Thread: tap/drain on deck **pics attached**

Hey Guys,
Building a deck as you may have seen other posts. Bearers and joists goin on this weekend if weather is ok. Was just thinkin i have a tap on the wall where the deck is going, was thinkin what i was gonig to do with it.

What should I do with it. run some pipe under it and relocate the water to the garden or somewhere and then put a little drain thing around the deck boards. i dont want to have to mop up the decking every time I use the tap...

See the images attached

Gday, Looks like your doing a great job on the deck there.

I tend to always take the easiest/cheapest way out when things like this pop up so what I would do is buy one of those square black drain grates cut out a hole and drop it into the deck under the tap. I'd say it would cost no more than $20.
Something like in the pic below but maybe a tad larger. I wouldnt bother to connect it to anything, just let it go thru to the ground.....but then again I am a bit of a dodgey bastard

Yeah...I was thnkin that but would I not need to direct the water somewhere?
Im currently shoveling and raking that area out to have a slight slope on it so water doesnt get stuck in any low bits so it would all just runn off the block...

Would it be ok?

I dare say that as long as the water is directed away from the house it would be a problem. But then again you wouldn't want it hanging around your posts but it seems that there is plenty of fall away from the house.

im guessing you dont have a permit for that deck, i hope the neighbour doesnt dob you in.

gday oohsam.

lookin good - good luck with the bearers & joists. i'm sure you could find a maintenance plumber that would see any cash work disappear into the ether

as far as the tap goes one option would be to leave it in place - on the deck in the splash area of the tap (say 500 square) you can trim & mitre with your decking boards around this hole, then increase the gap of the boards within this 500 square to a number large enough to take out 1 run, and put a slight slope on them by packing under one of the two nails...

this was one of the plans for the tap on our deck, but was veto'd by the minister for war & finance - the alternative that we took was to run the pipe down the wall to the joist directly next to it, then run along the joist to the end of the deck. i made sure this joist was slightly longer than the rest of them so the tap now hangs out into the back yard about 100 more than the rest of the joists, that way it doesn't get trodden on by people makin good use of the beer rail. we'll box the pipe in with offcuts from the decking boards so it doesn't get bumped when it gets rowdy.

in your situation you could go down your wall & around the corner, then back up the wall; or just go around the corner from where it is.

r's brynk

Originally Posted by thebuildingsurv

im guessing you dont have a permit for that deck, i hope the neighbour doesnt dob you in.

I do have a permit...and its further from the fence than you think...I live ona steep street and each neighbour can see over each fence anyway...and the neighbour is a great bloke..He has a very nice deck too actually. He's been comin over and helpin me!
Great bloke.

Originally Posted by brynk

gday oohsam.

lookin good - good luck with the bearers & joists. i'm sure you could find a maintenance plumber that would see any cash work disappear into the ether

as far as the tap goes one option would be to leave it in place - on the deck in the splash area of the tap (say 500 square) you can trim & mitre with your decking boards around this hole, then increase the gap of the boards within this 500 square to a number large enough to take out 1 run, and put a slight slope on them by packing under one of the two nails...

this was one of the plans for the tap on our deck, but was veto'd by the minister for war & finance - the alternative that we took was to run the pipe down the wall to the joist directly next to it, then run along the joist to the end of the deck. i made sure this joist was slightly longer than the rest of them so the tap now hangs out into the back yard about 100 more than the rest of the joists, that way it doesn't get trodden on by people makin good use of the beer rail. we'll box the pipe in with offcuts from the decking boards so it doesn't get bumped when it gets rowdy.

in your situation you could go down your wall & around the corner, then back up the wall; or just go around the corner from where it is.

r's brynk

Brynk - always got great advice mate...
That actualy sounds like a good idea..and would make it look "decky" lol..

Wouldnt there be an issue if the deck boards dont hit a joist in that spot..or else I'd have nothing to hammer the boards into. Im going 450mm with the joists and I would highly doubt that they would line up there...or should I just add an extra joist around where I want the boards to fit there..?

Im not that great with envisaging things until they are ready to be envisaged...if that makes sense! Lol.

who gave u that advice ? bet it wasnt your local council, there is no exemption under the building regs for decks, even if they are 100m from the fenceline. Plenty of people build without permits these days and its usually the neighbour that dobs them in, however sometimes its the bloke up the road who is a serial complainer. Also it looks like a very small meter (could be the angle of the photo)

Yeah its the angle of the photo....I assure you, its all above board.

Thanks for the advice though

Draining to under the deck, i'm not so keen on, dont want a swamp for the mozzies to breed nor a wet area for 'whities' to nest.
Move it around the corner as suggested, or put a sink under it with waste to away from the deck...

Originally Posted by batcat

... or put a sink under it with waste to away from the deck...

Yep, a sink built-in to an outdoor bar.

Unless you are putting a roof over it I wouldn't do anything. Every time it rains, heavy dew or even a melting frost you are going to get moisture under your deck. By the time the sun hits it, it will be dry. Unless you use your tap and leave it run on to the deck, it will be alright.
If you are concerned, make sure you have fall from your house to outside(fill in around your post holes). If you don't do this, every time it rains it will pool around posts.

Great advice all.
I have been busy every night with a shovel and rake and pick leveling out the area and creating a little bit of fall so the water will run off. I've also been packing around the posts with backfill and its been raining so the fill has been compacting nicely. Its a pain in the a$$ job but its gotta be done.

I think I'll put some sort of grill drain on it, and use some PVC to re route it to the storm water area or into one of the garden beds.

Here's my 'gully in a deck'. It's not a really good pic. I just took it under flash.
At the moment, the grate is removed and I've got my washing machine hooked up there until I've built my cupboard laundry inside.

Pawn head - Where does the drain run to? Just soem pvc relocating it somewhere ofr did you run it to the storm water?
Cheers

Originally Posted by oohsam

Pawn head - Where does the drain run to? Just soem pvc relocating it somewhere ofr did you run it to the storm water?
Cheers

It's a 4" 'P' trap gully that's hooked into the sewer. There was an existing gully at the back of the house, but it was in the middle of where I installed some new bi-fold doors, so I relocated it (and the tap) around the corner before I built the new deck.

As long as it's just clean tap water though, then I don't see a problem in just making it a dry waste hooked to the storm water. Then you won't have to touch the sewer which definitely requires approval, (as does installing a new tap). Some laundries just have a dry waste that dumps on the ground, but that's just for very intermittent flooding/floor mopping etc. I wouldn't go dumping a lot of water around your footings, but you could probably put in an absorption trench somewhere away from your foundations.