Washington County
Large-lot deck building in Lake Elmo (55042)
A semi-rural feel holds here, with older homes on wooded acreage and newer subdivisions near the Park Reserve, so most decks we design have room to grow and long views to frame.
- Answered 24/7
- Serving 55042
Lake Elmo at a glance
Designing decks for Lake Elmo's open lots and newer streets
Lake Elmo looks different from most of its neighbors along I-94. Large parcels, open fields and stands of oak surround the old village, and many homes from the 1970s through the 1990s sit well back from the road on an acre or more. Those houses tend to have long wood decks that have been stained many times and are now checking, splitting and cupping. With space on every side, the conversation is rarely about squeezing a deck in. It's about how far to go, which views to frame and whether a screened porch or a pergola belongs on part of it.
Newer subdivisions closer to the Park Reserve and the Highway 5 corridor bring a different starting point: a two-story walkout with a builder deck, or just a patio door waiting for one. Here we plan full decks with composite boards and aluminum or cable rails, often with stairs down to a paver patio and a fire pit. Rural lots on wells and septic need extra care during layout, since footings and equipment must stay clear of the system. Wherever a property touches a lake or wetland, we check shoreland and watershed rules with the city before drawing anything.
Lake Elmo deck questions we hear on site visits
Long decks with tired boards
Wide wood decks on acreage homes take full sun and weather from every side. If the frame is sound, resurfacing with composite and new rails avoids the cost of new framing and ends the yearly staining routine.
Framing the view, not the rail
Open fields and tree lines are the reason many people moved out here. Cable or aluminum rails with slim posts keep the view clear from a seat, and we place stairs where they don't interrupt it.
Planning around wells and septic
Rural lots often have a well, a septic tank and a drain field near the back of the house. We mark all three before design and keep footings, stair pads and machine access well away from them.
Porches for summer evenings
Wooded edges and wetlands bring mosquitoes by June. A screened porch on part of a large deck gives you a sheltered room for dinner while the rest of the deck stays open to the sun.
Deck services Lake Elmo homeowners call us for
Typical prices for these jobs in Lake Elmo
Ranges from 2026 Twin Cities projects. Your price comes in a written scope after we see the site.
| Service | Typical range | Priced |
|---|---|---|
| Deck Resurfacing and Board Replacement | $27 to $54 | per square foot |
| Screened Porch Building | $24,800 to $68,500 | per porch |
| Cable Railing Installation | $118 to $247 | per linear foot |
| Paver Patio Installation | $19 to $47 | per square foot |
| Outdoor Kitchens and Fire Pits | $2,380 to $46,900 | per project, fire pit to full kitchen |
| Custom Deck Building | $38 to $96 | per square foot installed |
Deck questions from Lake Elmo
Should I resurface or replace the long wood deck on my Lake Elmo acreage home?
It depends on the frame. We pull a few boards, probe joists and beams, check the ledger flashing and confirm the footings reach 42 inches. If all of that holds up, new composite boards and rails on the existing frame make sense. If the joists are soft or spaced too far apart for composite, a full replacement is the better long-term choice.
Can you build a deck and a paver patio together at a new Lake Elmo home?
Yes, and planning them together usually works better than building one at a time. We set the deck height and stair landing so the stairs come down onto the patio, slope drainage away from the house and leave room for a fire pit or grill station. One set of drawings covers the deck permit, and the patio goes in the same season.
Which railing keeps the field views open from a Lake Elmo deck?
Cable railing gives the most open look, with thin stainless cables strung between posts. Aluminum rails with narrow balusters come close and usually cost less. Glass panels block wind best but show smudges and need cleaning. We bring samples and can mock up a section at your deck height so you can sit down and compare sightlines.
Nearby areas we serve
Deck work in Lake Elmo? Call any hour.
We are on the phone 24/7 and on site across Lake Elmo every week. Tell us about the deck and we will set a visit.