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Outdoor Living & Decks · Alpharetta, GA
Decks & Outdoor Living in Alpharetta, Georgia
Covered porches, screened rooms, decks, and outdoor kitchens built to be used in August as well as October.
Outdoor Living and Decks in Alpharetta
Shade is the whole project. The roof is how you get it
The deck behind a Windward or Webb Bridge house was framed with the house, out of pressure treated pine, and it faces west more often than not. From May to September it is unusable after three in the afternoon, which is the exact stretch of the year you would want to be out there. Replacing the boards fixes the gray. It does not fix the sun. A roof does, and once there is a roof, a fireplace, a fan, a television, and a bar window from the kitchen all become possible.
A covered porch is a structure. It carries roof load through posts into footings that have to be sized for it, it ties into a roofline that was never drawn to receive it, and it needs flashing at that seam that is still dry in year ten. Alpharetta treats it accordingly. A site plan with setbacks, easements, and buffers, a plan review, and where the footprint runs close to a line, a surveyor’s as-built before the certificate of completion is issued. That is a general contractor’s job, not a deck crew’s.
Scope of Work
What we build outside
Most decks run 2 to 4 weeks of construction. Covered and screened porches run 5 to 10 weeks, longer with an outdoor kitchen or a masonry fireplace.
Covered porches
A roofed structure carrying real load down to sized footings, tied into an existing roofline that was never drawn to receive it.
Screened rooms
Screen, door, and framing detailed so the view stays open, worth it on the wooded and lakefront lots north of town.
Decks and rebuilds
New decking and framing, or a full rebuild where a twenty-year-old pressure treated deck has reached the end of it.
Outdoor kitchens
Gas, water, drainage, and power planned in at framing instead of surface-mounted afterward, with counters built for weather.
Fireplaces and fire features
Masonry fireplaces and chimneys, permitted in the same submittal as the structure itself.
Grading, patios, and stone
Hardscape, steps, and drainage so the water leaves the way you want it to rather than the way the lot decides.
Local Requirements
Permitting and design review in Alpharetta
Permitting is handled by City of Alpharetta Community Development. Here is what actually shapes the schedule on an outdoor living project in Alpharetta.
Ten business days for the first round of comments
Alpharetta asks applicants to allow ten business days to receive plan review comments, and every correction cycle after that starts the clock again. A complete, coordinated first submittal is worth weeks on your schedule, so we do not send drawings in early to look busy.
A porch is an addition on paper, with a survey behind it
Because a deck or covered porch changes the footprint, Alpharetta treats it like an addition. That means a site plan drawn at one inch to thirty feet showing setbacks, easements, buffers, and drainage structures, and an Engineering Department permit card if a specimen tree is affected. Anything built within a foot of a setback or easement, or within five feet of a buffer, has to be confirmed by a Georgia registered surveyor’s as-built before the city will close the permit.
The Design Review Board and the downtown guidelines
Work in and around the Downtown Alpharetta Historic District falls under the city’s Design Review Board ordinance and the Downtown Design Guidelines, which govern facade design, massing, and placement. Additions on those blocks get designed against the guidelines from the first sketch.
The Unified Development Code sets the envelope
Setbacks, height, and lot coverage all come out of Alpharetta’s Unified Development Code. On a tight infill lot near downtown, the UDC often decides whether an addition goes out or up before anyone picks a finish.
HOA review runs alongside the city, not after it
Windward, Academy Park, and most of Alpharetta’s established neighborhoods require architectural review from the association. We prepare those submittals in parallel with the city application so the two approvals land close together.
Why GHIR
Why Alpharetta homeowners choose GHIR
The plat and the setbacks come first
Alpharetta prohibits any structure from encroaching into a setback, easement, or buffer without written approval, and requires an as-built survey when a footprint lands within a foot of a line. We lay the footings out against the recorded plat before the design is final.
