Outdoor decking questions ?

ismynametoolong

Was thinking of putting decking in the back garden by myself .
Where is the best place in Dublin to buy and is the B&Q stuff any good .
Any other tips greatly appreciated

Stoner

When you do it , run in a few cables for LED lights, they run at about 1Watt. A very good place to get them is http://www.loweleds.com/products.html

I have had some dealing with this company and their prices are very good

garyh3

Just getting Decking put down from Classic Decks... Great people to deal with and I dont think I could have done it cheaper.. That is if I do it myself and it takes about 4 w/e's... + I had all the tools... BTW its about 560 sq ft

Im doing the lights myself. They are drilling the holes, but I found that ebay is great 165 Pounds UK company for 20 * 40mm Blue LED with cables and trasformer is not a bad price. Its pretty simple as you just connect to a junction box, no mess.... Got them though bdcraigelectrical on Ebay

Also if you search the BB for Decking there are some good ideas already posted.

Garyh3

yop

Gary any link for those on Ebay?

Stoner

Yob,

the link i sent has lights from 15 euro ex vat , IP65 and they are irish so delivery will be about 10 euro

garyh3

hang on try this no very good with links ....




http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7704563820&ssPageName=ADME:B:WN:US:303

see if that works


Ps really nice people to deal with if you give them a call has good feedback also

Garyh3

garyh3

ok so the link works there IP 66 can someone explain the difference 66 65.? They also do 70mm 30mm and 10mm in difernect colours

Garyh3

Stoner

The e bay one looks cheaper alright,

using an exchange ratio €1 to £0.69 and excluding postage the ebay fittings are on €11, so how much is postage.
the next best price from lowe is 15 euro ex vat, not a bad find on e bay.
At the end of the day these are both good prices, the e bay ones are IP 66 too which is good, I would however ask if they had IP67 as they would be more hardy and would be worth an extra few bob.
the colour change fitting can be nice ( dont over do it) http://www.loweleds.com/undergroundlamps.html

garyh3

yer I was looking at the colour change fitting but a bit OTT. Im sticking with the blue.

Will let you know how I get on..

Garyh3

Stoner

The IP65, the 6 means completly dust protected, the second number explains the level of water protection.
IP 65 would be protected against jets of water from all directions, ie suitabe for a wall mounted fitting.
IP 66 would protect against powerfull jets of water. (IMO still a wall mounted level of protection and could be hosed down)
IP 67 would protect against an element of temp immersion in water ( in my opinion what would be needed for a ground external fitting)
IP 68 would protect against prolonged immersion in water.

Stoner

The new Porter house pub at cross guns bridge Phibsboro in Dublin has a nice recessed inground coloured Led fitting. If you guys were around you could check it out, its in a corner so it makes good use of colour on the wall. They look well but as you said Gary they can be a bit OTT if not used correctly, I'd go for all blue aswell, or even the white as it is a blue white from an LED.

I'll tell you what ismynametoolong, your decking might end up being bumpy as hell, but its gonna look well at night LOL

garyh3

Hi Stoner,

I bought 20 but Im reserving the right to see how many the deck really needs.
The company putting down the deck will drill the holes but only where I want them so....
the step off the deck will get 2 as there are two placed to get off the deck that gonna be 4 (only one step to get off and on). Now I was thinking of putting a light under each of the post rails so thats TBD when I see the deck up... The only other issue with the lights is there is no switch as the guy said you have to unplug the transformer to turn the lights off. So Im going to cut the wires from the transformer to the junction box and insert an external light switch as the power source Im using is behind the kitchen fittings.

Garyh3

ismynametoolong

Thanks Guys for all the helpful hints .
This is something i really want to do myself not just to save
money but as a sort of Daddy's project .
The area i am putting it into is 16Ft X 12ft so how many leds do you think
i would need without overkill .
I am also laying it on an existing patio with a graduated fall to the garden once covered with plastic sheeting do you think the frame work will be ok sitting and secured to the slabs below as some of the books and diy manuals
suggest raising the frame work off the ground on seperate blocks .

Stoner

Hi Gary,
that sounds like a plan, keeping them unter the rails is a good Idea, if you can get them at the side of the steps where they would not be walked on directly it would help, IMO you should only mount em where they wont be walked on all the time. Good Idea with the switch, I would however like to offer some advice, you may already know this but anyway, if the traffo has a plug , it would mean that its being fed from a 20 amp MCB (most likely) at your fuseboard. Your intended light switch would be rated to carry only 10 Amps max. I advise that beside the socket that you intend to plug the traffo into that you fit a Switched Fused Spur (you could get one with a flexed outlet too if you wanted, ie cut the plug top off and flex the traffo into the spur) I would also buy a 5Amp fuse for the spur. This way you can have your properly rated switch and some extra protection. As it is an isolation transformer I dont think you should have alot of unnecessary tripping on your RCD.

Ismynametoolong, firstly yes it is. Also I think one light every 3 foot would be enough, I think a row of 4 by a row of 3 would look well, or maybe 5 x4, others may advise on more, if you expect em to do more than just add an effect i.e light the place, then i suggect you use more.
Best of luck with the project, I hope you come out of it a hero.

viking

My deck is a similar size to 16Ft X 12ft, personally I wouldn't put more than 8 LED's down around the edges. I've got 4 white LED's down at the moment at the edges of the deck that are against the two walls and it lights up the walls nicely at night and creates a nice atmosphere.

Don't over do it with lights though as it'll look bad.

garyh3

Thanks indeed for the advice Stoner,

My dad was an electrician for 30 years so Ill ask him if he can also bring over a sput or something similar he has a ton of bit and bobs for his old work (err of course they were throwing it all out)....

Will take the before and after pics when they put the deck in (not till September though)

thanks

Garyh3