Thread: even spacings? HELP

Hi

When I built my deck I made three wooden T-pieces with the vertical of the T set to the inter-board space. You then drop them between the last fixed board and the next one and get a fixed spacing. The top of the top stops them sliding between the boards. You can then work out from the wall and lay the wood until you are about 1/2 metre from the edge. Then lay out the remaining boards without fixing them to give you an idea of the spacing to make the boards. You can wrap packing tape around the vertical of the T to give you a wider but constant spacing.

Good luck

Andrew

The most commonly used spacer by any chippie is the chippies flat pencil.

a little wider than your 5mm but at least repeatable all the way.

Unless you are using mod wood or another prefab decking you wont have exactly 88mm on every board, and makes it imposible to get it exactly right.

Spacing for banisters and handrails is covered by the Building Code - don't quote these numbers, but I think it's something like 125mm between uprights if the distance to ground is more than one meter, minimum height of 1 meter for a handrail, can't use elements running horizontally if the height is more than four meters unless they are unclimbable, correct riser and going ratio for stairs, no more than 18 steps in a flight, etc, etc, etc.....

As for even spacing...the easy way is MAD....
(Basic calculator skills required, unless you like doing division!!!)

Measure:
Measure the distance that you are trying to evenly space things across (lets call it 1800mm).
Measure one of the things that need to be evenly spaced (lets say its decking plank, so it's 90mm wide).

Add:
Add the gap (1800) and the width of the plank (90mm) together (so you'd get 1890mm).

Divide:
Divide the number you just got (1890mm) by the number of planks you'd like to use, PLUS ONE!

So if you want just three planks across your opening, you divide by four; if you want 10 planks, you divide by 11.

For three planks, you get 1890/4 = 472.5mm.

This distance (472.5) is where the RIGHT HAND edge of the plank has to butt up to. Keep adding that number (472.5mm) to itself till you run out of gap.
(472.5mm + 472.5mm = 945mm so the right hand edge of your next plank is at 945mm, then add another 472.5mm to get 1417.5mm, and then your next would be at 1890mm...but the gap is only 1800, so you're done!

(or for 10 planks, it would be 1890/11 = 171.8mm, so the measurements that the right hand edge of each plank has to meet are: 171.8mm, 343.6, 515.4, 687.2, 859, 1030.9, 1202.7, 1374.5, 1546.4, 1718.2, 1890 (but again, the gap is 1800, so you're done!)

It's actually easier to do than it sounds - spend 20 minutes practising it on the kitchen table spacing out playing cards or CD cases across a few different distances, and you'll be right!

This is the way I do decks, I'll apply it to your space.

The unit you are dividing by is one gap(5mm)plus one board(88mm) which equals 93mm. If you imagine starting at the bi-folds you have gap/board units all the way across, then one spare 5mm gap to the wall. So the first thing to do is remove 5mm from the calculation.

3870 - one spare gap(5mm) = 3865mm

roughly how many boards fit in this space:
3865mm / 93mm = 41.56 gap/board units = 41.56 boards

Now it is better to have full boards and no ripped boards. So we'll make it 42 boards (if we go 41 boards, the gap is starting to get a bit big, but you can try the calcs using 41 if you want)

So now to find the new gapping

42 boards x 88mm = 3696mm in boards

we now have 3870mm-3696mm = 174mm left for 43 gaps = 4.0mm gaps

To set this out, mark out every 5th board at both ends of the deck. So make a mark at 460mm(5th board - 5 x 92mm - board plus 4mm gap), 920mm, 1380mm, 1840mm, 2300mm, 2760mm, 3220mm and 3680mm at both ends of the deck. Snap a chalk line between marks at each end of the deck. Align the back of every 5th run to those lines and nail/screww them in.
Then all you have to do is infill the remaining four boards. You can jam them in if bowed, no need for clamps. Space them with 4mm packers (I use 3mm alum angle cut into small lengths - obviously you need to find something a bit bigger and that won't fall through the deck). You can then wedge the gaps of those four boards a little wider or a little smaller to account for slight variation in board width. But you know every 5th board is in the right spot so you'll reach the far side exactly right and with no creep and full boards both sides and even gaps both sides and your mum will think you are a genius. g'luck
Oh, you will want to nail the first board in too snap a chalk line for it too.
Cheers
Michael

...or go here for Baluster - Stud - Fence Spacings

The methods described by Master Splinter, mic-d, and blocklayer (via wolften) are superior to point-to-point measurement, because they use "true positioning," i.e. measurement from a base point. This avoids error buildup. The only hiccup occurs if the overall length is longer than your measuring tape. In such a case, you'll need to establish a new base point for the next run. This won't be much of a challenge after you become comfortable with the method.

For layouts requiring less precision, such as rebar spacing, ironworkers sometimes use an elastic tool, such as bungee cord or rubber tubing, with marks at the minimum spacing desired. Then stretch the tool until the number of spaces is achieved. Building codes generally allow minor deviations from perfect spacing, to accommodate other parts of the construction.

Cheers,
Joe

Hi Mr,
I have been caught out here and corrected by a builder.(had to knock out what I did and start again cos one end of deck was 20mm different over 6 meters) Layout and fix with one nail the ends/edges of deck and a middle board, possibly 2 middles depending on the overall cover of the deck.

Then lay out the boards in between and use wooden wedges which you can tap accordingly until you have it right by eye. You are now balancing spacing between the nailed boards.

The theory here is you get the ends and middle/s right. The wedges not only allow you to get an even visual spacing, but you can also straighten boards if they are warping. You can get a good balance if one end of of the deck with the other if the ends are not perfectly even, which on most decks are not.

Hope I have explained this well.

cheers
conwood

Have a look here for a simple calculator
Deck Calculator - Renovate Forums

5mm spacing is quite big, 3mm is common for decks. I did a Merbau 10 years ago and had 6mm. After it dried (drought) the wood shrank and has a huge 10 mm gap.

the way i do decks came from my boss being fussy, what i do is work out my gaps usually 3-4 mm. then i take 2 boards commonly 90mm, so 2 board and 2 gaps would be 186mm or 188 mm depending on 3 or 4 mm gap. assuming i use a 3 mm gap i then mark every 186 at each end of the deck and chalk off the marks. then you just nail every second board on the chalk lines once this is done you just drop the missing boards into the gaps and center them. easy, quick and you get even gaps and more imporntantly all the boards end up dead straight not bowed. personally i dont like stretching or shrinking the spacings to make a full board fit.have found it usually looks better to just rip the last board to suit your needs