Hi there
Having had two builders unwilling or too lazy to quote on the project we have decided to deck an area immediately outside the back door measuring roughly 7m x 3m ourselves.
At present this is an old, but stable patio however it has seen better days and we would like to replace/cover. Both builders who visited said it would be possible to build a frame immediately on the patio and then deck on top of the frame.
The fact that this is apparently feasible makes a DIY job seems reasonably straightforward, however I have a few questions and was wondering if others had done the same job could office some advice.
1. Firstly and most importantly, is it feasible to construct the timber frame directly onto the existing patio? If so I assume that I need to avoid the frame directly resting on the patio slabs, what do I use to overcome this?
2. To avoid drilling into the house and also to avoid any damp issues I intend to leave a gap of a few cms between the exterior wall and the deck, this means that I to anchor the deck frame to the patio. As with question 1, is this possible and what should I use?
3. I am quite happy to build the frames once I know how I should secure to the patio, however the dimensions are my next worry. Surely 7 metres is too long for a frame length, and also 7m is beyond the typical length of a decking board. Does this mean that I need to construct smaller frames and then screw together? Also to avoid having to join lengths of decking, should I design so the decking runs in the opposite direction, i.e. to a maximum length of 3 metres?
Any advice/experiences of similar projects?
Regards
Lisa
Having had two builders unwilling or too lazy to quote on the project we have decided to deck an area immediately outside the back door measuring roughly 7m x 3m ourselves.
At present this is an old, but stable patio however it has seen better days and we would like to replace/cover. Both builders who visited said it would be possible to build a frame immediately on the patio and then deck on top of the frame.
The fact that this is apparently feasible makes a DIY job seems reasonably straightforward, however I have a few questions and was wondering if others had done the same job could office some advice.
1. Firstly and most importantly, is it feasible to construct the timber frame directly onto the existing patio? If so I assume that I need to avoid the frame directly resting on the patio slabs, what do I use to overcome this?
2. To avoid drilling into the house and also to avoid any damp issues I intend to leave a gap of a few cms between the exterior wall and the deck, this means that I to anchor the deck frame to the patio. As with question 1, is this possible and what should I use?
3. I am quite happy to build the frames once I know how I should secure to the patio, however the dimensions are my next worry. Surely 7 metres is too long for a frame length, and also 7m is beyond the typical length of a decking board. Does this mean that I need to construct smaller frames and then screw together? Also to avoid having to join lengths of decking, should I design so the decking runs in the opposite direction, i.e. to a maximum length of 3 metres?
Any advice/experiences of similar projects?
Regards
Lisa