The roof tie-in is detailed, not improvised
Where new roof meets old is where these projects fail. We detail the flashing and the structural connection during design and look at it before it is covered.
Lighting that passes the Night Sky rules
Alpharetta’s Green Communities Ordinance regulates outdoor lighting. Fixtures on a porch or around an outdoor kitchen get chosen to comply, which is easier on the drawing than after the inspector points at them.
HOA review in parallel with the city
Windward, Academy Park, and most established Alpharetta neighborhoods run architectural review on anything visible from the street or a neighbor. We prepare that submittal alongside the city’s so the two approvals land together.
Project Collection
Recent outdoor living in and around Alpharetta & North Georgia
Basement Remodel & Deck Rebuild
Kohler Project
Alpharetta, GA
Porch & Outdoor Living Addition
Smith Project
Cumming, GA
Deck Rebuild
Kelly Project
Cumming, GA
Deck Rebuild
Barnes Project
Cumming, GA
Areas We Serve
Outdoor Living and Decks across Alpharetta & North Fulton
Much of Alpharetta’s single-family stock went up between the mid-1980s and the late 1990s, when Windward and the Webb Bridge corridor filled in. Those homes were built well, and they were built for a floor plan nobody wants now: a formal living room nobody sits in, and a kitchen walled off from everything.
How It Works
Your outdoor living project, step by step
Free consultation at your home
We look at the roofline, the grade, the sun, and where the buffers and easements sit before talking about size.
Design and line-item budget
A structure drawn to tie into the existing house, priced by trade with real allowances.
Permits and plat review
Submittal to City of Alpharetta Community Development with a scaled site plan and your recorded plat, plus Environmental Health approval when the home is on septic.
Construction
Footings, framing, roof tie-in and flashing, then decking, screen, and finish.
Walkthrough
A punch walkthrough, with the roof seam and the flashing the first things we look at.
★★★★★
“The porch is where we live now. They found the drainage easement on the plat before anyone dug and moved the footprint four feet, so we never had a problem.”
Verified Google Review
Covered Porch · Alpharetta, GA
Common Questions
Outdoor Living and Decks in Alpharetta FAQs
Do I need a permit to build a deck in Alpharetta?
Yes. A deck, a covered porch, or a screened room changes the exterior footprint, so the city requires a building permit with a site plan drawn at one inch to thirty feet showing property lines, setbacks, easements, buffers, drainage structures, and the footprint of everything existing and proposed. If a specimen tree is affected, the Engineering Department has to issue its permit card first. Footings go a minimum of twelve inches deep, and the electrical, gas, and plumbing work for an outdoor kitchen or fireplace each carry a separate trade permit.
Should I screen it, roof it, or leave it open?
In this climate the roof does more work than the screen. Shade makes the space usable from May through September, and a covered but open porch still gets the breeze. Screen earns its cost on wooded lots and near water, which describes the Big Creek side of town. Most of what we build is a covered section with open decking off the side of it for the grill and the view.
What does the city charge for a porch permit?
Alpharetta publishes its formula. A base fee of $5.50 per $1,000 of construction cost, a plan review fee of $2.75 per $1,000, an $85 erosion inspection fee because ground is disturbed, and a $100 certificate of completion fee. On a covered porch that runs from a few hundred dollars to about a thousand on the larger builds, and it sits as its own line in the budget we give you.
What areas around Alpharetta do you serve?
We are based in Dawsonville and work throughout North Georgia, including Alpharetta, Cumming, Johns Creek, Milton, Buford, Gainesville, Suwanee, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Dahlonega.
Are you a licensed general contractor in Georgia?
Yes. GHIR holds Georgia Unlimited GC licenses #GCCO006076 and #GCQA006072, plus Florida GC #CGC1527188. We are a NARI Atlanta member and fully insured.
Do you offer financing?
Yes. We offer unsecured project financing up to $150,000 with no home equity required. Ask during your free consultation.
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