Decking

YDD looks soooooo much better !!!!

 

ydd thats made a differance wow

 

Scotkat, your decking looks great,.. transforms a garden doesen't it.. Love it..Dee..

 

Thanks BM, geckoman, posted at the same time I think..really appreciated....

 

I took up all the lawn before putting down my decking then levelled it. Then put down heavy duty fabric to stop weeds growing through and then chippings.
Then for the gaps in the decking I used my tea/coffee coasters from Ikea ... I lost a few as they fell though but the gaps were nice and equal lol.

Lots of great decking photos in the thread!
Roll in the summer for a glass or two of wine sat out admiring all the hard work!

 

Brilliant Passion Flower.. coffee coasters Hub never thought of that. he had to cut several bits of wood for spacers..

 

a coffe coaster is around the right sort of gap. I use glazing packers for my gaps.

 

From Pete:

It isn't taken yet Pete. It's persisting down here. What time of year would you like?

I've spoken to George this a.m. about this (he's the professional) and he just wants to add a couple of things.

1) He considers 5 mm to be unnecessary unless you like the look of gaps.

2) He agrees with Pro Gard at 3 mm (maximum) if laying perfectly dry decking in summer.

3) He considers Pete's 3 mm per piece of seasoned and treated decking to be OTT. If it were true you would need a 6mm gap minimum. He wondered if Pete meant 3 mm on a 5 metre length. Across the width .3mm is closer.

4) He laid mine, which had been lying outside for months, first at the sawmill then in my garden. If its going to do anything it is going to shrink but not by 3mm on the width.

5) Don't forget that as the decking shrinks/expands so does the frame.

6) He thinks we are all balmy because the look is a matter of personal choice anyway. And now you know why he doesn't get involved in GC. :D

 

Thanks everyone, more info.

YDD I think your garden looked lovely before, now it looks fantastic. Well done.

Is it possible to copy a whole thread? I would like to make sure i have all this for when we start.

cheers

 

Yeah sometimes wonder why I bother as well. :confused: :D

 

pete, you don't mean why you bother with GC surely? You know why, you like to show off your knowledge. It keeps your mind active. It gives you a laugh when numpties like me post. :D

cheers

 

Pete, i dont see any problem, we all do things in a differnt way end of.

 

[ 28. March 2008, 09:55 PM: Message edited by: pete ]

 

Well here's our little baby although I'm sure you have all seen it before.



It is indeed a BABY as it is only 5.8ft x 8ft so would be able to fit in almost any small space Sandra and as you can see there's a space for two chairs and a little table just ideal for a cuppa or if you are more inclined a nice or two.

It was a tester piece by Bob as he really didn't want any decking whatsoever in our gardens but he was so pleased with the results we are doing another larger one on the back if it ever gets nice enough to go out and do some work!

Like Banana Man's wonderful decking we used quite thick supports something like 3 x 2 inch and pickled them like crazy and laid these on top of little brick supports, laid some membrane down, some gravel etc. and Bob built a little wall surround which is well below the damp course.

Bob also used an odd piece of feather edged length of wood to use as a spacer and it worked wonderfully well.

We did have a problem at first with the boards creaking as Bob only put one screw in each end our lovely old next door neighbour advised Bob to put two screws at each end to stop any movement and it worked.

I stained the decking with a good quailty ronseal decking colour but didn't like how every little bit of dust showed up on the deck area so I gave it a coat of sheen and it looks so much better now

 

Looks good Hellen, only thing Id of done different would be to have taken off the sharp corners.