Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 Dec 24, 2008 11:34 am Hi,
I'm interested in having a deck and pergola built onto the back of my house which I bought 6 months ago. After 2 builders quotes of 30K and 26K I've decided that it will be a DIY project! I want to do do the right thing and get plans drawn up and have it approved by the council but I've called about 10 drafting firms and have gotten nothing but the run around, no shows or excuses as to why they can't do it. The deck is approx 5 x 10m, My partner has built her own home previously and I have ample access to free labour experienced in all things decks! I will be doing an owner builders course and am smart enough to know there are tasks that I can do and tasks that are best left to the experts Can someone recommend someone who can draw up the plans and not rip me off? I'm in Melbourne's Northern Suburbs. Thanks, Cam. P.S. I've searched a few deck related topics on thsi forum and found them extremely informative! You guys rock! Re: Deck Plans... 2Dec 24, 2008 3:07 pm 30K? Are they building it from solid gold? That sounds a bit exxy to me....
If you want to do it yourself, you can draw up your own plans - contact the council and ask them for their guidelines, they should be helpful. My husband built our carport years ago and he visited the council building dept and got them to explain exactly what was required. Then he drew up the plan himself and got it approved no problems. He has no building or drafting skills, but he can use a pencil and ruler... Your council's website might have some helpful info for a start. Re: Deck Plans... 3Dec 24, 2008 7:55 pm I've been helping a mate do a big deck/pergola approximately 1 metre above the ground. Its approx 15 metres wide x 4 metres. The materials including treated pine framing and balustrading, ironbark decking and handrail and Colorbond/ Laserlite roofing, paint, all fasteners and concrete etc has come to about $8500. Thats at 'mates rates' too as I supplied all the materials.
Hope that gives an indication Re: Deck Plans... 5Dec 25, 2008 10:49 am $30k sounds about right.. With a roof on, and good quality hardwood framing and decking it soon adds up! Electrical Engineer... Don't hold that against me... And keen owner builder... Mainly the building part!! Re: Deck Plans... 8Feb 12, 2009 3:28 pm It's not that hard to draw up your own plans.
Get all your speccies such as bearers and beams from a book (usually one in the library). Also in my case I was using some 6" x 6" posts I had and just knew they would be over specced. A piece of paper, pencil and ruler does the rest. Put lots of arrows and labels on timber sizes and don't worry too much about it being "draftsman" quality. The building inspector will tell you if it requires re-drawing. For my post stirrups I just labeled a concrete filled hole 300mm dia x 600mm deep and this was actually the only inspection done. Re: Deck Plans... 9Feb 15, 2009 9:38 am If you're planning on using Merbau, I've seen that the price has gone up. They are about $6 per square metre now? Wow, my friend was building his deck about 6 months ago and he got the merbau for $3.50 from a timber yard. Merbau is very expensive now.
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