Or, if you’re building on top of concrete (like us) then you can use concrete padstones to simply ‘prop’ the frame up. If you’re not sure what I mean or want to see how that’s done, I recommend checking out this video. If it’s a raised deck and you’re building on top of soil, you will need to use wooden pillars submerged into the ground and concreted in place (think like a fence post!), which you can then fix the frame onto. If you’re building the frame straight onto the ground, then you can simply level the ground out, add gravel or compacted rubble underneath and build away. So I’ve separated it just for the purpose of being easier to read/understand, but you’ll actually need to do this as the frame is being built.īuilding the frame is one thing, but getting it level is another. We actually simultaneously merged this step into the one above, but writing that as one giant step felt a bit too much. Again – another good reason for picking scaffold boards! Step 4 – Levelling the Frame We’re confident the whole thing has been built strong enough though to not need cross-timbers here and luckily since scaffold boards are so thick and strong on their own – we can get away with fewer cross-timbers anyway. ![]() It’s worth remembering though, that this big void with no cross-timbers is more likely to twist and move until the scaffold boards have been laid on top, so we did have to be extra careful until it was finished. Of course, you could adapt this idea for a much smaller area and use it to store garden chairs, garden tools, other random bits and bobs too – which I kind of wish we’d added a separate space to do too. This meant we needed to remove the sloping slabs near the conservatory and shift some sand/rubble beneath it so that the ground would be lowered enough, to provide a seamless step from the conservatory onto the decking, rather than a step-up. We’re building ours as a mixture of both – slightly raised at the front, but sat onto the ground at the back (ever awkward here). The easier option is building it straight onto the ground, and for this, you would need to level the ground first. Depending on how high you want your decking to be, and whether the ground is sloped or not, will usually depend on which route you take. There are two main types of decking, one that sits straight onto the ground, the other is raised. So if you’re interested in finding out how it’s all built and how much it cost, then here’s all in the info you need. And less wood all round means less money. They’re also much thicker, which meant we could get away with using less wood within the frame. Used scaffold boards are much cheaper priced per meter, and they’re much wider too which would mean we would need fewer boards. ![]() With value decking boards costing upwards of £5 for a 2.4m length, my calculations led to me to believe we’d be spending considerable 3-figures on the amount we would need. So why scaffold boards over normal decking boards, you ask? Well, cost played the most important role here. You guys know I’m all about that storage space! It seemed like a win-win, so we went ahead with it. ![]() I also quite like decking for its modern look and I also planned to use the space underneath the decking as storage too. And not to mention, it would hide the unsightly drain cover too, but still, give us access in the future. The step issue, in particular, is one of the main reasons decking appealed to me, as it meant we could easily raise the deck up to provide an almost seamless transition between the inside floor and outside floor. And on top of that, there’s a drain cover right beneath the door, which meant we couldn’t build a step there. The step into the kitchen (through the french doors) was also a little over 1ft high which our eldest dog was struggling to use. ![]() Needless to say, it didn’t look very appealing. #GardenGoals right? We had sloped paving slabs in front of the conservatory, then a large L-shaped area of concrete and a small section of soil in front of that – It was basically a mishmash of everything and anything.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |