Questions regarding sand pad

G'day people, My girlfriend and I have signed up to build a steel framed house, on 10 acres, which we hope to have completed by May next year - just waiting to see what Mr Westpac has to say about it!!!! I was just looking through our house plans and trying to foresee any and all problems or issues that may arise when it comes time to build my deck and lay the floorboards inside the house.

The deck we're planning is gunna be pretty huge, (although it might have to be made up in stages if the costings dictate it) it will run the full length of the house 24m and then another 1.8m wide down one side for 7.2m. So 25.8m long :)(with a 7.2m L shape down the side! There is a 1.8m verandah around one side and along the front 24m the posts used to support this will be 90x90x2mm Duragal with prefitted stirrups. Not too sure of the final design yet - I don't really want to go the long rectangle shape, (plus the 7.2m x 1.8m which is necessary) because I think I might find it a bit plain/boring and not look as speccy as it could be! Any ideas on something a bit different or adding some sort of feature are invited.

By the way the lounge room sticks out 2.4m from about 7.83m. it's 5.7m along this wall then it returns 2.4m back to the house. Then it goes straight for another 10.47m to the corner of the house. Turn left 90 degrees and this is where the 7.2m L shaped section will start. Hope that explains it without being too confusing:roll:

The footings along the house slab are 300mm, I'm going to use ledgers boards all the way along the slab where possible, but I'm wondering if I do this I will have to start removing sand for a) the ledgers and b) any other bearers and joists that I will be needing so where do I stand with how much sand is needed or how much can I safely remove? Can I angle it away from the slab at all?

Another thing is they want the sand pad - min of 1.5m from edge of slab and the verandah. Why around the verandah? I don't understand this part. Also because of the contour of the land we're gunna be up for a small fortune in fill because the lowest corner is about 1.75 lower than the highest corner, (diagonally opposing) then you have to add 600mm-800mm for the actuall pad!!! I think I need to have a good chat with the earthworks bloke!

The plans show the posts end (from what I can ascertain) about 100mm above the finished floor level and then the stirrup continues down a min of 150mm then into the footing. I would like to extend the posts down a bit then I can weld/bolt brackets onto them and then use these to attach the relevant bearers/joists instead of needing to use extra posts or stirrups. Would there be any drama's with this? Other than the builder saying no that is. Also would I need to beef up the footings to allow for the extra weight of the decking?

Finally (I think I know the answer to this one but....) the spans between posts along the front are: the first 2 spans @ 3.015 centres, 3 spans @ 3.070 centres and 3 spans @ 3.490 centres. Can I get away with using just these spans for my bearers? If I can, I presume I would have to use some oversized timber - correct? or risk having a bouncy deck. I'll be grabbing a copy of Allan Staines Decking and Pergola book next week. The decking will be running along the length of the house if that helps.

Sorry for the long post but you know how it is!!!!

Thanks
Marc


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