Deck questions, answered for Amherst

Yes. Town Code requires a building permit before you commence erecting or altering a structure, and a deck is a structure. The permit expires if work has not begun within six months of issue, and the work has to be finished inside two years.

A completed application form, three copies of a survey or site plan with the deck drawn on it showing dimensions, setbacks and property lines, and three sets of scaled working plans covering the foundation, the floor framing, the stairs and the guards.

The 2025 Residential Code of New York State. The State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council repealed the 2020 Uniform Code in July 2025 and adopted the 2025 edition, which took effect at the end of that year. The older code is no longer the one in force.

Below the local frost line. Under the state code each jurisdiction fills in its own design values, so that depth is the Town of Amherst's number rather than a state one. The town does not publish it online, so it gets confirmed with the Building Department for your address.

If the deck gets lighting or outlets, yes. All electrical work in Amherst needs its own permit and inspection, and electricians working in the town have to be licensed by the town itself.

There is no statewide contractor licence in New York for this trade. Licensing and registration are handled at municipal level. In this town the requirement is Town of Amherst registration for home improvement contractors, under Local Law 6 of 2011 as amended in 2021.

No. Erie County's consumer protection office states plainly that licensing and registration of contractors is handled at the municipal level in the county. Amherst registers contractors and publishes the list; the City of Buffalo runs a separate one of its own.

A written, signed, plain-English contract delivered before work begins, with the contractor's details, approximate start and completion dates, a detailed description of the work and materials, the cancellation notice, a mechanic's lien notice, and how pre-completion payments are protected.

Yes. State law gives you until midnight of the third business day after signing to cancel a home improvement contract, and that right has to be written into the contract itself rather than mentioned in passing.

It is not the contractor's money to spend. Under New York's Lien Law any payment made before the work is complete has to be deposited in escrow or secured by a bond. A deposit on a home improvement contract here is not a non-refundable fee.

A pressure-treated deck typically runs $25 to $40 per square foot installed in this market, and capped composite $40 to $70. Cleaning and refinishing an existing deck usually lands between $2 and $5 per square foot. Those are ranges, not quotes.

Because you are buying the maintenance out of the deck. Pressure-treated costs the least to install and the most to keep looking right, since it needs cleaning and recoating on a cycle. Composite and PVC end that cycle for good.

Square footage and shape, height above grade, the board you pick, linear feet of railing, how many flights of stairs there are, access for concrete and lumber, whether an old deck has to come off, and whether the site needs deeper or larger footings.

No. The rate is the same across the town and the ring of towns around it, so there is no travel surcharge for Swormville, Clarence, Depew or the Tonawandas.

Composite and cellular PVC outlast softwood decking and remove the stain cycle, with PVC the most moisture-immune of the lot. Treated pine is cheapest to install. Cedar sits between them and silvers if you leave it bare.

Only if the frame is sound. Stripping the decking is also the one real chance to inspect the joists, repair what needs it, and tape the tops before a new surface goes down. New boards over failing joists is money in the wrong place.

It leaves in a truck or a roll-off. Amherst will not take major construction debris at the curb. Treated lumber goes to a landfill authorised for construction debris or a permitted handling facility, and it never goes on a fire.

Not to the brick. Deck ledgers may not be supported on stone or masonry veneer, because veneer is cladding rather than structure. The ledger has to reach real framing behind it, or the deck gets designed freestanding on its own posts.

Required guards are not less than 36 inches high measured from the walking surface, openings must not allow a 4-inch sphere to pass, and the top rail has to resist a 200-pound load applied horizontally at any point along it.

A self-adhering membrane run along the top of the joists and beams. It sheds the water that otherwise sits in the joint between joist and board, and it seals around every screw. On a deck meant to survive these winters it is cheap protection.