Decking questions

limerick_woody

Hi all,
I'm planning a deck for the back-garden, about 6x5m on a slope. I'll probably opt for composite material. I'm experienced as a woodworker, but not with construction so I have lots of questions.

One side of the deck will be up against the house - is it normal to pin the deck to the wall of the house, the Americans appear to do this using a ledger board, but they use a lot more wood in their construction than we do. I'm also trying to understand what size posts (100x100mm?), joists (250x50mm?) and beams (?)are typical for this kind of thing? Then there's the concrete post supports - what's the best solution?

Any decking experts here?

-cheers.