how difficult is it to lay decking ?
Discussion
It seems to depend enormously on what you've got there at the moment, and as has been said, the actual laying of the decking planks is the least of your worries.
We've just had some done to a height of about 3 feet, with different surface materials, different floor heights and different floor angles underneath. It took about 6.5 (professional) man days to do, although that did include fencing either side. The actual fixing on of the planks took them about 2 hours.
We've just had some done to a height of about 3 feet, with different surface materials, different floor heights and different floor angles underneath. It took about 6.5 (professional) man days to do, although that did include fencing either side. The actual fixing on of the planks took them about 2 hours.
dave_s13 said:
Laying the boards is a peice of pee.
It's preparing the frame it sits on that can be tricky.
What it going down on top of?
It is going over the top of grass and a small flower bed. The ground is pretty flat but might need some leveling. A local company has quoted me £2000 to do it which sounds really steep to me... It's preparing the frame it sits on that can be tricky.
What it going down on top of?
tricky69 said:
It is going over the top of grass and a small flower bed. The ground is pretty flat but might need some leveling. A local company has quoted me £2000 to do it which sounds really steep to me...
Bloody hell!!! 
We've just paid about £2,400 for an area of decking about 3m x 4m, around a metre off the ground. This included fences on two sides, a gate in one of them, levelling some of the ground underneath and skimming it with concrete.
What was interesting was that he reckoned the bulk discount he gets from the timber merchant mean he is now about 25% cheaper overall than when he first started doing decking a couple of years ago, and was paying near enough end user prices.
Depends on a whole heap of things. What are you laying it onto? Do you not only have to lay deck but lay footings? Do you need to cut it? Mine is laid straight over an old Patio using the Patio as the footing and its two lengths of deck wide by 15 deep so no cutting :-) So in my case it was very easy to lay.
I'm just doing a deck area at the back of my house.
There's really nothing to it, spade, wood, spirit level, pencil saw, screws and screwdriver.
Oh, and a sledge hammer to break up the 1950's concrete that had been hidden by the block paving path I am replacing.
As to cost, no idea how much I would be paying to get someone in. The decking I'm doing is about a 16M long path, with a 4*4M sitting area and a 4M circle round a tree. I've bought about half the wood and that alone has cost me £1000.
If you do it yourself, just be prepared for it to take abit longer than you expect and read up about how to do it online, it's really not rocket science!
There's really nothing to it, spade, wood, spirit level, pencil saw, screws and screwdriver.
Oh, and a sledge hammer to break up the 1950's concrete that had been hidden by the block paving path I am replacing.
As to cost, no idea how much I would be paying to get someone in. The decking I'm doing is about a 16M long path, with a 4*4M sitting area and a 4M circle round a tree. I've bought about half the wood and that alone has cost me £1000.
If you do it yourself, just be prepared for it to take abit longer than you expect and read up about how to do it online, it's really not rocket science!
Kermit power said:
tricky69 said:
It is going over the top of grass and a small flower bed. The ground is pretty flat but might need some leveling. A local company has quoted me £2000 to do it which sounds really steep to me...
Bloody hell!!! We've just paid about £2,400 for an area of decking about 3m x 4m, around a metre off the ground. This included fences on two sides, a gate in one of them, levelling some of the ground underneath and skimming it with concrete.
What was interesting was that he reckoned the bulk discount he gets from the timber merchant mean he is now about 25% cheaper overall than when he first started doing decking a couple of years ago, and was paying near enough end user prices.
tricky69 said:
is £2k an ok price than ? it is similar in size to yours but will need cutting as well
The materials for ours were about £1k, with the rest being labour. The bulk of the labour was preparing the ground, then getting the frame in. If you've got a raised frame and prep work needed, then it sounds reasonable. If, on the other hand, it's down low with little prep (our prep easily filled a skip), then I'd say that might be a bit on the high side?
Sounds like a similar job to what I did last year. Got a 3m x 3m hardwood kit from www.edecks.co.uk and stuck this on the back of the house. There were some paving slabs already down so we used those for the level then dug out the turf and borders where the decking had to extend to. Used some breeze blocks for the corners and some paving slabs as support for the cross beams and built the frame on top of that. Been there a year now and is very sturdy and looks great.
Dont forget to get some decent weed stopper and gravel underneath - you will be very upset when in a few years plants start growing through the deck boards!
Also be guaranteed that any joist work is done with at least tanalized/treated timber and any cuts are also treated. Once the boards go down you wont be able to get to the framework and so the first time you notice it rotting will be when it falls down.
Also be guaranteed that any joist work is done with at least tanalized/treated timber and any cuts are also treated. Once the boards go down you wont be able to get to the framework and so the first time you notice it rotting will be when it falls down.
tricky69, I have just done what yo want to do, except is was harder, on a old quarry, and the supports were sunk into a slope.
Yours is flat ground, I would sum it up as easy. biggest things are sinking those posts that the frame sits on, essentially you can make a square frame out of 2x8/2x6, then lay it over where you want it then mark holes, dig concrete them in, then attach frame or do as I did, sink the post holes ( check you tube out for how to get them square, a american diy centre has decent videos up ) then start with a 2x8, temp screw it in at either end, check it is level then do the same all sides, when happy with the level, drill and use coach bolts, once thats done nail on joist hangers, hang remaining joists, wack bits of wood in between joist ( noggins ) then wack you decking boards on top with a nails width between them, cut edge to size, treat wood, bingo bango job done.
