Garden help

[hansPulesh]

I've done a fair few and to be honest I'm dead against digging wooden posts into the ground unless it really has to be done as a last resort. Wood is still wood and no matter how well it is treated it stays in better condition above ground.

If there isn't a major difference in the level of your garden/site, then put some flagstones down, put the dpc above this and the let the leg of the deck frame sit on top of this. It will be fine.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Cheers

 

[JohnD]

You can use concrete fence spurs as posts. They have two holes for bolts or studs (use penny washers) and obviously will not rot so you can avoid having wood in ground contact. If you need extra height you can bolt your wooden legs to the spurs, but well spaced off the ground. You can use dark brown masonry paint if you want the concrete to blend in with your woodwork.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Thanks for the suggestion, I've only got about 25cm in height to play with so I'm guessing they might not fit.

Just to make it clear for me, as it needs to sit on flagstones, could you let me know in order what I should be putting down i.e. weed membrane, dpc tape or treatment, frame, decking. Does that sound right? And I don't want to attach it to the house so will keep a little clearance there. Any suggestions for that?

Cheers again all.

 

[hansPulesh]

If you're placing the decking where you already have flag stones, leave them as they are. I would first lay down your weed membrane over the flags, keep it in place by putting a few bricks over it. stick the membrane to the house/walls with silicone. Then goes the DPC and then the leg of the frame sits on top of the DPC.

You don't have to attach it to the house, but I wouldn't leave too much of a gap - there's no real need. You could use Silicone again to fill small gaps between the house and decking but sooner or later this will give way - just be aware that it will need replacing at some point.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Great thanks again. When you say the DPC on the leg, do you mean just a small area enough to cover the bottom of the leg? Also, the sliding doors at the back of my house go in by about 10cm, so they're not flush with the outside wall if you see what I mean. So I'm wondering whether I need to fit in some kind of meshed trough or something to fill the gap as you walk out. I've seen these on expensive set-ups but I'm not sure the gap's the right size. Sorry to keep asking more questions!

 

[hansPulesh]

No it's fine..... The DPC is a webbed plastic sheet, you need that to sit under and slightly protruding the leg. Its basically there so that the leg doesn't suck any water off of the ground below it.

With the doors, is there no sill at the bottom of the door frame? Ideally, I'd have the deck boards going right up to the wall and sit just below the sill with a small gap for air movement between the sill and the decking board.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

No, just checked and no sill. There's a strong plastic sheet which sits behind the frame running along the bottom section of the frame. It hangs down for protection. The frame is inset from the wall by at least 5cm, so that's the gap I'll need to fill.

 

[hansPulesh]

This plastic sheet which hangs out at the end of and over the wall - is it sloped downwards? And do you have upvc doors?

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Yes the doors were expensive, large glass sliding doors with proper frames. The sheet hangs downwards.

 

[hansPulesh]

Okay, that's your sill in that case then. I'd design it so that your deck board ends up about 5mm - 10mm below this sill when finished.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Is it not a good idea to have it flush level?

 

[hansPulesh]

No, that sill is there to let any rain water etc fall away from the building. If you cover it, firstly your deck board will be unsupported at the end where it meets the frame of your door and secondly, any water that runs down the door and on to the sill will over time start soaking into your deck boards.

If you have the deck board below this sill, firstly it'll be easier to do, stronger and also any water that falls on to the door, will fall on to the sill and then on to the deck. It'll then roll off the board as there will be a slight gradient in it's level away from the house.

There's no need to have the deck at the same level as your interior floor.

Also make sure that you don't cover/obstruct any air bricks in your house walls and also try to keep the finished deck around a foot below the damp proofing course within the house's building.

 

[Justanothergeordie]

Okay, so I just want to get it straight, I understand the decking shouldn't be flush with the edge of doors because water needs to run down the plastic sill and away from the house – I was going to leave a gap for this so that's fine. But also you think the decking shouldn't be the same level horizontally so you can't walk out of the kitchen at exactly the same level? That means there'll be a 5-10cm gap and also a 1cm drop. That'll be a trip waiting to happen for my kids..

 

[hansPulesh]

Might be easier to understand if you could post some pics?