Built for houses with history
Most of our work is inside the city: Craftsman bungalows in SE, foursquares in NE, mid-centuries on the west side. Building here is a different discipline than dropping a kit deck on a new subdivision lot — and it’s the discipline we’re built around.
Permits, districts, and trees — handled
Portland BDS permitting
We pull permits through the Bureau of Development Services and we know the edges: when a deck under 30 inches of walking surface skips the permit entirely, when lot coverage and setbacks bite on a 50×100 lot, and what the realistic review timeline is this season — which we’ll tell you straight instead of quoting the brochure number.
Historic & conservation districts
Irvington, Ladd’s Addition, and the conservation overlays add design review to the timeline. We produce the drawings the review wants to see — it’s the same drawing habit you’re looking at on this site.
Tree code & tight lots
Portland’s tree code protects root zones, which changes footing design — we’ve floated entire platforms over root systems rather than cut them. And when there’s no side access, materials go through the house: floors protected, doorways padded, and yes, we’ve carried a deck through a living room more than once.
Old framing, honest attachment
A 1911 wall doesn’t take a ledger the way 2019 framing does. We open the wall where we bolt, verify what’s in there — real sheathing, occasional knob-and-tube surprises — and flash the connection like a roof, because that’s what it is.
SE, NE & N, and the west side
Southeast
Bungalow country — Sellwood, Mt Tabor, Richmond, Woodstock. Small lots, big trees, and decks that need to defer to a Craftsman porch line rather than compete with it.
Northeast & North
Alameda, Irvington, Concordia, Kenton — foursquares and Old Portland stock, where the material conversation usually lands on real wood, and the review overlay sometimes lands on the timeline.
West side
Slopes. Mid-century and contemporary homes in the hills, decks eleven feet off grade, engineered footings, and views worth building for.
Portland projects
Ipe deck on a 1911 Craftsman
Alameda · NE Portland · Ipe hardwood
Cedar platform deck under a big-leaf maple
Sellwood · SE Portland · Cedar
Elevated PVC deck on a west-side slope
West Hills · Portland · TimberTech PVC
Your house has opinions. We listen to them.
The consultation starts with the architecture: what the house wants, what the lot allows, what the city requires. Then a drawing, then a number — both in writing.
or call Tim: (503) 597-8520