Deck In Courtyard !! Need Help And Advice

[stefan_bonnici]

hi all,

i am about to start a decking project in my appartment. the courtyard is 2M wide by 8M long. One side of the courtyad is a brick wall and on the opposite side i have a timber fence.

The fence needs replacing also, so what i was thinking is to build a new fence and decking at the same time.

What i would like to know is, if i can attach the Deck to the new fence posts using a 150X50 bearer bolted to the posts and a ledger 150X50 to the brick wall and fixing the joists between the ledger and bearer using joist hangers and thus saving having to dig more holes and putting in more posts.

Attached is a drawing of the courtyard and the propsed material i intend using.

[manoftalent]

your idea is ok .....but what happens when you need to replace the fence?....what may be a short term solution now, will be a huge headache later...so .....I would dig the holes twice as wide and plant both the fence post and bearer post side by side and put double plinth boards on the bottom to raise the pailings up and also raise the height of the bottom fence rail ....you will end up with a higher fence for a cheaper price and in the future repairs or replacement would be a lot easier.

p.s. standard fencing panels are 2.7meters apart .....rails come in 5.4mtr lengths ...so you may need to allow for this ...

[stefan_bonnici]

thanks for that reply. I guess you are right, but when you plant the bearer posts and fence posts side by side, and concrete the lot wouldnt be as hard to replace either one in the future ?

my concern is the corner fence post in conjunction with the deck. and would a 90x45 joist be enough ?

thanks

[manoftalent]

personally I would do it all out of 300 x50 ...but since your only going 1.7mtrs across 90 x 45 should be ok spaced every 350mm ..

[Dr - 307]

Hi Stefan,

Keep your deck stumps and fence posts seperate including the corner one. Don't forget that you can overhang your deck beams and joists past the corner deck stump by about 300 - 400mm. That way you can get your deck to go to the perimeter.

Attachment 67592

As far as joist size for the verandah in the pic that spans 12m x 1800 I used F17 KD HWD @ 140 x 45. The last thing you want is bounce from your deck. My wall ledger was 90 x 45 of the same material but my joists sat on top of the ledger.

And don't support your deck off the fence!

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

[stefan_bonnici]

HI Guys,

thanks a lot for all your help. i now have a better picture of what i am going to do and how to do it. (i think) anyway i made a plan of what its gonna be and would appreciate to give me any feedback and if all sizes and dimensions make sense.

i cannot place the joists on top of the bearere or ledger since i only have 150 to 180mm clearance from the ground an don't want to have to pull away a lot of earth and soil. tha is why i will be using joist hangers between bearer and ledger. is that ok ? does it make sense

thanks a lot for your help

[Dr - 307]

Yep you can do that.
And when you are using joist hangers make sure you use proper joist hanging nails not just normal flat head nails. They have to be the proper nails for joist hangers or any other bracket like triple grips or multigrips.

Now, the most important question I want answered is -
What program did you use to whip up that drawing?

You betta tell me .

Dr - 307 .

[stefan_bonnici]

thaks a lot for all your help !! hope the weather will change so i can strat digging holes

the program i used is autocad and the printed it to pdf

[UteMad]

Looks like a fun little project.. treated pine 90 x 45 joists span 1100mm for a single span with a 300mm max overhang.. this is for 450 spacings
Keep the deck independant of the fence if possible as down the track if the fence needs work your neighbour pays at most half of a paling fence your left with your deck and if they feel the deck damaged the fence you'll pay the lot


cheers utemad

[Dr - 307]

Utemad,
He's spanning 1700.

Stefan,
I used autocad at RMIT (Industrial Design) and since then someone has given me the latest version but I haven't got around to using it. After seeing your plan I think I'll start using it.

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

[stefan_bonnici]

DR-307,

It's an easy to use software, even since you used it before. It just needs practice. Give me a shout should you require any help or have any difficulties.

Where is the best (cheapest) place to buy all the wood and hardware from ?

Ive just moved to australia recently, my partner and here family are australian and i have been introduced to the "Bunnings Mania", but i found more hardware places like home hardware, whuch were not very helpfull etc etc.....

Which is the best place ?

thanks

stefan

[Dr - 307]

R U from Melbourne?

[stefan_bonnici]

I live in melbourne yes !

But i am from Malta. I live in St kilda Area

stefan

[Dr - 307]

My sister in law is from Malta.
Call Major Timber in Clayton. They are very helpful. They also have most of the hardware. But best to ask for prices first and compare. Their stuff is good.

Cheers,
Dr - 307.

P.S. I'll let you know how I go with Autocad.

[stefan_bonnici]

i have another small question.

regarding concrete..... i have 12 posts to put in..... do you think that i will be ok to use raedy mix concrete to fill them it ? will just concrete around them be enough ? do i need to concrete the fence posts too? is there a need to put anything underneath the posts, inside the hole ?

thanks

stefan