porch deck height

[dug]

Anyone have an opinion on what the proper height of a porch deck should be in relation to the finished inside floor level?

If I use 10 in. lumber for the deck joists it will be about 3/4 in. below inside floor level, I'm not sure if this is too close. I could use 8 in. lumber and end up about 3 in. below the finished floor.

[MountainDon]

It probably won't make much difference one way or the other, IMO.  I don't recall what ours is; maybe an inch and a half. My belief is with an elevated porch floor you could have the porch floor pretty much match up to the interior. In a case like that you are not likely to run into a situation where water is piling up on the porch and running in the house. Not like having the house sitting on a low slab.

[MikeT]

The only thing you might consider is if you have a lot of snow accumulation.  But even then, it would be somewhat mitigated depending on the length of your eaves.

mt

[davidj]

A quote from http://www.awc.org/Publications/DCA/DCA6/DCA6-09.pdf, the "Prescriptive Residential Wood Deck Construction Guide" (which has lots of useful info):

According to IRC R311.3.1, the distance from the top of the threshold to the top of deck boards cannot exceed 1-½". If a door does not swing over the landing or deck, the step-down can be up to 7-¾". The ledger can be lowered for improved drainage, subject to meeting maximum step-down heights for accessibility and means of egress, edge distance and spacing requirements, and shear design at connection requirements of NDS 3.4.3.3(a).

I vaguely remember there's something similar in CA codes too.

[dug]

Thanks all for the advice.

I think I'll stick with the 3/4 in. difference, no snow here to speak of and it seems that it would be nicer that way walking in and out.