Paving underneath Wooden Decking in Alfresco?

Lancerx on 19/08/2015 - 18:58

Hi all, building a house at the moment. Just how would people normally DIY wooden decking in their alfresco? Do you tell your builder to lay thin layer of cement or just leave it sandy as it is on alfresco?

I'm thinking maybe I could relocate the paving in alfresco to side of the house, and leave the alfresco area sandy. But just worried it's hard to build a wooden decking on sandy base. I definitely wanna do wooden decking myself after handover (first choice is aggregated stone but unfortunately too expensive). Appreciate your advice. Thanks!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • nocure on 19/08/2015 - 19:11
    +1

    How far is the decking from the ground level?

    • Lancerx on 19/08/2015 - 20:25

      honestly no idea yet, until the house is finish building…My guess is the height of 2 course brick?

  • PVA on 19/08/2015 - 19:23

    do you mean timber directly on the ground like tiles are or the normal timber deck that is off the ground?

    • Lancerx on 19/08/2015 - 20:25

      off the ground timber deck

  • altomic on 19/08/2015 - 19:37

    leave it sandy

  • richox on 19/08/2015 - 19:47
    +2

    Firstly, post on whirlpool for a wider range of opinions on renovation or building topics . Secondly, decking should 'float' on cross members beneath the actual deck layer. So you'll probably be concreting little stirrups into the ground so sandy is best.

    • Lancerx on 19/08/2015 - 20:25
      +2

      nah OzB community is way more friendlier than WP these day…kudos everyone! ;)

    • subywagon on 19/08/2015 - 23:09
      +1

      what richox said. You can and do build decks over soil. You definitely don't need to concrete or pave underneath.

  • slknv on 19/08/2015 - 19:54
    +1

    In my new build I did a two layer deck out the back, concreted stirrups into post holes, bearers, joists and boards. But at the front there was already concrete at the front door, so bolted elevated joists to the concrete and then boards.

    • PVA on 19/08/2015 - 20:28

      thats pretty much how our deck is.
      about 200mm at the back door ending about 400mm at the back.

    • Lancerx on 20/08/2015 - 00:05

      what you mean by two layers?

  • Lancerx on 19/08/2015 - 20:29

    Just to clarify again, the base would be something like this ( pictures in the first page)

    https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=im…

    This question is whether I should leave it sandy base or cemented? What are the pros and cons?

    • richox on 19/08/2015 - 21:19

      Cons of sand… You need to dig and cement in place many stirrups that will support that framing you see in that photo. Digging an cementing is easy for anyone, if you are not so confident though levelling them might be a bit tricky.
      Also sand is a worse substrate then concrete. Maybe you'll need weed matting or maintenance of that substrate at some future point

      Pros, However I think on balance it will be cheaper. Also the cost won't be financed, saving you money in the long run.

      • Lancerx on 20/08/2015 - 00:02

        What do you mean by saving money in long run? I'm not financing my deck, painting, window treatment anyway

        • richox on 20/08/2015 - 07:04

          Well if you go concrete your builder will charge extra, then that cost will be part of your home loan. So that extra 800 bucks or whatever over the course of the mortgage will cost you heaps. Best to leave it sandy and construct the entire thing from cash flow… Well I'm just saying it's a pro over the con, not the definitive reason

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