This has been quite an intensive build, tbh. It starts on a concrete , covered “alfresco” and I then framed out with bearers / joists at the same level over some general backyard ground. I ran some aggy lines in as the first step to ensure decent drainage. Setting your levels is the crucial thing, if you have the capability of doing that it’s pretty straight forward. Though I’ve found it quite intensive in terms of hours spent.
Went with wide spotted gum boards, double fixed with stainless screws on every joist. I had to clamp every board to shape them to a consistent spacing, pilot hole / countersink and impact driver roughly 1500 screws. Every bearer was “creosoted” (not real creosote, that’s now banned as its actually carcinogenic) , as were all the joists exposed to weather. I also treated the bottom of each board where they crossed the joists. Anything below 400mm above ground is prone to damp troubles, so whilst it’s probably overkill I thought I’d do it.
I’m fortunate in that whilst I’m not terribly fast at this sort of work, I do have most of the gear , a few skills and the time to do it. Hasn’t been cheap materials wise, but it would’ve been damn expensive had I paid to have it built at my pace, lol.
If you decide to do it, happy to offer advice /help.
So I need to replace the front porch, with a traditional tongue and groove deck.
Looking at a lot of the ‘decking’ places, they do larger projects including design etc. so the actual construction work is done by a builder. Also the tongue and groove is more like a hardwood floor, than a deck.
So…
Should I be contacting:
A decking guy who probably sub contracts to a builder?
A floor sanding guy who probably subcontracts to an installer?
