Newbie deck

[MikGan]

Hi Im Mick, I guess I'm a bit like a great many on this site, Ive read heaps and haven't really felt that I had anything special to post yet. I've been looking to build a deck in the back yard, but I'm not really the handy man sort of person, I build cars so wood is something a little too delicate for me and generally projects either fall to pieces or not get finished at all. I tried to think so the last time I build something from wood and came up with yr12 tech class *eek!*

Just thought I'd share some pictures of the deck I decided to build, with just about all the information coming straight from posts on this site.

We decided to build the deck after we found that out fence was falling down. To fix that required some renovation to the garden so why not add a deck at the same time? Just to make things harder on myself I'm currently nursing a broken toe and some seriously banged up knees from soccer.

We don't have a large backyard, think more like a units backyard so things had to be done with a mind to conserving the size of everything. I'm pretty happy with it, first time I've made anything bigger than..... well its the first time I've ever made anything actually! Not bad for a first go, there were a few funk ups but ey thats life. This house is our first and we planned to do the buy, reno, sell thing so with a bit of luck this might have added a little value to the place.

When we first moved in:


After a quick cleanup and some initial marking out. In the end we decided to remove about 1 foot down of material from the area because our block is raised over the one over the fence so the deck wouldnt have to be so high. We also noted that the water access was right in the middle of the plans *doh!*:


in progress:


Screwed down the first section:


After a quick tub:


We still have to dress the area, one more coat of oil and some brushwood screening to go up. We are going to be putting a stone edging around the base just overlapping with the bottom of the stained timber. But for today we are finished! woot!

I'd like to thank all the guys and gals that post regularly on here and more so to the ppl that come back with solutions to questions and pics and oh my god 90% of threads are worthless without pics so to those ppl that help and post pics of their projects a huge thanks.

* I did stray from ppls advice once tho and that was not to wait for the wood to fade before oiling, I'll let ya'll know how that goes.

[UteMad]

Hi Mikgan

Looks like you had a good honest go there mate........

Good to see!!!!

cheers Utemad

www.dialadeck.com.au

[OBBob]

Fantastic. Now you just have to finfish teh landscaping so you can get to it!! Looks great.

[MikGan]

Thanks guys, it feels really good to have finished my first deck. Probably should have kept going and done the landscaping cause I'm pooped and it'll be a while till I get out there and finish that :P.

I'm still not 100% decided on what I'm going to do either. I've got some brushwood screening there but no too sure if its a good idea since I want to put the bbq on the deck down the narrow end.

I've got a heap of stone edging about the place but the stone does not fit where I want it to go, so im stuck between cutting the stone or finding another solution.

[DIYwannabe]

Hi everyone,
This is my first time posting on this site but I have been viewing it for many months - and I must say it has been a fantastic resource in helping me decide on decking options. I have also bought tha Decking Bible book that is mentioned on numerous other posts (good read!).

I have had limited experinece helping others build a few decks (as a labourer most of the time) but I am about to embark on making my own.

I have a few questions that I hope to have resolved.

The deck will be connected to the house and at one end there is the back tap and sewage drain (inspection point) as well as a downpipe futher along. The sewage has a tendency to block about once a year but an electric eel is used a temporary fix.

I was wondering what is the best method of construction for allowing small (1m x1m) sections od deck to able be temporarily removed. The deck will only be about 600mm off the ground.

I suspect it is a common occurrence - issues with nearby plumbing and wanting access - but I have seen no discussion on the topic on this fantastic site.

My other question is going to sound absurd but here goes....

When helping on a mates deck recently I mentioned to the builder that I was consdering building my deck to 7m x 7m - he responded that this would be extremely difficult to do because most bearers and joists (I will be using F7 H3 Trated pine I think) comes in 6 m lengths.

Is this true?

I have seen numerous deck plans on this site that are far bigger than 7 x7 - what's the real issue - is it excess wasteage? I am confused?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Keep up the good posting.

DIYWannabe

[UteMad]

Hi DIYwannabe

He is right f7 h3 treated is 6m max lengths and yes we do get upset going to 7x7 because its more work than 6x6 and you can't usually explain wwhy it costs more to the customer twice as many bearers and joists to cut and fix down..... This is a time issue that diy won't care about but when it's a profession time is money that's all....

Access issue screwing the boards down is the simplest way around your problem...either screw the whole deck or put a joint in the boards in the area and screw those one down

cheers utemad

www.dialadeck.com.au

[Spelunx]

When helping on a mates deck recently I mentioned to the builder that I was consdering building my deck to 7m x 7m - he responded that this would be extremely difficult to do because most bearers and joists (I will be using F7 H3 Trated pine I think) comes in 6 m lengths.

You can build a deck as long as you please, the issue is cost. Tradesmen will up their charges acording to the PITA factor. The bigger the pain in the ???? factor, the bigger the cost.

[MikGan]

I was wondering what is the best method of construction for allowing small (1m x1m) sections od deck to able be temporarily removed. The deck will only be about 600mm off the ground.

I suspect it is a common occurrence - issues with nearby plumbing and wanting access - but I have seen no discussion on the topic on this fantastic site.

The way I tacked this problem was pretty simple, we started by thinking a hatch would be cool and were thinking something with hinges etc on it but backed down from that when we couldnt find a good way to hide the hinges in the finished product.

What we ended up doing was dead simple (maybe too simple), we made the hole fit deliberatly between 2 joists and cut the decking flush with the inner most edge of these joists. We bolted some nicely sized cut offs inside the gap to either joist so the hatch would be supported. Fixing the decking pieces to another cut off made the hatch lid. To get it in and out we just cut a circle of about about 1.5 inch to get your fingers in to remove the hatch.

I'll try to post some pics here to clear it up:





I still have to get in there and fix a small allignment issue with one of bolted in supports but like I said it was a pretty simple fix. I've put my weight on it and given it a good test jump, if it can take almost 140kilos jumping on it its good enough in my book

[DIYwannabe]

Hi UteMad,
Thanks for the replys - I really appreciate the feedback. I am of the opinion that I should make the deck the size I want and not compromise otherwise I will undoutedly regret it later.

So what's the best method for constructing a 7 x 7m deck without excess wastage.

I was think of having a 4 m and 3 m bearer joined ontop of a post rather than attached to the side of the post. I have seen this done by other people on this website - but I don't think this method is mentioned the DIY stains deck Bible. Is this method structural as good?

What are your thoughts on this appraoch?

I was considering using overly large post (possibly 150 x150) to allow for this join as well as over-catering with additional posts underneath the bearers.

Furthermore, at this stage I am looking at using F7 H3 pine for posts but F27 Hardwood for bearers and joist (more $$$) but I want limited shrinkage and want the deck to last ages.

Thanks for th responses - checked out your website too - fantastic site - top work !

Cheers

DIYWannabe