Deck footing depth and framing loads in Elkhart County, IN
unincorporated (NOT City of Elkhart or Goshen)
The numbers an Elkhart County, IN deck permit turns on, and the one question worth asking before you draw it. Same figures the free deck span calculator sizes from.
- Frost depth
- 36″
- Framing load
- 50 psf
- Code in force
- 2020 Indiana Residential Code (2018 IRC + Indiana amendments)
- Stairs and guards
- Riser ≤ 8¼", tread ≥ 9"
675 IAC 14-4.4-5, replacement IRC Table R301.2(1) — per-county frost depth — Elkhart row: 36 in
40 psf live plus 10 psf dead, the basis the span tables are built on. No separate ground snow load is recorded for here, so the tables govern — if your department publishes a ground snow above 40 psf, the tables stop covering the deck and that is worth a call.
Guard required over 30″ above grade, 36″ minimum height. 675 IAC 14-4.4-16 and -17, amending IRC R311.7.5.1 / R311.7.5.2
Who to ask
- A 42 in footing requirement attributed to Goshen appears only on permit-aggregator sites and is UNVERIFIED — confirm before pricing deeper holes.
- The City of Elkhart exempts decks under 120 sq ft and 30 in high from a permit; the county ordinance has no equivalent size exemption.
- Elkhart and Goshen run their own permit offices. The stair and frost values here are statewide and still apply, but the permit facts do not — call the city if the job is inside one.
The question, word for word
Read this one down the phone. It is answerable in a sentence, which is why it gets answered.
“The state table puts this county at 36 inches for footing depth. Is that what you inspect to, or do you require deeper? And do you want a soils report for a deck, or will you take the presumptive bearing value out of the code table?”
Size a deck in Elkhart County, IN
The free calculator carries all of the above. Pick Elkhart County, IN in the jurisdiction box and it sizes joists, beams, posts and footings at 50 psf, digs to 36″, and tells you where a number runs past the end of a table instead of printing one anyway.
Open the deck span calculatorNone of this is an engineered design, and none of it replaces your plans examiner. It is the published code, the published tables, and a note where the two do not meet.