Thanks to the mining boom imploding, I've found myself with some spare time.

I'm in the progress of constructing my first deck. At speed I'm going I recon I'll give it a bash a beating the slowest construction record, but I'm having fun! (I did get my first compound mitre saw for xmas Makita LS1040 )

This is my first deck (and my first major construction apart from my fence) so be kind if I have done anything stupid!

I've attached a few drawings on the proposed deck - I'll be adding photos at each stage.

The deck is about 4.8x4.3m and as our block slopes down the yard the deck will change from about 150mm high to 400mm along its length. It is under a lot of trees and has a few going thru the deck.

I want this thing to last forever so have probably gone overboard on my material and fasteners

Material
Red Ironbark 86x19 decking
100x50 H5 treated hardwood joists
100x75 and 150x75 H5 treated hardwood bearers

Fasteners
10g x 50 SS screws
14g SS batten screws
3.75x75 SS skew nails
SS joist hangers where required.
Pryda pin style post supports direct to bearers.

As soon as I got the joist and bearer material, I gave it an undercoat and top coat with oil based paint. This has stopped it drying out / cracking. I've been using some of that waterproof protector strip on top of the joists and bearers. I've also put weedstop and gravel down under the frame.

Photos and progress reports to come.........

Attached Files

Deck.pdf (71.9 KB, 582 views)

Doing one now with everything stainless all the way down to the post supports.. Buying 75mm loose stainless nails aint cheap hey..
I'd lean more towards oil based stain on your sub structure as oil based paint is only a surface coating and once broken actually traps water inside.. Similar to sticking you in the rain in a spray jacket with slits cut in it.. you get wet then humidify for a few days to a week before drying .. If i left you out there covered in oil the water would repel off and you would be dry in an hour or less of sunshine

Just a thought but i've seen pergolas and balconies that were well painted using the wrong timber ( oregon )fall down in under 4 years our stained oregon pergola lasted 15 yrs

cheers utemad

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www.dialadeck.com.au

Bugger - bit to late for the stain now I think. I have the structure pretty much nailed down now and all the timber had been primed and given one top coat (oil based primer & paint) prior to any work commencing. I have been very carful to prime any additional end cuts I may have made. I might just give it a final top coat to try to fill any scratches / nail holes.

I did notice on a few of my end cuts that the primer had been absorbed right into any cracks in the timber.

I dont believe the frame should get too wet, I have already put down rubber strips between the bearers and joists and plan to use rubber over the top of the joists.

Yea I was pretty shocked to see the price of S/S 3.75x75 nails! 25c each at bunn*ngs!!
My 10g X 50 S/S decking screws are 14c each and I got 14gx100 S/S batten screws for 34c each!!
Those stainless joist hangers are blood dear too!! Frustrating to get as well, it seems like they get hidden between all the pryda hangers - I had to search all the boxes in two bunn*ings stores before I could get the number I needed! Apparently in 2009 they cant look up stock on the computer...... ( i was getting annoyed at that stage I'd driven to the shop for 5 things but could only find 1...)

About to start a similar sized deck (3200 x 4400) This will be an extension to an existing deck which is under cover but this bit will be in the open also as it is outside our bedroom I want to make a different 'look' so will run the decking at right angles to the original deck - 'just cause I can' The area is fairly flat as it was originally paved with concrete pavers and there won't be much ground clearance - in fact by the time you add up the depth of the deck joists and bearers I've got 35-75mm to play with.

What would be the way to anchor this? Concrete pads with a predrilled flat iron sticking out? Stirups in full depth footings? Any ideas?

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David L

Well the frame is almost done.

After spacing out the holes I attached the post supports to all the bearers, positioned them and packed underneath to get them level before concreting. I had to straighten the first (lowest) bearer, by clamping a 75x75x4 rhs beam along one edge - I needed to do this as this bearer was going to be the starting point for the decking.<O

Diggin holes by hand aint fun! Would have liked to get a dingo but the job wasn’t big enough! Hit quite a few roots and a few big rocks

With regards to the post supports - I chose the pin type supports because they attach underneath and were not visible on the first bearer. I found all the saddle / L styles are more than 100mm high and would have protruded above the top surface of the first 100x75mm bearer unless I had packed them up. Also the pin supports have a solid 25mm post, while the rest are a hollow 25x3 ? mm post - was worried about corrosion. Hopefully this wont come back to bite me - as i recon it'll be pretty hard to replace the bearers.

You can see I've put down weedstop sheeting and drainage gravel. I'll be removing a bit of gravel from under the bearers to give them some extra breathing space / ensure the post supports / footings are clear of dirt / water. I'll check all my joins and plane down any high spots.<O

I didn’t find the hardwood too bad to work with - I needed a couple of packers under a few, but most were within a few mm height of each other. A couple had bowed but the crowbar and some clamps fixed that

I'll also be adding a long treated pine planter box between the edge of the deck frame and the fence. We plan to grow some screen plants / bamboo down the side. <O

I'll give it all another top coat of oil based paint

I want to put something along the front edge so I can bring the ground level up to the proposed deck surface - at this stage I might hang some scrap 50x75 aluminium SHS at 400mm intervals along the front of the first bearer to which I'll attach a vertical strip of compressed sheet. I'll fasten the first decking board to the top of these aluminium sections - I hope this will let me back fill without letting dirt / leaves come near the first bearer.

