So we moved in over a year ago, and with pretty much all the interior stuff taken care of, we've finally started on making the outside look nice (to the relief of our neighbours!)
Anyway, staring at a forced 3 weeks holiday from work, I'd really want to get my deck built. We have an "outdoor room" area, covered by roofline, a brick pillar in the outer corner with deep concrete reinforcement connecting the brick pillar to the main house slab.
This is a view of the outdoor room from inside the house:
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Reverse view
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Closeup of the concrete reinforcement (I'm sure there's a technical name for this)
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And there's only about 300mm from the ground to the rear sliding door - this is the maximum height of the deck.
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I've done a couple of conceptual sketches to help visualise how I'm going to put it all together;
http://www.tim-and-tina.com/deckplan1.jpg
http://www.tim-and-tina.com/deckplan2.jpg
So, some of the things I've been coming up with, having read plenty of other peoples experiences with building their decks...
- Deck won't be connected to the house. Gap of 20-50mm between the deck and house to allow for inspection of termite barrier.
- Treated pine substructure and hardwood decking. Probably 90mm wide, using screws.
- Concreted post stirrups with bearers directly attached to stirrups. Where "posts" are over existing concrete, probably bolt stirrups straight into concrete, or build small brick piers.
- Picture frame border around the deck.
Some specific questions I had related to my plans (hopefully people more experienced than myself can contribute?)
1) This is a low rise deck. FFL is only about 300mm. How deep/wide do footings have to be? Should I consider raising the bearers and using joist hangars (this would mean I would use a lot of joist hangars though?)
2) Opinions regarding both layout options– number of posts and positioning.
3) Can I cantilever a joist 400-500mm past a bearer? What is the max distance possible to cantilever a 90x45mm joist? If needed, I could possibly use a thicker/wider joist?
4) To get a “picture border” edge, do I simply double up a joist at the ends to provide enough space for the border deck plus to fix the rest of the decking?
5) I want to leave a gap of 20-50mm around the deck and not fix it to the house (to be able to inspect termite guard). Opinions?
6) With the concrete reinforcement supporting the pillar of the outdoor room, what is best way to support a bearer over concrete here? Stirrups/dynabolt, mortar/brick pillars, other?
7) Have seen a product called a “ground screw” which has a stirrup attached to a large screw that you supposedly… screw into the ground. No hole digging or concrete pouring. Hadn’t planned to use it, but sounds convenient, if it does actually work and has longevity?
Hoping to settle on a plan and order in materials for the substructure soon after Boxing Day!
Thanks all
T&T