with a sloping grade downward from the front of the house to the back. This means that the basement walks out to ground level and the main level is about 12 feet higher up. Main floor has sliders at the back that look out into the back yard, but no deck has ever been attached there. This means that when the sliders are opened, you could fall out of the house into the back yard, 12 feet down.

If I was to put an RTO tenant in there, what are my liabilities for this admittedly less-than-safe issue? Aside from forking out $8000 to put a deck on there, is there any other solution to fix this set up?


I wouldn`t rent to anyone until I had a deck/doorstep on, but you can use your own discretion (sp). Perhaps you put a small doorstep with a small landing at the door, and have it lead down to some patio stones on the ground. This might be cheaper than building a large deck. For this not to look silly and rinky-dink, I think you would want to make sure the patio staones and general area at ground level to look organized/well laid out.

Tootse

 

[Pheenix]

Hi Ben
$8000 problem, is this your`s or vendor`s really? Especially if it is a code violation.

Was it removed or never built?

Alternate suggestion: make it look mediterranan perhaps, section of recovered wrought iron railing, offset from the wall at each end by a few inches, painted to compliment or, something similar in wooden pickets - allows the door to be used for ventilation at least, but secure screen door to frame so it is non-operative, possibly restrict amount slider can open otherwise - watch min/max clearances and `baby spacing` issues (talk to city). Just make sure it looks planned!

Liability is always a question for a lawyer. Put some acknowledgements in RTO documents as well maybe.

Good luck.

 

[BenSanderson]

Thanks for the advice everybody!

I`ll check with the city and my lawyer tomorrow to see if it`s even legal to sell the place like it is. There was never a deck built there, so I`m not sure what the builder was thinking...

At the very least, I should have some ammo for negotiating a better deal.

 

[vandriani]

You may want to consider removing the slider and installing windows. I`m guessing the cost would less, I but cannot confirm this. Regardless, I would use this as a negotiation tactic on purchase.

 

[aiden1983]

QUOTE (RCrein @ Feb 28 2010, 11:40 AM) You can always screw a bracket or block in to keep the door closed or you could use the same solution to allow the door to be opened less than 4 inches to allow breeze. Most building codes set the distance between railing ballasters to prevent kids getting through them. If you limit the distance to the same or less used elsewhere on the house you should be safe. If you want to add an idiot label it`s easy to print off a small label and tape it to the glass near the handle. Best of luck with your investment.

This is what we have done in the past.

 

[retiredby50]

Here`s the opportunity I see here. Use the deck as a negotiating tool. Get a quote or two to build a deck (which can be done based on the square footage)and add the quote as an appendix to your offer, so the seller understands you are taking off the cost of a new deck.

Then call the builder and get your `free` deck built. Now the house will be much more sale-able/rent-able to a much wider audience: "Relax on warm summer evenings on your brand new X by X foot wood deck as the barbeque sizzles and the birds sing."...and the mosquitos make off with a pint of your blood...

And by the way, building decks is one of the things I do, and there`s no way you need to spend 8K, unless Cambridge Ontario is incredibly expensive. I just did an 18 X 12 for a client for under 5K in Calgary area.

My two bits
Keith

 

[BenSanderson]

QUOTE (retiredby50 @ Mar 9 2010, 10:27 AM) Here`s the opportunity I see here. Use the deck as a negotiating tool. Get a quote or two to build a deck (which can be done based on the square footage)and add the quote as an appendix to your offer, so the seller understands you are taking off the cost of a new deck.

Then call the builder and get your `free` deck built. Now the house will be much more sale-able/rent-able to a much wider audience: "Relax on warm summer evenings on your brand new X by X foot wood deck as the barbeque sizzles and the birds sing."...and the mosquitos make off with a pint of your blood...

And by the way, building decks is one of the things I do, and there`s no way you need to spend 8K, unless Cambridge Ontario is incredibly expensive. I just did an 18 X 12 for a client for under 5K in Calgary area.

My two bits
Keith

We actually were successful in negotiating a lower price (by about $6000) based on the `inconvenience` of us having to put a deck on there to show it to prospective tenants. Our quotes that came back were in the neighbourhood of about $3000 for a basic 12` x 12` deck without stairs to the lower level. It would be built so that the eventual addition of stairs would be easy and straight forward. Works for us, and I`m sure the tenants will love the feature!