Garden Decking - Advice Please

[AppleJuice]

I thought decking had disappeared with Ground Force (they increased its popularity IIRC)...

[sparkythecat]

If you want composite decking, ecodek is the stuff. A thread search will find plenty of references. It's British made and one of their sales guys is s PHer .

[Uncle John]

V8mate said:

Chris Type R said:

V8mate said:

Only 25% more for composite? Last time I looked it was twice the price of wood.

So the warnings^ re quality are particularly poignant.

I suspect it's 25% on top of the total bill, which will almost certainly include a large portion of labour/profit - i.e. the material cost might be 75% higher.

It's probably composite deck boards only, and not the bearers.

It might also be the boards which are not solid i.e. hollow inside.

All fair comment.

You would be correct Chris.

I know paving would be the best but it's a large area, and paving would be more than I'm willing to pay, I've got other projects I want to get done this year.

At our last house we had half the area and had it paved at around 6k, and this was in 2009.

[Chris Type R]

Uncle John said:

I know paving would be the best but it's a large area, and paving would be more than I'm willing to pay, I've got other projects I want to get done this year.

I have/had the same dilemma - seems it's never ending.

[crusty]

I guess I must just be lucky

I have had my softwood decking down about 10 years, and just give it a blast with a jet washer at the start of the season and it looks great,

It's a bit green right now, but as I have no plans to be in the garden until the spring, it's no problem

[blade runner]

Wooden decking gets a bad rep partly because the UK is not the ideal climate for it, but mainly because people just don't like to do any maintenance. Clean wood isn't especially slippery when wet, it's the dirt and green stuff (algae) that sits on top that makes it slippery. Keep this in check and it's not much worse than a smooth paving stone.

I don’t like softwood decking as I think it looks cheap and composite materials might be practical, but they always look too artificial to me. Hardwood though is pretty durable and looks a lot nicer IMO if installed correctly. I did my deck in Balau smooth boards around 4 years ago and, apart from weathering to grey, it's as good now as it was when I installed it. I clean it at least twice a year and use a moss/algae killer at the same time which keeps it in pretty good condition.

I have limestone paving elsewhere in my garden, but decking was the only real option where I used it outside our kitchen/diner at the back of the house as I wanted it be level with the inside floor.

[Depthhoar]

Circa 120 square metres of deck: untreated larch boards supported by pressure-treated framing. Boards were planed smooth at installation and get a pressure wash once a year in the spring. I've never applied any after-treatment/paint/stain etc. of any sort. Stood up to the rigours of the Scottish Highlands weather for the past 17yrs, are still really sound and look great. Of course, they're grey now but I like the look. Not slippery either. The grooved boards I've seen seem to be great for growing green algae in the grooves.

[Gooose]

blade runner said:

Wooden decking gets a bad rep partly because the UK is not the ideal climate for it, but mainly because people just don't like to do any maintenance. Clean wood isn't especially slippery when wet, it's the dirt and green stuff (algae) that sits on top that makes it slippery. Keep this in check and it's not much worse than a smooth paving stone.

I don’t like softwood decking as I think it looks cheap and composite materials might be practical, but they always look too artificial to me. Hardwood though is pretty durable and looks a lot nicer IMO if installed correctly. I did my deck in Balau smooth boards around 4 years ago and, apart from weathering to grey, it's as good now as it was when I installed it. I clean it at least twice a year and use a moss/algae killer at the same time which keeps it in pretty good condition.

I have limestone paving elsewhere in my garden, but decking was the only real option where I used it outside our kitchen/diner at the back of the house as I wanted it be level with the inside floor.

Very nice!! I’m in the same dilemma as well, outside needs to be a lot higher, so decking is the option. How much did that set you back if you don’t mind me asking

[covmutley]

I'm guessing whether a garden is north or south facing makes a big difference?

[blade runner]

Gooose said:

Very nice!! I’m in the same dilemma as well, outside needs to be a lot higher, so decking is the option. How much did that set you back if you don’t mind me asking

All in I think it was around £7k for 60sqm of decking area in total. That included all the posts, concrete, framing, weed barrier, pea gravel, decking boards, preservatives, a couple of skips and all the fittings & tools etc. I did all the work myself, so shudder to think what the cost would have been if I'd contracted it out. Took about a year from planning to completion.

[Uncle John]

Quick update.

Have enquired about Indian sandstone paving just to make sure, and much to my surprise, quote isn't much more at all. Seems he can get better deals on the stone.

So, in the interest of longevity, and as we are not moving again, I'll be going with the paving option.

Thanks all for your input.

[bogie]

Uncle John said:

Quick update.

Have enquired about Indian sandstone paving just to make sure, and much to my surprise, quote isn't much more at all. Seems he can get better deals on the stone.

So, in the interest of longevity, and as we are not moving again, I'll be going with the paving option.

Thanks all for your input.

Exactly what I found, as soon as I wanted quality decking, versus the "cheap as possible softwood" option that was put down when the house was built, the price difference was not that much difference.

I have sandstone elsewhere and it comes up like new each year with just a quick run over with the jet washer.Will be replacing my rotten decking with similar in the next few months

[V8RX7]

Uncle John said:

Quick update.

Have enquired about Indian sandstone paving just to make sure, and much to my surprise, quote isn't much more at all. Seems he can get better deals on the stone.

So, in the interest of longevity, and as we are not moving again, I'll be going with the paving option.

Thanks all for your input.

Save yourself a lot of grief and read up on how sandstone should be laid.

Then sack them if they don't prep correctly.