Wraparound deck build, corner to corner

Three situations. (1) Corner lot — house with two appealing exposures (south + east, or two view-facing walls). Wraparound lets you use both. (2) Long, narrow houses — wraparound adds significant sqft without pushing the deck far from the house. (3) Houses with multiple exterior doors on different walls — wraparound provides direct exit from each. Avoid wraparound when one of the walls faces an unattractive view (alley, neighbor's garage), the L-corner backs onto a slope steeper than 3:1 (engineering complexity), or budget is tight (~$3-5/sqft premium vs straight rectangle).

Two common approaches. (1) Mitered corner: joists from both segments terminate into a 45° angle at the corner, with a doubled corner joist running diagonally. Most structurally clean and visually appealing. (2) Box corner: segment A joists run their full length under segment B's surface, with segment B joists terminating into the side of segment A's rim. Easier to frame but creates a visible joist-direction change at the corner mitre line. Animation shows option 1 (mitered) — the premium approach.

Two options. (1) Direction follows house wall: segment A boards parallel to the south wall, segment B boards parallel to the east wall, with a 45° mitre line at the corner. Looks symmetrical but requires precise board mitres. (2) All boards run one direction: continuous from one segment into the other. Loses the corner mitre detail but is much faster to install. Most premium decks use option 1; budget builds use option 2.

Material adds ~10-15% (extra corner framing, double corner joist, extra rim joists, more posts per linear foot of perimeter). Labor adds ~25-35% (mitre cuts at the corner, more complex layout, doubled inspection points). For a 140 sqft wraparound vs a 140 sqft straight rectangle: expect $1,500-3,000 more total. Resale recoup typically 110-130% of the upgrade cost per Cost vs Value Report — wraparound decks photograph well and read as 'premium design' in MLS listings.

Yes — sized for double the standard tributary load. The outside L-corner carries load from both segments simultaneously. For a typical 8' × 8' tributary area on each segment (32 sqft each, 64 sqft combined), at 50 psf live + 10 psf dead = 60 psf, that's 3,840 lb concentrated at the corner post. Standard 4×4 PT in tropical climates may need to upgrade to 6×6 PT for the corner only. The Post Size Calculator factors L-corner tributary multipliers automatically.

Yes — these are typically called 'U-shape' or 'three-side wrap' decks. Same framing principles but with two outside corners instead of one. Costs scale roughly linearly with perimeter: 3-side wrap adds ~$5-7/sqft over a straight deck. Full perimeter (4-side) wrap is rare for residential — typically only seen on covered porches around historic farmhouses — because it requires the house to have no permanent exterior fixtures (electrical boxes, dryer vents, hose bibs) on any wall.

Continuous decking direction across the corner without a mitre or transition strip. Without the mitre, the eye sees a strange diagonal seam where the joist direction changes underneath. The fix: either a clean mitred corner (premium look) or a 6" picture-frame transition strip running diagonally through the corner. Skipping both creates a 'cheap construction' visual that competes with the wraparound's premium feel.