Building a deck
This had to be one of the most rewarding physical things I’ve ever built. It was near perfect, far better than I had imagined. Then again I did my research well…thanks YouTube!
First up I cut editing into the lawn, using treated pine and ground stakes. Tools I used:
- Sledge hammer (3.6kg)
- Circular saw (to cut wood to size)
- Impact screw driver and appropriate outdoor screws
- Spade to dig 🙂
- Knee pads
- Tape measure
- Pythagoras’ theorem – I had to ensure I was making a 90 degree angle. This is the first time in my life I used it
I layed about 7.5cm of fine gravel above a layer of weed mat. The frame as you can see is floating – no concrete posts in case I need to move it. There are however short stakes in the ground to keep it from moving.
Here you can see the frame is almost complete – ensuring I have sufficient spacers to keep the cross beams straight.
This was my pre-planning to determine how many linear meters I need. I essentially layed out all the wood on the surface, and was about 6m short.
One trick I learnt from a friend was to use specific rubber seals across the joists. This keeps water from resting on the wood.