Ordered a carb i tool after I tried the bunnings countersink tool in an offcut of my ironbark decking - I had smoke coming out!! Geez the ironbark is hard stuff!<O

Off to bunnings to get some deck lights and my decking oil (feast watson natural)....... <O

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I've finally gotten back to my deck project between going on a road trip and applying for jobs...

I'm definitely not gonna make any money constructing decks - stick to engineering, but it is fun and i recon the finished job will be worth it! <O

Having a 6 month old Labrador</ST1 makes it fun - he has a knack of getting in the way at the right time! But he sometimes brings me my tools. I recon half my board spacers are either strewn across the yard or have numerous bite marks.

I spent a bit of time stuffing around putting TP sleepers along the front and fence side of the deck to stop dirt / leaves etc gathering under the deck. The sleepers along the fence side will form a deep planter box for some hedge plants / bamboo.<O

The carb-i-tool countersink works a charm - once I got the drill depth stop set right. Although I have had a few problems with the drill bit coming loose. Have tightened the set screws as much as I dare, but it has come loose 3 or 4 times. This is a bugger cause it damages the very tip of the carbide cutter. I hit the shank of the drill bit with a file to try to rough it up - hopefully that will do the job - else I'll get some locktite (have to be careful I don’t break the drill bit)....<O

I made some simple clamping blocks using a few pieces of wood and some M12 bolts - these work a treat.<O

The hexagonal cutouts for the trees are a fair bit of work, but I think they'll come up well. They have added a fair bit to the build time. The drawing I did at the start of the project made life pretty simple - just took the dimensions straight off the drawing and the hexagonal in-piece boards fitted perfectly.<O

I've been pretty selective with the boards i use - have tried to eliminate any with heartwood / bad knots etc. though this does limit the number of full length boards available and increased my number of joins.<O

Anyway - hopefully my batteries have recharged enough to get back to it....<O

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Looks great. I'm glad you left the trees in place. If you design it right, those trees will become the best feature you could hope for. Hurry up!! I want to see more.

Only downside I can see is that you seemed to have put the framing very close to the trees. Trees grow surprisingly fast (especially in Brissie) so you might find yourself having to do some mods sooner than later to free space. At least they are visible so you'll get plenty of notice. I've been building decks around trees and rocks and other garden features for years - well worth tge little bit of extra work. Btw- it's a novel feature, but is the stuffed dog doing to last long in that sub-tropical Brisbane weather?

Yeah I'm hoping I have enough clearance - they are quite established trees. I have about 90mm min clearance between the trunk and the sub frame. The infill pieces are a lot closer, but i can change to a narrower board as they grow.

And the dog sure will be stuffed if he eats anymore spacers! Mind you he is doing a good job digging out the area of my planter box. Just wish I could have got him to dig the post holes....

Forget deck talk .. oh so boring .. Pups are way more fun

I like the dog pics best.. My 1 yr old retriever pup will take any tools left around .. Takes shoes .. car keys .. drink bottles wallets and anything else i can lose.Loves plastic packers especially 10mm as they are better for chewing. Great to work with too as if you look like your straining thats the perfect time for her to jump on you or bark at you.,. Great game to be had when i am on the tools.. Cant take her to jobs as she'd be a royal pain and i dont think she'd be happy if someone went near the ute either as its hers and her return passage to home

cheers utemad

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www.dialadeck.com.au

my pug loves plastic packers i find them all over the house under the tv under my desk in his bed. its got me stuffed where they come from since i dont work on the tools these days and we keep all our hardware at our factory. He must have his own pile somewhere.

i wish i could take my dogs with me but we are doing multi storey stuff now so there is no way they would be allowed on site and it is not good to leave them tied up all day. a few years ago we had a water leak at a job where my floor sanders were about to coat so i went in to have a look. My pug ran out of the lift and droped hairs all over the place. we had to re vacum the entire floor before coating.

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Where did / how did you get the plans you posted? Is there a website / software you used to make those?

I drew my plans up from scratch in Solidworks, a 3D solid modeling software package. I’m more familiar with 3D packages and was able to knock up the drawing faster than if I had used AutoCAD. Also makes it much easier to visualize (and show the better half….). I didn’t have a model of the dog though…..

I used the Allan Staines decking and pergola book, along with the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comQueensland</st1:State> timber technical publications for design details. I did err on the conservative side with my spans.

Come on you guys got of the topic again DOGS!!!! not decks

Mines fast asleep on the bed right now.. Went for a 50m ride in the ute yesterday.. big for her as she is a cabin dog ( too young and stuupid for the back)



If we must .. i like your tree surrounds like others have said just make sure there is room to increse the opening size as the tree trunk swells grows whatever
Looks good..I always like looking at DIY as there is no labour content so you can go as fiddly as you want.. Most people just wont pay for details anymore its all about how much

cheers utemad

__________________
www.dialadeck.com.au

Thats pretty bloody neat the way you have finished around the tree I like it