Help with planning deck

Just wondering if if someone could lend me a hand in planning my deck. We have just bought a two story place, and want to put a deck on the front.

The plan I have attached is the 'dream' version, which I have currently costed at around $4000, but that is pretty roughly done out of a bunnies cattledog, so I should be able to shave a fair bit off that by shopping around. The bearers are actually two lots of 240 x 45 structural pine, even though the plan doesn't accurately reflect this, and it is 2.2 metres high.

Anyway, my questions are mostly about the under-side of the deck, because this is where the entrance to the house will be. You can see that I have spaced the posts underneith so that you can get a clear walk-through to the front door, which is right in the middle of the deck.

Firstly: Is there any other way of constructing the deck differently to save money? setting up the joists and bearers differently?

Secondly: I would really like the underneith of the deck to be post-free, I assume the only way to span the full length of the deck (5.4m)is by using steel or a laminated beam? Could anyone give me a rough guess on how much this would cost?

Thirdly: The posts themselves. I am thinking of using bush-poles for the posts, but am not sure about the structural integrity of these, anyone had any experience?

Lastly, any feedback or advice on the general features of the deck would be fully appreciated.

Cheers

Jayson.

Jayson where is the 2.2 meters to.

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Originally Posted by ausdesign

Jayson where is the 2.2 meters to.

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The height of the deck is, as yet, undecided. We have purchased the house, but settlement is not for another two weeks, so I haven't been able to get in there and take all the measurements I want to. I did get a chance to measure across the front, hence the accuracy of the length of the deck.

The 2.2 metres was a guesstimate.

Hi there.

You will find that there are ways of spanning that full length, you can look at the hispan or GL18 span tables or use steel. However be aware that you may have to go pretty large on the beams to avoid having some unerving spring in the floor, which probably isn't good at that height. If you want to reduce costs this probably isn't the way to do it.

Also, you may need to check what lateral bracing ould be required on the posts.

Hi Jayson,
That deck will be a great addition to the place.

However, I think your costing may be a bit on the low side. You would be very lucky to get away with it for $4000.

I would guess between $5000 and $6000.

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Originally Posted by Vernonv

Hi Jayson,
That deck will be a great addition to the place.

However, I think your costing may be a bit on the low side. You would be very lucky to get away with it for $4000.

I would guess between $5000 and $6000.

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Well, the $4000 figure is pretty rough, and doesn't include nails, stirups, cement, bolts or brackets, and I also didn't allow for 10% wasteage either. But I did add up the cost of the posts, beams, joists and decking, and it came to a little under $4k, so I think I will be close to my $5k limit on this one.

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Originally Posted by OBBob

Hi there.

You will find that there are ways of spanning that full length, you can look at the hispan or GL18 span tables or use steel. However be aware that you may have to go pretty large on the beams to avoid having some unerving spring in the floor, which probably isn't good at that height. If you want to reduce costs this probably isn't the way to do it.

Also, you may need to check what lateral bracing ould be required on the posts.

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Thanks for the tip, I have downloaded a span-table, and am going to head off to find a local supplier in the next day or two.

Cheers for the tip on lateral bracing, I was just begining to read a little more about this. I am hoping to get away with corner-brackets if I can.

for bracing, the other tricky way of doing it that doesnt show, is to connect ss cable from one corner to the other underneath the deck (paralell to the ground) with turnbuckles to tighten - an unseen method of bracing - not as easy as a timber cross on the front, but much neater.

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Originally Posted by pharmaboy2

for bracing, the other tricky way of doing it that doesnt show, is to connect ss cable from one corner to the other underneath the deck (paralell to the ground) with turnbuckles to tighten - an unseen method of bracing - not as easy as a timber cross on the front, but much neater.

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Thanks for that pharmaboy, I had seen the cross-bracing under the deck idea in wood, but hadn't thought of doing it in ss cabling. Cheers mate.

Jayson
:D