Double Decker
I took last week off work to undertake the most ambitious construction project I've ever done - to lay some new decking for us to sit out on this summer. Ever since we've owned the house we've had to put up with horrible cracked concrete in the garden near the house and I have been itching to do something about it for some time now.
My Father in Law is a whiz with wood so I invited him and my Mother in Law over for the week to help me out (lucky them). On the first day we received the wood order which I was expecting to arrive on a lorry with a crane arm for lifting the wood off the back. When the lorry arrived it was clear that it had no arm and Tony and I had to off load all the wood into the lay-by infront of the house. Once it was all unloaded it then had to be transferred into the garden. No mean feat!
Once we had the wood in place and had unpacked the tools we started on the wooden sub frame on which the decking would sit. We were meticulous about the levels and ensured that the drop was correct to allow water run off while creating a nice flat deck.
The wooden sub-frame is anchored to the ground with a mixture of bolts and posts, cemented into trenches. This was to make 100% sure there would be no movement in the deck.
The sub-frame was made up of four pieces all bolted together, we did this mainly for ease of construction but also to make it easier to bolt down. Each frame is secured to either the house or the floor with an expansion bolt.
Once the sub-sub-frameframe had been constructed it was time to wire in the decking lights, these were a gift from my Parents in Law for my upcoming (gulp) 30th birthday. The decking lights were put in place and the wires pinned to the sub-frame to raise them off the floor. All the wires were brought together at the side of the house an run into a junction box housing the transformer which was wired to a fused switch inside the house.
The next job was to lay the decking planks. The planks were cut to length using a rotary mitre saw with each angle individually being carefully checked and cut.
It's been a tiring week and we've worked long hours to get it all done but the final result is fantastic and I'm going to enjoy sitting out this summer. All we have to do now is move the plants back up from the end of the garden and put down the gravel we've bought to cover the last few bits of concrete.
My Father in Law is a whiz with wood so I invited him and my Mother in Law over for the week to help me out (lucky them). On the first day we received the wood order which I was expecting to arrive on a lorry with a crane arm for lifting the wood off the back. When the lorry arrived it was clear that it had no arm and Tony and I had to off load all the wood into the lay-by infront of the house. Once it was all unloaded it then had to be transferred into the garden. No mean feat!
Once we had the wood in place and had unpacked the tools we started on the wooden sub frame on which the decking would sit. We were meticulous about the levels and ensured that the drop was correct to allow water run off while creating a nice flat deck.
The wooden sub-frame is anchored to the ground with a mixture of bolts and posts, cemented into trenches. This was to make 100% sure there would be no movement in the deck.
The sub-frame was made up of four pieces all bolted together, we did this mainly for ease of construction but also to make it easier to bolt down. Each frame is secured to either the house or the floor with an expansion bolt.
Once the sub-sub-frameframe had been constructed it was time to wire in the decking lights, these were a gift from my Parents in Law for my upcoming (gulp) 30th birthday. The decking lights were put in place and the wires pinned to the sub-frame to raise them off the floor. All the wires were brought together at the side of the house an run into a junction box housing the transformer which was wired to a fused switch inside the house.
The next job was to lay the decking planks. The planks were cut to length using a rotary mitre saw with each angle individually being carefully checked and cut.
It's been a tiring week and we've worked long hours to get it all done but the final result is fantastic and I'm going to enjoy sitting out this summer. All we have to do now is move the plants back up from the end of the garden and put down the gravel we've bought to cover the last few bits of concrete.
posted by andrewdotcom at
6:17 PM
3 Comments:
Well Andrew, I think you deserve a pat on the back!
It looks to me like you have created a real neat job and as you say in your post you were meticulous in your construction.
Once question - and not a criticism - why did you not lay paving on the old concrete?
All the best
Phil
http://www.landscapejuice.com
We looked at paving but decided that we preferred the look of the decking, simple as that really. It's also something that I had never personally attempted before so was up for the challenge.
We also decided to use gravel for the other bits and bobs as a security feature. Believe me you'd here an intruder coming walking over that lot. What a racket!
:)
Hi Andrew
Have you had time to enjoy a few BBQ's on the deck this summer or has the rain continued to plague?
We had 34 degrees yesterday which boiled the blood slightly!
Phil
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home