Decking over uneven and split level patio

[Hedgoi]

Hi all

I'm looking to deck over my rear patio but it's quite uneven and also split level, so not sure how to lay the joists. See photo (in the dark).

(I'm an amateur DIYer so forgive lack of technical terminology).

My initial idea was to fix some kind of bracket to the house and to the garden wall opposite and run the joists across the patio on those, so the level of the patio would be irrelevant. But I've read a few places that you shouldn't fix the decking to the house. Why is that?

If that's not possible any idea how to go about creating a support structure for the deck boards? The bit I'm standing on in the photo is particularly bad and is kind of humped. There is also a man hole that will need to have access retained so it's not like I can just level it out with concrete.

Any advice welcome!

Thanks.

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• Hedgoi
• 12 Apr 2015
• 1

 

[Hedgoi]

This was the kind of thing I had in mind.

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• Hedgoi
• 13 Apr 2015
• 1

 

[DeadBeat]

Doing my own research at the moment and ive seen very different ideas with attaching the decking to the house.

In the UK at least it seems to be accepted to attach a beam to the house and then use joist hangers to hang the joists. The issue with this appears to be the damp course and if you breach it.

so in theory you could put it above or below the damp protection but not over it. then again it may be possible to space it from the wall by 5 - 10mm with some form of spacer. which will mean you can cover the damp course. id be interested if anyone has a proper answer for this myself.

One tip i can tell you for sure is dont cover any air bricks especially if you have raised internal flooring.

The other thing to bear in mind is the foundation on the wall and if its any good.

assuming the wall is strong enough id be tempted to go from the house to the wall.

the other option is to lay the decking on the pavers itself, just lift them up with something solid like steel brackets or concrete pads to keep the water off them. this only works if the patio is really nice and solid