Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd share my expereince installing our new front porch to repay this site for the multitude of advice I've received both directly and also from reading answers to questions others have posted.

We bought our house about six months ago and most of the work so far has been inside...this porch is the first major outside job.

Originally the porch was concrete and we didn't really think that fitted with the character of the home...

I used 90x45 treated pine layed at 425mm centres on its side due to height limitations. I chocked up the pine about 10mm to allow for water to run under the deck and not pool against the joists. - Cost of the pine was about $98.

Attachment 75828

Then I layed 80mm T&G merbu (wanted jarrah but very hard to find, poor quality atm and very expensive) using a D-Bradder that I bought a little while ago. I know a secret nailer is the tool of choice here but I got some advice about bradding the T&G on this forum and it worked fine. I angled the brads into the tongues (2 at each joist) so they wouldn't pull out too easliy and also used some maxbond. - Cost of the merbue was $604 ($4.80 a meter - 35pcs at 3.6)

I think it turned out pretty good...certainly a lot better that the old cracked concrete. The pic below is after the second coat of natural oil.

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