I was going to reply that we call those smoking decks.
Good for stepping out of the house and having the last cigarette of the day before you go to bed.
You missed the point. Even if the porch was a reasonable size, you’re going to be blocking the window under. Whoever designed this must have been on something.
The home can’t be signed off as safe without some kind of deck built. The homeowner may not want whatever deck design the builder is slapping on the rest of the cookie cutter houses, or wants a composite deck but the builder only does wood, budget, could be a lot of reasons. But the builder did this tiny deck because the house needs to be safe before the homeowner takes possession
When my sister built her house they wanted a deck but it wasn't in the budget yet. It was cheaper to install the door and build a little "placeholder" deck exactly like this to meet code than it would have been to add the door when they built the deck a couple years later. I'm assuming that's what's happened here.
Eta: the outlet to the right of the deck makes me think a larger one is coming.
Good eye. It’s a new build too - so likely an, “oh shit we’re over budget” moment. Buyer should look for other corners cut as a reputable builder would have cash reserves, and/or better budgeting skills.
Reading this I’m just now realizing how few inspections must have happened at my house I grew up in…. My dad basically built it himself, and there was a door in their second floor bedroom that opened onto nothing until I was in college and they finally added a deck.
I went to a house that had the same thing done by the builder, it was literally a smoking deck. It was so stupid. We tore it down and built them a real deck.
The whole reason to do this is to tear it down and then build a real one. It’s not the small deck that is stupid. If anything it is appraisal policy that is stupid.
A lot of new houses leave off the deck to get the sticker price of the house down and then the HOA imposes fines if you don’t build one by X months (12-24). This is a great example of “I don’t want a deck but my HOA is making me have one so this is technically a deck.” You’ll see this a lot if you look for it.
As an electrician myself, I can't keep my eyes off of the cut in spot for the receptacle that's like 5' away from the deck and something like 10' off of the ground. It absolutely cracks me up lmao. Imagine someone trying to plug their phone chart r into that thing while they sit on the tiniest little folding chair you've ever seen.
This is the kind of house where I look at it and say to myself the owner wanted the largest house that they could get for the least amount of money and this is what you get; the most uninspiring vinyl siding vinyl window piece of s*** look that money can buy.
The deck as built is fine. For not much more money, and certainly minimal added labor cost, I would’ve made the deck as wide as the whole sliding door assembly, realizing that it might block some of the light getting into the first floor windows below.
The deck is not wide enough to cover both doors. How in the hell are you going to use that outlet to the right ( facing the deck ) . What amateur drew up the plans for the window on the left not the same height as the door ( How did that actually happen with the framing ) ? The amount of questions from this one photo makes me want to see the entire project for what has to be a record in WTF were they thinking construction.
I guess it’s fine if that’s all you need, but the size would bother me. I mean you already had to go through the trouble of fastening a ledger and setting posts, beam, and footings. Why not just make it 2x or even 4x the size. The slight increase in labor time and materials costs would be so minimal on an already 1 day job. It’s like you could have done 5 or 6 hours of work and 5 or 600 in materials instead of 3 or 4 hours of work and 3 or 400 in materials, and had 4x more deck.
Just remember, it’s not the size of your deck, it’s how you use it that matters. You could direct a matching band from there. Don’t hold back. The possibilities are not endless.
When smoking is more important than entertaining.