Some Deck laying questions for a newbie

ronan45

Hi there, I want to lay my own deck. Im quite good with my hands but have never taken on much woodwork. Im a mechanic by trade but am not that confident about taking on new challenges.
Have access to ALL the tools i could need.

Weed blocking barrier: AOK

What the sub frame should sit on? I have a grass area Slight slope, should i put down paving slabs as a base. Then where it starts to slope build up with thin roof slates on top of the paving slabs?

Decking boards: I want to do as little cutting as possible, I had the brainwave to make my deck the same lenght as the boards. Do decking boards generally come in a standard lenght and width in general?

I have done a fair bit of googling but havent found a decent link to a simple HOW TO LAY A SIMPLE DECK. Found a few american vids on youtube but they are putting down monster decks raised off the ground. Anyone have any links to a simple How to on a simple deck:)

Mahatma coat

Why would you put paving slabs under a Deck???????

What I'd usually recommend is either a solid frame of joists and bearers on raised stumps to compensate for the fall at one end.

if that dosent suit the height requirements I'd recommend using the joists by themselves and adding Stumps/Brackets where it falls away

Decking is usually, if its the same as here , sold in 300mm increments, so 300 centres is the most efficient, a lot of places sell set lengths

Mahatma coat

heres a handy little guide, however I dont like Joist hangars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppGhQbQKto

jack of all

I built a simple deck using 4x 2" joists at 450 c/cs, bearing on sill plates of 4x2" at approx 1200c/cs. The cill plates sat on concrete blocks (a half block or soap bar) which in turn were bedded in a very lean mix of sand/ cement with a little gravel thrown in (whatever I had to hand). I pegged out the bearing pads using some line and steel pins, used a simple line level to establish levels and laid the block pads. Any shimming afterwards was done with scraps of ply or roof slate. Take your time to get a good level structure, fitting the deck boards is easy.

oscarBravo

I made a two-level deck eight or ten years ago, when I was even less skilled at woodworking than I am now. The construction was something like this:



The deck boards (blue) are screwed to 4x2 joists (green) at roughly 450mm centres. Keep a narrow gap between the boards - about the thickness of a 6" nail. Supporting the joists are more 4x2 beams (also green), which in turn are screwed to either side of some 4x4 posts (red). I can't remember how far apart the posts and lower beams were spaced.

As jack of all has said, the posts can sit on blocks, or bits of paving slab, or whatever. If the deck boards are grooved (or maybe even if they're not) you should allow for a slight fall along their length so rainwater can run off.

My deck was adjacent to the house, so the first joist was screwed to the wall, and the rest of the levels were taken from there.

It's really not hard to do. My deck wrapped around the corner of the house, with the decking boards sloping away from the house on both sides, with a nicely-formed "mitre" between the two sections, and a 45 degree "chamfer" to go around the corner nicely. If I could do it, anyone can.

Mahatma coat

Posts shouldnt really 'Sit' on the ground they should be concreted in,or ideally fitted to stirrups

ronan45

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Why would you put paving slabs under a Deck???????

What I'd usually recommend is either a solid frame of joists and bearers on raised stumps to compensate for the fall at one end.

if that dosent suit the height requirements I'd recommend using the joists by themselves and adding Stumps/Brackets where it falls away

Decking is usually, if its the same as here , sold in 300mm increments, so 300 centres is the most efficient, a lot of places sell set lengths

HI I meant i would sit the subframe on the paving slabs. didnt realise you have to concrete down posts. Hmmm OK Thanks

ronan45

Ok My brother is gonna give me a hand putting this baby down, God have mercy on me! lol

does this seem a good price?

Imported Northern European Pine
Pressure Treated

4.8 125 x 32 Ridged / Smooth Decking Green @ €9.50each
4.8 125 x 32 Ridged / Smooth Decking Brown @ €10.50each

I take it pine is the most common, i dont need hardwood or anything fancy!

oscarBravo

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Posts shouldnt really 'Sit' on the ground they should be concreted in,or ideally fitted to stirrups

I've heard conflicting advice on that. The posts I used weren't concreted in, and the deck is still there after several years, some severe weather and a few pretty wild parties.

