brynk
17th October 2007, 03:21 PM
our deck, construction currently paused: http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=58109, is slightly larger than yours in length (10l.m.) & slightly narrower in width (3l.m.) & slightly closer to the ground, so could almost be considered a similar price. on ours, there are 2 major tasks remaining, for one of these i need to get some more steel for stair brackets; this will weigh in at around 300 bucks with a tool allowance for welding, and there is also another 180-odd dinar for 10l of decking oil which will be enough for about 6 coats, so around 500 outstanding.
<table border=0> <tr><td>Coatings</td><td>130</td></tr> <tr><td>Fixings (bolts, nails, etcet)</td><td>230</td></tr> <tr><td>Hardware (concrete, joist protectors, everything else)</td><td>100</td></tr> <tr><td>Timber</td><td>2200</td></tr> <tr><td>Tools (yes, i got some new toys out of the project)</td><td>300</td></tr> <tr><td>Total so far: </td><td>2960</td></tr> </table>
using a similar design in your situation you would need a 2nd run of bearer with a canti back to the house (in hindsight i should have done it this way myself!). this would add 2 posts, 6 odd lineal metres of bearer, a few more large bolts - probably another $400. however, you would require 7 less joists than us which will save you 170, less steel, less fixings, bolts, etcet. you could probably pick half of the additional cost for the second bearer run in savings on the shorter deck.
at the end of the day your decking will represent the major component of cost (say, 50%) and a good chunk of construction time also. shop around for good prices on the decking board - a ring around to the builders' / timber suppliers as well as the mills will be worth your while - for eg, we bought our timber from a pallet manufacturer who sold from his brother's mill to the public, but also carried decking for the odd time he sold to someone building a deck. the thinner the board the cheaper it will be / metre, but the more expensive & slower fixing cost will be.
going thicker than 19mm is not economical if the deck is built to aus standard 1684, because there is a restriction on the maximum joist spacing of 500mm. a thicker decking board will certainly allow you to span greater distances, 32mm say, would let you reach around 1m if the timber is a strong hardwood.
if you decide to put a roof on then you will add another 50% of the overall cost (depending on what roof covering you wind up using ofcourse - 200 micron builder's plastic is cheap at this time of year :wink:)