You could also put your stairs off to the side on the right, coming straight out of the house.

I personally don't love deck stairs that arrive in the middle of a yard, so if I have to pick of those 2, I'd go with #2. That also leaves you with more deck to use. With #1 you're blocking off doing anything underneath your deck - at least it will feel kind of cave like under there instead of open. And you need to leave a lot more of your deck for circulation.

Thanks anj_p!

We were originally leaning towards Option #1 but after visualizing it, I totally agree with you about Option #2.

One reason we're running the stairs perpendicular to the house is bc of the slope downward towards the back of the backyard (would need a longer run of stairs and the slope would continue to settle over time).

We actually only have access from the left side of the house in the photos; the right side is just a gutter/crawl space access.

Can you explain what you mean by "you need to leave a lot more of your deck for circulation"?

Yes. To reach the stairs at the far end of your deck, you need an aisle/pathway to get there. The furniture you show is your only option if you go with option 1, because the rest of the deck is needed to access the stairs. In option 2, you can have your furniture anywhere beyond the first 3' of deck. You could essentially put twice as much furniture on your deck - another sectional, a dining table, a grill...that space doesn't need to stay open so people can access the stairs.

And the reason I like the stairs off to the right is because it looks like an unused part of your yard - that means the stairs wouldn't take up space you'd have another use for (landscaping etc). The expense of more stairs is a concern, you are correct. We actually have a similar deck and are putting our stairs exactly in that spot (on the right coming straight off the house) because it's not a very used part of our yard. But you get a shorter run of stairs by putting them down against the house, so it's really a 6 of one/half dozen of another decision IMO.

Thanks!

Yeah the only considerations about them running against the house is there's a bathroom window there (I don't think this would create any privacy issues but have to do final measurements), and there's also a security cam and garden hose that might need to be relocated.

I like the rationale of having them come down on the right but would have to think about it some more and how we'd redesign the ground level (Option #1 would connect to existing hardscape/path down to back of yard; Option #2 would connect to an existing path that's from the left side of the house).

Would love to see your deck / any design photos if you'd be open to sharing!

#2. Less wasted yard.

Sure, our deck is being built at the end of the month, also using timbertech. This is our deck guy's drawing. Our house is flip-flopped from yours...we are about 8" from our setback line on the left side. Our sliders are on the right (11'-6" wall), and we have no windows to the left of that. I would have liked the stairs closer to our sliders but didn't want deck in front of our living room windows (to the right). We also have basement windows that I wanted to limit covering as much as possible. I considered wrapping the stairs around the deck but the landing would take up almost as much space as the stairs do so decided against it.

I like #2 also but I'd make it bigger if you can, so you can have a seating area and a dining table. We have a similar situation in our backward, although half the height. But guests are drawn out there when we entertain, my husband and I sit out there to visit and have a beverage on nice days, and we eat outside as a family whenever we can. I think you'd end up using it maybe more than you think and would be glad for the large space.

Thanks stiley. We could go bigger, but this is technically the lower level of the house (guest room and family room is on this level; our main kitchen and living are on the level above).

Not 100% sure we'd bring dinner / food all the way down but maybe...?

Curious how big is your deck?

Another comment, with two young children do you really want one single flight of stairs that leads all the way down to concrete? For our deck, when we expanded it, we ran the stairs off the side of the deck, with a landing and turn half-way down across the "front" of the deck, so any fall would only be half the length of the entire stairway

at 16x20 you will be able to do it with a single deck board (we have to use 2 for ours).

We have ours at 16'x28' (usable 14 x 28) but this is off our main level so we will have a grill space, seating space & maybe dining space (although I hear the bees are bad so we may not do that).

I found this article helpful when planning ours https://decksbye3.com/how-to-figure-out-the-right-size-deck-for-lounging-dining-or-grilling/

Regarding stair landings and safety...kids are young for a blink of an eye. We have straight stairs inside our house as well and it wasn't a consideration of whether our kid would fall down them when we bought the house. Sure, it might help in the "just in case" scenario that there's a shorter run of stairs, but I wouldn't force it into the design. As I said, I considered adding a landing as well - not really due to falling but more for aesthetics. I think landings look nicer. If it had taken up less of our yard to do it, I would have. But ultimately I wasn't going to pay more for a landing when it doesn't do much other than make things marginally safer. Plus the straight stair will be a LOT more fun to sled down in winter. :D

Consider also that at 12' high you have space underneath the deck. . . for whatever. If you think you might capture that space within the posts, then your stair location might play in that. Option#1 might block the view/disconnect it, Option#2 wouldn't. Also consider how the man door down there is affected by stair placement (like if you go off to the right). And, maybe you can alter/expand the paver circle, so don't limit yourself to a stair landing on it like Option#1. No right/wrong answer, just things to think about.

Thanks both 🙏🏻 for the additional thoughts. Just fyi, the door on the lowest level is to a crawl space under the house, but yes, definitely something to consider (in terms of not blocking it).

Curious if anyone knows: What's the largest size (extending out from the house) deck we could have with only one row of footers?

This is more if we wanted to maximize the space underneath the deck; I think 16' requires two sets of footers (8 total), but just trying to weigh how important it would be to minimize the # of posts under there.

Our deck has a header that's attached to the house that will support the house side. We have 6 foundations (we are doing Goliath tech piles). It was my understanding that it was the length of lumbar that controls things (joists). We had to go up a size to get to 16. Any wider and we'd need bigger joists.

@HU-673793905 I'm not sure exactly how large ours is but it does wrap around the house between the living room and the kitchen. With your kitchen on another level, you're right that it may be too much hassle to carry things.

If you are planning around spans and footings, are building this yourself, or even paying a contractor to build it, it is best to reference the AWC Prescriptive Residential Wood Deck Construction Guide. If your location does not have specificity in deck codes or does not reference the AWC, this is the bible regarding deck construction.