Building a deck

[TheWiggman]

Progress.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Just remember to keep the dog inside when you coat the deck.

 

[TheWiggman]

RDO today so in between babysitting kids I'm well on the way. Joists are all in and braced, started on the step at the front (after a lot of thinking and deliberation) and managed to pour the concrete for the front two supports just in time for the rain.

Still some work to do on bracing some joists as I ran out of screws, but not too much effort. Now all I need is some merbau and hours upon hours of drilling and screwing. Oh and painting, but I can't get buy a trick with the rain.

 

[TheWiggman]

It's been a long time between drinks on the deck project with much to report.
1. Better half decided (after talking to family members over the course of about 3 minutes) that yes, we should go composite decking. This despite our constant arguing and disagreement with how "fake" it looks and that we'll definitely be able to maintain merbau. She reneged on that for no logical reason for all the reasons I fought for. The trouble is, I'd already allowed for 19mm of timber when the thinnest composite board at 450mm joist spacing is 23mm. Just going to have to deal with a lip at the entrances.
2. I gave her the task of sourcing the board. This delayed everything a few months.
3. She felt guilty and went to the council for a DA. This stung us because I'd already poured the footings and the bloke came out to inspect the footings. I'm still interested in what exactly he would have confirmed.
Long story short, we were given verbal approval to complete it. Here's a shot from a few days ago, I've nearly laid it all since then:



The product we went with was NexGEN composite decking. Interestingly the product we received was Fibreon branded which has different joist spacing recommendations to the NexGEN website. The installation instructions are also BS, which state the shitty hidden clips need to be squeezed together and then screwed from the top using the supplied bit. The supplied bit however is too large for the gap. It also says to NOT screw at an angle, but in my opinion that was the ideal way to do it observing the clip design. I did it anyway and had some spacing issues as I went because the clip would move on the screw - nothing I couldn't address, but has left some larger-than-desired gaps every now and then if you look for them. Reading the Fibreon instructions now however it shows that they should be installed at an angle pulling the clip into the board.
Great.
It cost around $6400 delivered for ~50m2. Not cheap. However, it comes with a 25 year warranty against staining and fading and has excellent resistance to scratching because it's co-extruded (this is me talking, not the salesmen). We got a sample pack of a heap of different products and this was the toughest, along with another brand. I wanted to go Australian made but it didn't offer the same long term benefits and joist spacing of the NexGEN. The other advantage of this stuff is it has two different finishes on each side, so flipping them randomly gives it a more non-uniform and natural appearance. It really does look good once down.
I'm looking forward to some finished shots, but sadly we don't have enough of the edging to go down to the ground. Stuffed that up somehow but I don't really care, I'm happy I've got a surface to walk/sit on that's not dirt.

 

[SBOB]

you need council approval for a deck thats only just off the ground?

 

[lost at sea]

you need council approval for a deck thats only just off the ground?

technically yes, if it changes the footprint of the building you need approval.

just about to put ours through council, which was a must do as it is approx 2 meters off the ground, and we are using wide span steel beams.
lucky that we did as it turns out there is a maximum footprint allowance in lake mac council of 50% of block size, with the deck we will be at 49.8%. phew.

 

[TheWiggman]

As expected the only comment about the progress was about the damn council. I'll do my best to explain because this bit of legislation has been pissing me off to no end...

In reference to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 under part 2, div 1, subdivision 6 clause 2.12 it states -

2.12 Development standards
The standards specified for that development are that the development must:

(a) (Repealed)


(b) have an area of not more than 25m2, and


(c) not cause the total floor area of all such structures on the lot to be more than:

(i) for a lot larger than 300m2—15% of the ground floor area of the dwelling on the lot, or


(ii) for a lot 300m2 or less—25m2, and...



Division 1 is for 'General Exempt Developments'. This clause defines developments that do not require a development application. As my deck is around the 40m2, it requires a DA.
Subdivision 6 is for "The construction or installation of a balcony, deck, patio, pergola, terrace or verandah (whether free standing or attached to the ground floor level of a building, or roofed or unroofed)". So even though most of my deck is already under a roofed section of the house - clearly stated as 'alfresco' on the building plans - it's irrelevant because the deck is >25m2.

Gotta love bureaucracy.

 

[Yob]

+1 on,the composit.. Gets dirty? Gurney..

Never need to oil again = win

 

[earle]

It is looking good though, despite council frustrations. Bet you enjoyed a few cold ones and admired your work at the end of each day. I love it when a project if mine comes together well, been doing quite a few things in our yard. Have to go and admire it and feel the satisfaction often, usually with a beer in hand.

 

[TheWiggman]

Finally!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

All you need now is 8" veranda's around the house

 

[Weizguy]

I admire Wiggmans resolution to see a job well done.
But I remember back at TAFE in the roof plumbing module, you had to be able to acrually fabricate various sheet metal and gutter components to more or less push fit tolerances, then soft solder the lot together. It was an actual motor skill transferable to many other things. An elegantly crafted down pipe on a heritage home or church is a thing of beauty.

Then...everything changed, and gappy joints and in-precise angles were dealt with by the squeeze of the trigger. Guess it got you to the pub sooner..

Sometimes the wrong tradies are employed for the task. They're all the same, right?
At my place the insurance mob paid an electrician to do some plumbing on my septic tank pump. Note: there was no electrical work performed, but it is an electric pump.
About 3 months later, when I complained about a leak in the plumbing, the insurance took a few days to get back to me and advised that the guy had been back (he lives about just over 50 km away so I doubt he even had a look) and advised the insurance mob that I had backed my car into the pump and caused the damage. It was a leaky joiner, FFS. I told the insurance mob that he was lying and I'd fix it myself.
After the next inevitable flood, Insurance made me chase my own quotes and tradies for the pump repair. Still having trouble finding someone to provide a quote. Blacklisted for calling the dog lecco a liar?

Imagine sitting back with a beer or twelve and watching the better half build a deck... I wish!

After a few beers you should not be handling power tools anyway. Just whack your thumb with a hammer once to confirm that.

 

[Zorco]

All you need now is 8" veranda's around the house

8 inches...

What is this?!!! A veranda for ants!!?