Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 May 19, 2009 10:17 am Hi All. My DH and l have decided we want decking for our pathway to our front door, now got some 'over the phone' quotes for both Treated Pine and hardwood, seems prices avg about $100sqm for the TP and $180 HW, the space we have is 16.5sqm. Now l've heard mixed reviews from friends, some saying its worth spending the more on the hardwood long term its better, also had the opinion 'why spend more' both require up keep, and its not really much different! Throw a spammer in the works one company has told us there is a inbtn wood that comes from Western Australia just as good as the hardwood, does anyone know the name he did tell me but ive forgotten it But my question is, from people 'personal' experience is it worth spending the more for the hardwood or as ive been told by some ppl 'why pay more'. Any help would be GREAT Re: Yes another Decking question 2May 19, 2009 12:39 pm I think my friends decking is made of treated pine and it gouges and dints really easily from just general wear and tear - you can see stiletto marks etc in it so it's kinda soft 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Yes another Decking question 3May 19, 2009 1:08 pm I would say that hardwood is the go as ive seen what pine looks like after being exposed to the elements for a couple of years, and it aint pretty. Is it exposed to sun / rain if so i believe your better off with hardwood (dont forget about the frame in hardwood as well) with a plastic bearer/ strut protection to prevent rain from causing rot. If its under cover you may be able to get away with pine, but it will ding and look wornout quicker than hardwood (you could go hardwood covering with pine frame though) Also white ants (termites)dont like some of the very hard hardwoods so there is an added advantage there (hence i say again, do the frame in hardwood). Re: Yes another Decking question 4May 19, 2009 9:06 pm I would recommend hardwood decking with treated pine sub-frame. There are very few non-treated timbers on the market that are termite resistant - merbau is one but the timber is not generally structually graded and will cost a motsa to use as a subframe. Kiln-dried hardwood framing will cost you nearly 4 times the price of a treated pine one as well, F27 is generally blackbutt and spotted gum and both are suseptible to termite and borer infestation. Re: Yes another Decking question 5May 24, 2009 7:07 pm I think the life experience of treated pine decking is about 7 years that is from experience of quoting jobs that need decking replaced. As for the frame H3 treated pine would be the best bet Re: Yes another Decking question 6May 24, 2009 8:22 pm The decking will last as long as the maintanence is kept up Re: Yes another Decking question 7May 25, 2009 12:17 pm Thanks for all your replies, spoke to DH told him what others thought and we have decided to go for the hardwood, in particular the merbau! Figures its worth spending the extra now to not spend extra later! We had a few people out to quote last Wednesday, and Thursday, now im just waiting for their quotes (im being very inpatient i might add, i want to know how much its like how long does it takes to write up a quote ) Re: Yes another Decking question 9May 27, 2009 4:15 pm l can tell you the measures are 5.5 long by 2.94 (so i round it to 3, therefore 16.5sqm). l got our quotes, clearly l don't know much about how expensive it is $3700 for the mebau, then if we want to do the porch, which we do their charging another $1100 to do, and that is like 3m3 if that! Now luckily l've spoken to my step dad who tells me he can help me with this part (porch) cause his done decking before. The reason we are paying someone to do it the rest is cause we are on a 'slight' slope so we require like a step down decking if that makes sense! Backyard def see myself and DH and step dad he just doesnt know it yet attempting to do it ourselves because after getting a price like this for what we think is a small area be a lot more cost effective! Was you Adrian who had a topic about decking and doing it yourself and the cost? l remember reading it and thinking thats not bad cost, so it at least gives us some hope for the backyard! heres a photo, we want to deck either side of the render piler (all the white stones and some of the grey area too, width of the porch) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Yes another Decking question 11May 28, 2009 11:18 am WOW that is sooo depressing when you work out how much to do it ourselves . We got two quotes both were the same, and both said the reason its this cost is because we are on a slight slope "There is a lot of work involved". Its the slightest slope and now knowing how much to get the wood basically saying labour side of it is $2743! Def doing the back ourselves, and def taking my step dad up on doing the porch, (wish he could do the whole lot but because of this slight slope not something his done before and its not something