Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Feb 28, 2011 2:38 pm I need to do the path around my new house, approx 20m2 of it. I could hire someone to brick pave it for me or I could do it in timber decking myself. If I go for the decking, I'll save myself over $500 (pine) or $300 (batu/merbau). I'd personally prefer decking, but DW is more in favour of pavers. Any opinions/recommendations ? Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: Paving or Decking ?? 3Mar 02, 2011 12:35 pm The aim of my posting was to get information and advice that I haven't found in the existing threads. I'm not after patronising smartasy replies. My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: Paving or Decking ?? 4Mar 02, 2011 1:22 pm To be fair you will likely get a mixed response of people who are in favour of decking and those in favour of paving. there a load of threads on this. Re: Paving or Decking ?? 5Mar 02, 2011 1:41 pm oooh... harsh Not sure I can give you advice or anything informative, but I do have an opinion I'm with DW... paving. Seems easier in the long run. I prefer the look of decking, but wouldn't it be a lot of upkeep, just for a path? Is it a highly visible area? I think that would make a difference in my decision too. Re: Paving or Decking ?? 6Mar 02, 2011 2:21 pm I like the thought of decking but agree with buzz, won't it take additional upkeep? $$ aside, what do you think will look nicer i.e. suit your house better? Re: Paving or Decking ?? 7Mar 02, 2011 2:57 pm Here're specifics. I prefer decking because: - I like timber, it's nicer to walk on. - I don't want an additional heat sink/thermal mass in paving. My house is passive, no A/C and it may make a difference. - I don't mind slapping some oil on it every year, shouldn't take more than an hour or two. I'd like to get some confirmation for the heat sink aspect and also about durability. I may go treated pine, the silvery green/grey goes well with the walls' colour. That decking would go into the short path leading to the porch, under the open sky, on the North side and into a narrow parth at the back, including the drying court, again out in the open, on the South side. DW is concerned with the durability of the timber decking and thinks that the place would look poshier with paving. My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: Paving or Decking ?? 9Mar 02, 2011 3:43 pm kristofw Here're specifics. I prefer decking because: - I like timber, it's nicer to walk on. - I don't want an additional heat sink/thermal mass in paving. My house is passive, no A/C and it may make a difference. - I don't mind slapping some oil on it every year, shouldn't take more than an hour or two. I'd like to get some confirmation for the heat sink aspect and also about durability. I may go treated pine, the silvery green/grey goes well with the walls' colour. That decking would go into the short path leading to the porch, under the open sky, on the North side and into a narrow parth at the back, including the drying court, again out in the open, on the South side. DW is concerned with the durability of the timber decking and thinks that the place would look poshier with paving. With more info my original response is useless. I didn't mean to be smart, but there are so many threads asking the same questions recently that I've been on auto reply sometimes. Sorry Personally I don't like the idea of a treated pine deck, up until recently I hadn't even seen one. I'm on the other side of your argument where I don't like the old treated pine look. As far as the life of timber, I think that if you spend some extra time (and $ of course) and get good timber to start with, you will have a great looking deck in the end. Take some time to choose your timber well, as just ordering timber has got me some terrible results. I once loaded my Mazda 323 to the hilt with a load of pine studs and emptied them in the middle of the timber yard they came from because they were that bad. I would also expect to spend a little more than an hour or two to do a really good job of cleaning an oiling the deck. We did an outdoor setting and it took about 6 hours to clean and stain it. Worth the result though. For paving, yes they will retain heat, but they effect they have on the house may be hard to judge if they aren't directly against the house. Yes they can look better over a longer period of time, but that can be negated with maintenance of the deck. Preparation is key for both. Timber Deck: Make sure you get the right fixing hardware or the job will be messy. Be sure to allow adequate room under the deck, from memory 400mm is required under the bearers/joists. (i.e 400mm is not measure from under the decking timber surface, but this may be different in your state.) Also be sure to allow access to the under side of the deck to clean it out. A build up of leaves and moisture will cause it to rot quickly. Paving: Make sure you allow room to dig out the paving and set the level you want them at. Provide a good base to lay them on. Road base then sand then pavers. Think about adding some cement to the sand when finishing and watering to hold them in place. This can also stop weeds coming through. Good luck with your decision Re: Paving or Decking ?? 10Mar 05, 2011 11:04 pm ahhh.. some good advice there chris.. will keep them in mind.. Oxford 22 @ Stage12a Point Cook Site Cut : 05/03/2010 Slab Pour : 24/03/2010 Frame Inspected : 06/04/2010 Pre-plaster Inspection: 22/04/2010 PCI: 16/07/2010 Final Inspection: 30/07/2010 Landscaping: who knows??? MyHomeoneThread Our Oxford22 Blog Re: Paving or Decking ?? 11Mar 06, 2011 10:12 am Thanks for all replies, they've helped me decide. Decking's out, too much trouble with building and maintaining it. Same with paving, because of the costs and ants and weeds problem. We'll get liquid limestone instead, costwise is the same or sligthtly less than paving. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying 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 10940 I had 28m2 of engineered pavers laid six months back and it was difficult to find someone not taking the pi$$. Internet suggested it should be $85-100/m2 to lay them.… 3 12327 As most others have posted above the install isn't compliant. The pipe is meant to be covered in loose soil or sand, the pipe has holes in it that leaks out a termicide… 10 5699 |