Thread: Oregon now illegal for deck / pergola construction

Brendan

How old is the un-approved deck? If it is over 7 years then I don't think there's an issue.

Me, I'd leave well enough alone. Keep your head down. Once you involve the council it becomes a nightmare. Low profile is the way.

I live in one of the 3 worst local government areas in NSW and have many horror stories, myself, neighbours and friends. Council officials and potliticians seem to have their own personal agenda, and little to do with representing the rate-payers.

Cheers Bodgy, I agree with you...but basically I want to get it to an approvable standard without going to council....for peace of mind, and im not doing it twice. I might just go with hardwood over oregon to be safe, it wont add much price to the bill in the scheme of things.

P.S What is the actual name for the upright posts I refer to? Im talking about the 100mm square posts.

P.P.S I measured the back deck, its actually only 40sq m (10 x 4), so my previous estimate was grossly out!!!

I am with Bodgy. Do nothing to create a Kafka-esque situation. Did the house have a building certificate on sale issued by the local council? Let sleeping dogs lie.

prozac

Same thoughts here. You don't want to encourage officialdom. If it was done before you moved in, it's ok in my mind. If you're worried about the oregon's susceptibility to rot or termites, treat it.
Jim

Let me clarify the situation.

Im not going to the council, so dont worry about that.

The current deck is structurally unsound. 3 of the hand rails are compeletely rotten, they are unsafe. Plus, the hand/guard rails are currently horizontal and spaced about 350mm apart. I regularly have toddlers around and dont want them falling through, its dangerous. Also whilst the posts are currently fine (i.e not rotten at all), the post supports have been installed improperly, and thus the posts are nearly in contact with the ground all the way around the deck. So they wont stay this way for long.

So, im going to rebuild it...for these reasons. If anyone can shed some light on the rules/regulations for such a deck I would be grateful as I want to do it properly. The deck is 1300mm off ground level, its 1400 wide and 5000 long.

Cheers,

Brendan

I'm in Sydney. Talking a mate a few weeks ago about timber in general. The subject of outdoor structures came up and he indicated that oregan can no longer be used for these structures. As for the ACT - ???????

Brendan, you can't blame us for being a bit confused when your opening question was "where can I find the building code online so that I can get this thing approved?" Seemed to me on reading that you planned to try and get the existing deck approved.

So, as you're planning to demolish it, the question of oregon doesn't really come into it, except to say "don't use it".

You have a number of options for your posts: treated pine, treated hardwood, steel and brick. As you're in Canberra, you will have bushfire construction requirements if you live in a bushfire zone. This would limit you to using low-flammability materials. If you're not in a bushfire zone, not a problem.

Most DIY type decks in areas unencumbered by bushfire zone construction requirements would be built using treated pine posts with galvanised post supports cast in or bolted to a concrete footing. The size and depth of this footing depends on your soil type.

There is a book by a bloke called Allan Staines that is supposedly the bible for deck and pergola builders, so I'd recommend you chase down a copy of that. Otherwise, the majority of your questions will probably be answered with a search of the forum, because decks have been a bit of a hot topic here for the last year or so.

You will find it difficult to find an on-line source that will answer all your questions with regard to building a deck that meets the building code, so again I would recommend a copy of Allan Staines' book.

I apologise for the confusion. Ill get rid of the Oregon and use hardwood/TP.

Im still keen to hear from people who can help with advice on roofing the pergola, whether it be with a vergola or laserlite etc. Im scared that ill faint if I get a quote for a vergola without some idea of the cost first!

The consensus of opinion on roofing seems to be that you're better to roof the whole thing with Colorbond and if you want to let in some light just one or two sheets of Laserlite or similar over windows. Most people I've spoken to about it reckon it gets far too hot under a full Laserlite roof.

To price it, you really need a plan so that you know what timbers you will need. The roofing is straight forward, just tell them the length of the sheet and the total span and they'll give you a price.

Hi Brendan,
You can get Alan Staines book on decks and pergolas from Bunnings for about 20 bucks - very well worth it...
Cheers,
Adam