he is confident with )just the porch alone they wanted $1100 bringing the total to $4800, i nearly died when they said how much for such a small area! Now im more annoyed knowing how much to do it ourselves if it wasnt for the slope and needing it to step down i would tell them thanks but no thanks! i need mates who can do these types of jobs me thinks! Re: Yes another Decking question 12May 28, 2009 12:18 pm woodsey WOW that is sooo depressing when you work out how much to do it ourselves . We got two quotes both were the same, and both said the reason its this cost is because we are on a slight slope "There is a lot of work involved". BOLLOCKS!!!!! Its the slightest slope and now knowing how much to get the wood basically saying labour side of it is $2743! Def doing the back ourselves, and def taking my step dad up on doing the porch, (wish he could do the whole lot but because of this slight slope not something his done before and its not something he is confident with )just the porch alone they wanted $1100 bringing the total to $4800, i nearly died when they said how much for such a small area! Now im more annoyed knowing how much to do it ourselves if it wasnt for the slope and needing it to step down i would tell them thanks but no thanks! i need mates who can do these types of jobs me thinks! The key to all construction is planning, thinking and preparation. if you do all of that you will be fine. Be prepared to hire some wquipment, such as laser levels, and ask a heap of questions. Ppl like Davinci, and Dukey are a big ig help, plus i have put a few threads on from my experiences. Steps are easy, again just think, plan tha prepare. If you need any more info PM me. Adrian B Re: Yes another Decking question 13May 28, 2009 5:42 pm Sorry to hijack the thread, but Ive had people come and do decking quotes,, just wondering if anyone knows the usual or standard distance between stumps/posts of the deck?? They said 1.2metres, but that seems a bit wide?? Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: Yes another Decking question 14May 28, 2009 7:37 pm depends on the bearer size, you can go 3 metres between stumps quite easily with 190x45 pine for example as you will be restricted with height being so close to the ground you would probably have a 90x70 bearer about 1500mm apart Re: Yes another Decking question 15May 28, 2009 7:42 pm Thanks for the reply Dukekamaya. I just called landscaper and they are doing stumps 1200mm apart. Then bearers, not sure of size, and the joists are 450mm apart. Does 450mm and 1200mm sound about right? Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: Yes another Decking question 16May 29, 2009 8:14 pm 450mm is as per the BCA for joist spacing. bearer span (post to post spacing) is entirely dependant on the actual bearer size - the span post to post on the front verandah I built here is 2700mm whilst a mates we did at 3 metres. Re: Yes another Decking question 17May 30, 2009 2:04 pm I have helped a few of my friends build their deck and its not too hard, like Adrian said, you just need to plan and prepare. Oh and you need alot of man/girl power!! I would have thought that having a slope doesnt really effect the construction of the deck as much because all you really need to do is make sure that your bearers are level, which means stumps will vary in height (Correct me if i'm wrong as I'm DEF no expert on this). Once your bearers are level, then its just a matter of putting the joist on and then the hardwood. Def try and do it yourself, its well worth it Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Yes another Decking question 18May 30, 2009 10:43 pm Thats correct, the slope has no real effect on the construction apart from what you said. All land is sloped to a cetain degree Re: Yes another Decking question 19May 31, 2009 11:39 am Let me see if I can find pix of the front deck i built. Here is one I prepared earlier. Click here to go to the Letterbox and front deck thread. Adrian B Re: Yes another Decking question 20Sep 18, 2009 7:47 pm i like ur decking Adrian, what is the silver bits? Thought i should post some photos of our decking, it ended up costing us $3700, going to put lights in it, just waiting for the right weather because we need to put another coat of oil then lights! we love it and glad spent the money getting it! (let me know if u cant see the photos, not really good at posting photos up!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hi, as per the subject. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best value decking oil (Bunning is close to where I live) for a treated pine deck? Thanks 0 10971 Hi, Apologies - I know there is plenty out there on this but struggling to put together the puzzle. We're planning our garage/external laundry to master bedroom and… 0 11116 Use a product like Equisol's Vitalise to clean the deck then coat with a penetrating timber oil. It will look 10 years younger and add value to your home. 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