Quiet you

Can you give a little more detail about where it's going? For example If you have two walls either side you can use hangers and not worry about concreteing any posts in to support joists as long as the span isn't massive.

If you're going to have to use a post over a grassy area or the span is large I'd advise concreteing it in (there are ready mix rapid set concretes out there specifically for the job that set in fifteen minutes or less, post fix for example). You can place three inch blocks on the ground (paving slabs could well break) and run supports up from them or even drive stakes down every 400mm and fix them to the joists. A lot of decks have been made that way and although not what I'd consider best practice they're still standing so maybe I just like to over - engineer things.

Concreteing the posts down will stop any bouncing where as paving slabs, blocks or steaks could mean you'll feel a bounce under foot, that said it's not a common occurance.

No need to use hardwoods unless you like the look of it, pressure treated timber will last for decades. There's composite stuff out there too but its very hard to cut and pretty expensive compared to regular treated timber. Sixteen foot lengths are standard for decking boards, joisting and handrail.


To be honest they're not too difficult to put together. If you take your time with your measurements and put bridgers in you shouldn't have any real issues. Some people will go mad squaring the frame to the nearest millimeter and set up all sorts of laser surveying equipment to level them but it's not needed. If it looks right and feels right then it's probably built right.

kitchens decks

i have a few pictures of the decks i have fitted also deck frame give you a better idea

Carra23

ronan45 wrote: »

HI I meant i would sit the subframe on the paving slabs. didnt realise you have to concrete down posts. Hmmm OK Thanks

You can use paving slabs. I laid a deck out my back garden last year and used 9x9 paving slabs, leveled them off and then laid the sub frame on that. When the sub frame was in place I hammered a few steaks into the ground and screwed the sub frame to the steaks just to be sure it wouldn't go any where

Carlow52

Carra23 wrote: »

You can use paving slabs. I laid a deck out my back garden last year and used 9x9 paving slabs, leveled them off and then laid the sub frame on that. When the sub frame was in place I hammered a few steaks into the ground and screwed the sub frame to the steaks just to be sure it wouldn't go any where

Certainly a meaty solution:D

One shot on kill

cooncret in a post or two in the right postions just it out with at leadt 6 inch jiosts across the shortest span all the time use noggins between the joists to stop it swaying or moving

pine would be the best takes pressure treating better and its cheaper if you used hard would you would get some shock with the price

Carra23

Carlow52 wrote: »

Certainly a meaty solution:D

Its done the trick for me ! exactly 1 year on now and no bother with it

TheGrump

I did this last year with virtually no experience and the deck turned out great. The dimensions I used are attached. There was a wall running down one side and a shed on another side, so I fixed the ledger boards to them to from two sides of the square. I then set 6 posts on concrete and ran 2x4 beams on them (taking the levels from the ledger boards). I then fixed another beam parralled to the ledger board so that I had a rectangle. I then fit the rest of the beams at 14 inch centres in the square. I then put in noggins and the sub structure was done.

I used post mix for the concrete footings, it's a bit expensive, but for a novice it's much easier than mixing concrete. I dug the holes to 16inches, filled about 1/3 with water and then throw the post-mix in, then set a post in it before it dried.



The decking timber I got came in 16 foot lenghts so I built the deck to that. All the work is in the structure beneath the deck, get that right and it's a doddle. If you look out in some builders providers there are always deals in the summer for decks. I got mine in Smiths on the Greenhills road and got a good deal

k123456

I find it easiest to make a frame (or a series of smaller frames if one frame is not safe to lift)

Make frame attach to wall of house, at garden end rest temp on blocks, allow a fall for water. Ensure frame is square , the two diaganols should be equal


At the garden end of frame sink 4/4 posts thru garden garden corners of frame in 14inch holes, pour cocrete into holes,

Set concrete overnight, remove temp blocks

If the frame/deck is more than 3m in length, re-inforce each 2nd joist, so that deck does not sag in middle

PS Make sure any openings under the deck are closed off, to stop animals nesting under deck