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In October/November 2005 The Top Deck travelled to France to build a deck in the French Alps. The venture was not without incident - but the scenery, food, accommodation, the people and of course the wine of France - made up for everything!! Decking in France was not too much of a logistics problem - thanks to our friends at www.mountainviewspas.com The Timber Decking project was carried out by Top Deck Chief David Hughes and from leaving Folkestone for France to the return trip took two weeks - including mishaps aplenty - brake failure on the 4x4, just before the winding roads of the Alps in France - was just one of them! |
Timber for the project was sourced locally in France, and smooth sided decking boards were decided upon. They were not as uniform in thickness or quality as the decking normally available in the UK, but had other endearing qualities - colour for one.
The Chalet complex looked absolutely fantastic at Val d'Isere, and it didn't take DH too long to get settled in - after the right door security code had been found! The first day involved moving a few tonnes of decking to a place where it was not in the way. (It had been delivered and dropped on top of the site where the deck was to be built!
Needless to say - as with anywhere in the Alps region of France, the views were stunning... Any time off - such as when waiting for materials to appear - allowed for DH to go wandering through this section of the Alps with camera at the ready.
but work had to commence. A tight timescale was in force. the Alps skiing season was to start in two weeks, and regardless of weather conditions, this project had to be finished on time!
End of Day 3 saw much of the decking sub frame for the raised section of deck around the spa, installed and decking actually started. The joisting material was of necessity of supply - 3x2in. The shallow depth of joist required much more support than would the normal 6x2in joist.
The end game was that the decking should fit snugly below the rim of the substantial hot tub. Test pieces of decking were used to ensure that this was the case.