Deck posts in sandstone

[BushTurkey]

Here's day 1 progress - the primary sleepers are in place and i have laid out the next section so you can see what im planning to do.

[Chris Parks]

It's a remote property, solar panels, batteries and all that.. with just a 1000Watt inverter so the 1700Watt drill is out for me I'm going to have a try the hard way so I'll put up any tips I have by the end of it.

I'd bet money a petrol one is available, you would just have to find it.

[Dirty Doogie]

Hi BT - thats gonna look good also. What sort of paving are you going to put down - Sandstone ? LOL

[BushTurkey]

Hi BT - thats gonna look good also. What sort of paving are you going to put down - Sandstone ? LOL

Yeah it will be sandstone.

The crushed rock you see there is just rocks i can't use, or boulders that were too big to move up the hill into the garden. This should make a good well-drained base for the paving.

new pic is due on tuesday next week. Though i only have one day over the long weekend to work on it

[Bloss]

Fixing directly to the rock is fine - dynabolts into sandstone are OK so long as they are not too near an edge and you do not over-tighten. A better choice is to use one of the proprietary epoxy-based adhesives designed to embed steel pins or threaded rod into rocks of all types.

See - http://www.ramset.com.au/public/Arti...lID=9&menuNo=0

You mark the location, drill the holes of the required size (based on the steel rod-diameter plus the specified clearance), mix the glue and afix according to instructions.

Although they get to full strength only after some days can usually bolt on the stirrups or brackets the next day and then re-tighten later. Remember this fixing is mainly to resist shear forces - the predominant forces are downwards. You could use reo bar or other single steel rod or tube into the centre of a post and to the rock.

[BushTurkey]

Here's a progress picture, yesterday I did alot more. I have used steel reinforcement to pin the wood together. I drilled through the top sleeper each time, then just used a 12lb sledge hammer to smash it through the rest of the way and into the soil. The two corner pins go through 800mm of treated pine without pilot holes!!! OUCH!

I added some drainage and completed the wall itself. Now I need to add some gore-tex to keep the soil in and back-fill it. It will be a while before I can pave. I want to make sure the ground is reasonably compressed and solide before I lay any stone.

[wayneo75]

Glad to see you have gone for a paved option rather than a raised timber deck. One thing nobody has mentioned here is the bush fire concern. The less combustible material close to your house the better.

It doesn't look like this area is adjoining your house, but if it were to you would then have bush fire conditions set in the DA process (that is if you put in a DA in the first place, as I know everybody here would). Any new structures or additions in Bush fire prone areas these days (in NSW) are subject to the document "Planning for Bush Fire Protection" which is administered by local councils with input from the NSW RFS.

Further info for the ever net surfing type people (like me ) at

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=183