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I have built up this sketch on the simpson strongtie deck designer.

enter image description here

I would like to build this deck now, but have the option in the future to cover the main deck area and create a gabled roof/screened in porch.

I have been trying to decide how to build now so that's as easy as possible in the future. My thoughts are to make the footings for the perimeter posts of the main rectangular deck area oversized, so that I can simply run the posts for holding up the roof through the deck, all the way to the footing. To do this, I would do a double picture-frame deck design so that I would only have to take up those perimeter deck boards to open a space to run the posts down through. I would inset the railing by 6" since that would be required to be inside my screened in area in the future.

Will this plan work? Is over-sizing the footers on those perimeter posts to allow for TWO posts to sit side by side allowed, once the roof goes up? I also would probably only cantilever that 2nd beam by 6" instead of whatever this drawing has, but i couldn't figure out how to fix it in their online tool. Will running this roof post all the way to the footing and attaching it somehow to the existing deck posts help me with wind-shear resistance?

Thanks

Derek
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    Did you ever build the pergola? https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/14918/can-i-build-a-pergola-on-an-existing-deck-without-digging-more-footers?rq=1 - The natural progression would be having built a pergola that is good enough to eventually have a roof. - That was 9y ago... are we starting over? – Mazura May 07 '22 at 22:09
  • Where's the weight of the gable going to bear down - those areas you ideally want posts going down to footings.. – Mr R May 07 '22 at 23:10
  • I have a deck similar to your design, with a cathedral truss roof bearing on the left and right sides. The builder ran the lower posts to the top of the joist band, decked over the top, then placed the upper posts on top of the deck (stacked above the lower posts) up to the left and right beams that support the trusses. The roof is attached to the wall and of course is decked with OSB. This provides the rigidity needed in our high wind zone. – RetiredATC May 08 '22 at 02:00
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    Does the deck designer have an option to build a roof? If so, make the design with the roof now, but just don't build the roof. – longneck May 08 '22 at 12:57
  • This is a new house. No pergola on this one. – Derek May 09 '22 at 00:20
  • The weight will be on the left and right sides of the main area of the deck. The walls will have doors where the landing area for the steps are in the drawing. – Derek May 09 '22 at 00:23
  • The deck designer does not have an option for putting a roof over it, and I have not seen one that does. Open to suggestions on that front. – Derek May 09 '22 at 00:24

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