Thread: How big of a deck can i realistically build for $3500

i ended up doing all my calculations based on a 3mm gap, after i too decided 6mm was a bit much,
what sized bearers and joists should i run, leaning towards running only bearers @ 450mm appart straight out from the house 4m, then putting noggins in between them all here and there, and decking parallel to the house straight across it all,

is that a good or bad idea? is it better to run bearers parallel to the house and have joists that way etc ??

what size wood would i use for either method?

I did a 3.5mm gap for two reasons, a) It measured out right with me only having to plane 3-4mm of the last boards and b) It looked right, I tried 5mm but spacing looked too big.

As for which way to run your bearers, it all depends which way you want to run your boards.

5mm gap is mandatory in bush fire areas in NSW - ironically because of the Canberra fires...

progress pics from the weekend, also put in the sliding door this weekend gone as well

friday- demolished the old slab out back of back door
sat- worked on installing sliding door and got it finished
sunday- got as far as only needing to finish hanging 1 more bearer, will get most of the stirrups installed this arvo.

the deck is extending in front of the sliding door, we'll work on that as soon as the concreting is done, as they will all dynabolt to the cement path, so quick and easy.

Dan6,

What spacing do you have there in for the bearers, you also don't seem to have much on the way of stirrups holding the outermost ledger?

Fast work but on sinking the dynabolts, took a full day to get into my bricks for the d/bolts - the stinkers must've been baked tough back in '69.

Originally Posted by Waldo

Dan6,

What spacing do you have there in for the bearers, you also don't seem to have much on the way of stirrups holding the outermost ledger?

Fast work but on sinking the dynabolts, took a full day to get into my bricks for the d/bolts - the stinkers must've been baked tough back in '69.

Bearers are at 1m spacing (they werent all in yet when pics were taken) and joists are at .5m

Also there are only a few stirrups holding it up to level so we could get it into square properly before making anything final, mate i gave a call that has built a few said this was the easiest way to make sure things are square.

good hammer drill gets through the bricks pretty fast.

Some more progress pics. It should all be finished by the end of this long weekend.

got 2/3 of the decking laid today, will post a few more progress pics tomorrow

here are a few pics i took with the mobile phone, will do a few better ones with the digi cam later

just need to do the final cuts on the ends with a guide for a nice straight edge, and sort out a few bits and pieces, and do the whole oiling thing.

Dan_6,

With merbau -hold off on the oiling for 3 months first. You need to let the tannins leach out of the timber first, oil it now and you'll stuff things up. When the merbau gets wet it'll leach black stuff, hose down and it'll wash off, you'll have to repeat this for a while.

No worries, yeah from what i'd read so far i knew it was going to be a while before it could be oiled,
Cheers
Dan

Is there any weepholes covered up by the deck?

Dan your deck's looking good, just wondering however I notice u didn't use a waterproof membrane over your subfloor, or antcaps (are they required around your area?) Just curious also, the decking hasn't covered up the end of the bearer/ledger out from the house in your second last picture, did you rip a final board for this?

Cheers.