Decking Question

[leevis]

Hi All
A quick(ish) decking question for your all.
I am looking at building some decking in my back garden and am confused.
I will be screwing in a ledger board on two walls, firstly the back of the house and secondly on a wall which runs at 90 degrees to the back of the house.
The question i have is, once the ledger(s) are in place (at this point there will be two secured to walls) i guess i fix the third and fourth in place using posts etc BUT do the deck boards fix directly to the ledgers OR should there be joists placed ontop of these ledgers? Yes i will fill in the frame with joists and noggins etc just wondering where the boards should attach.
Lee

 

[Thermo]

think of it as building a floor. the ends of the joists should be fixed directly abutting the ledger boards, so they are at the same level. Although if you want a higher deck the joists could sit on top as well

 

[leevis]

Thanks Thermo

 

[WabbitPoo]

Of course, you could do away with the ledgers altogether....

 

[leevis]

How do you mean, do away with the Ledgers?

Getting a ledger level scares the '*rap' out of me to be honest, is there another way? I would prefer to sink posts to be honest because i am a LOT more comfortable drilling/nailing wood that drilling through my house.

If we are talking about posts, how deep should they be set?

Lee

 

[pantsmachine]

I went 0.4 to 0.6M down and the belled out the bottom of the holes to act as anchor and prevent frost heave, thought this was ott but then this wqinter i was seeing -16 consistently at my house for months. It all depends on how deep solid ground is. You'll know it when you find it as it'll take minutes to go down an inch instead of seconds!

Page 3 has the deck bits
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=161582&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[andycase007]

Hi
I just did a 3m x 3m deck. Didnt attach it to my house, but did 9 posts into the ground (1 at each corner, 1 in between them and then 1 in the middle). Left them taller than needed. Fitted a 6 x 2 frame with 2 6x2 attached either side of the middle post, secured through the posts with s/s bolts. Then run 4x2 joists in between them with 3x2 noggins.
My posts were 5-600mm into the ground fixed with postcrete. My overall deck frame was about 7 inches off the ground.
Cut the posts level with the frame with a reciprocating saw, then decking boards on top.

 

[Thermo]

yep nice easy way of doing it that wont move anywhere. last for years