Biggest help was making the deck the size of the precut wood, joists and decking, saved cutting and treating ends, I would say I was alright at diy and this was easy, I didn;t know what a joist hanger or a noggin was before I did this.
We got the larget sized planks of decking we could so I wouldn;t have to do joins, and we have a 4.5 by 5 metre deck. As for cost I would say it was about £1000 all in. That covers screws, wood, new cheap hand saw and a circular saw, chalk line ( not needed for me but you might ) decent laser level, gloves, drill bit for coach bolts, then another as it was 2inches too short! super Drill thingy hire to get through the rocks in the ground whilst digging holes, spade etc etc.
Did it over Christmas whilst very ill so spent 3hrs a day doing it, probably 7 days ? 21hrs ? probably a bit longer actually but it was me by myself, I would love to do it on flat ground in the sun with soil to dig as opposed to rock !
Also mine doesn't have a railing or anything just the deck, thinking of putting up glass which will be double the cost of the actual deck !
Do it yourself and learn some new things, play with some tools, feel like a real man, sense of real satisfaction of looking at something, standing on it and it not falling over and thinking "I made that", enjoy women coming out and saying things like "look at that, your so clever, I wouldn't know where to start" and "your working so hard, brought a beer and a sandwich for the worker"
Yours is flat ground, I would sum it up as easy. biggest things are sinking those posts that the frame sits on, essentially you can make a square frame out of 2x8/2x6, then lay it over where you want it then mark holes, dig concrete them in, then attach frame or do as I did, sink the post holes ( check you tube out for how to get them square, a american diy centre has decent videos up ) then start with a 2x8, temp screw it in at either end, check it is level then do the same all sides, when happy with the level, drill and use coach bolts, once thats done nail on joist hangers, hang remaining joists, wack bits of wood in between joist ( noggins ) then wack you decking boards on top with a nails width between them, cut edge to size, treat wood, bingo bango job done.
Biggest help was making the deck the size of the precut wood, joists and decking, saved cutting and treating ends, I would say I was alright at diy and this was easy, I didn;t know what a joist hanger or a noggin was before I did this.
We got the larget sized planks of decking we could so I wouldn;t have to do joins, and we have a 4.5 by 5 metre deck. As for cost I would say it was about £1000 all in. That covers screws, wood, new cheap hand saw and a circular saw, chalk line ( not needed for me but you might ) decent laser level, gloves, drill bit for coach bolts, then another as it was 2inches too short! super Drill thingy hire to get through the rocks in the ground whilst digging holes, spade etc etc.
Did it over Christmas whilst very ill so spent 3hrs a day doing it, probably 7 days ? 21hrs ? probably a bit longer actually but it was me by myself, I would love to do it on flat ground in the sun with soil to dig as opposed to rock !
Also mine doesn't have a railing or anything just the deck, thinking of putting up glass which will be double the cost of the actual deck !
Do it yourself and learn some new things, play with some tools, feel like a real man, sense of real satisfaction of looking at something, standing on it and it not falling over and thinking "I made that", enjoy women coming out and saying things like "look at that, your so clever, I wouldn't know where to start" and "your working so hard, brought a beer and a sandwich for the worker"
Done three or four now so can speak a bit from experience. Others have covered the basics so I won't comment on what's already said but I'd add two things.
One make sure you put a weed blocking fleece or plastic under the deck before you start otherwise by the end of summer you'll have weeds coming through.
Secondly ONLY use stainless steel screws. Don't settle for "decking" screws or galvanised or treated in any way, ONLY S/S otherwise you'll end up with rust stains and it'll look crap and you'll have to change 'em.
And as an aside toolwise it's worth buying or hiring a chop saw and of course a couple of good electric screwdrivers
One make sure you put a weed blocking fleece or plastic under the deck before you start otherwise by the end of summer you'll have weeds coming through.
Secondly ONLY use stainless steel screws. Don't settle for "decking" screws or galvanised or treated in any way, ONLY S/S otherwise you'll end up with rust stains and it'll look crap and you'll have to change 'em.
And as an aside toolwise it's worth buying or hiring a chop saw and of course a couple of good electric screwdrivers
henrycrun said:
Rather than start a new thread, I am curious about having the decking height above the house DPC.
A few of our friends have done this in order to have a flat transition from indoors to outdoors.
Are there likely to be any issues with this ?
I think you are meant to leave a gap between the decking planks and the wall if above DPCA few of our friends have done this in order to have a flat transition from indoors to outdoors.
Are there likely to be any issues with this ?
henrycrun said:
Rather than start a new thread, I am curious about having the decking height above the house DPC.
A few of our friends have done this in order to have a flat transition from indoors to outdoors.
Are there likely to be any issues with this ?
Just make sure water dosn't sit on the wall above the DPC, otherwise you will get ingress, SIMPLES !A few of our friends have done this in order to have a flat transition from indoors to outdoors.
Are there likely to be any issues with this ?
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