Decking slope - sideways or away from the house?

[samm1978]

I'm building a 5.5m x 3m elevated deck connected to the house. I'm going to use a ledger with a 10mm gap between it and the house. The boards are going to run parallel to the house.

I have an old pensioner and two kids in the house so don't really like the idea of pooled water or moss on the deck or it getting slipper so I definitely want to install a slope.

My question is - can I have the slope going sideways so the water just runs off the boards and into the gaps and off the sides or does the slope have to be away from the house?

If it is away from the house won't the grooves stop the water running and end up holding water?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

 

[maltaron]

You mention "elevated deck". How high from original ground is it? If more than 300mm you need planning permission. That said, I always use 25mm X 150mm sawn and treated boards for the deck. Whilst not as pretty as deck boards they are much less prone to slippiness.

 

[TheVictorian]

A slight slope to the side will be all that you need. Keep it clean and oil it every year and it should be good.

 

[samm1978]

Thanks for the replies guys - much appreciated.

Luckily the decking isn't going to be higher than 300mm from the ground. Definitely not from the highest point.

I've decided to slope sideways. It's a 5.5m deck - any advice on what fall can I get away with without ppl on the deck being able to notice the slope?

Cheers

 

[samm1978]

Hi

Needed some advice on how I should be going about getting my posts in for the deck. Got my ledger on and have now dug my post holes. They are 700mm deep and 300mm wide belling out to about 400mm. Only thing is after about 300mm down the soil is pure clay.

Not sure what I should do to make sure my posts don't sink. I'm even seeing advice online saying decking support posts shouldn't even be dug in but sit on top??

I'm planning to pound as much type 1 subbase into the bottom of the holes as I can to bring depth up to ~600mm and then put a 100mm medium density block at the bottom for the post to sit on before concreting it in.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[samm1978]

Hi

I installed my deck with a slope of about 6mm every m sideways. It's a 5.5m wide deck so I get about a 30mm drop.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I should install the posts, handrails and balustrades.

Should they follow the slope of the decking? Or should the tops of the posts be level along with the handrail and baserail, leaving a larger gap between the deck and the baserail at one end?