|
Large Garden decking Patio.
The images below show most of the
building process for a large garden patio deck which had to be strong
enough to take a hot tub spa. The garden was large enough to take the
substantial deck, and being near to the house and traditional patio, was
well suited to the recreational use to which it was put. The framework
for the garden deck was constructed out of 6x2in - 150x50mm treated
timber, supported with 100x100 treated timber posts. Under the sub frame
of the garden deck, black plastic weed block sheet was used, together
with sodium chlorate weedkiller, to ensure no weed growth grew up
through the deck.
Mouseover images to see next
stage of the operation
First stages of the substantial sub deck frame are laid out to
give the client an idea of finished size, then the joist were raised to their
final position before construction work started proper. Only after the garden
decking sub-frame was constructed, did the final levelling and concrete support
work take place.
The right hand image above - mouseover - shows the shaped corner
which was cut out after the sub deck had been constructed as a rectangle in the
first instance. Cutting the corner after all the support work is done is usually
the better option.
Staggered joists were fastened to a central double bearer by way
of joist hangers. Because of the potential slight differences in joist
thicknesses, extra care has to be taken to ensure that the top surface edge of
the joists is level so that there are no problems when laying the deck boards.
Basically the garden decking patio was built to the same specifications as that
of a higher raised deck. A slight narrowing of the distance from joist to joist
was allowed for at the business end where the hot tub was to be positioned. From
600mm centers to 500mm centres. The deck boards were screwed into place for this
project. Whilst a hot tub has a weight potential of around 2 tonnes when full,
it presents little problem for a well constructed garden deck such as this. The
footprint of a hot tub is normally somewhere in the region of 2m x 2m and the
decking is well able cope with this type of weight load. A few extra supports
were added under the hot tub section to prevent any sagging over the years.
The timber garden decking project was completed in good time and
you can see how the project matured nicely over the next twelve months by
clicking the link below.
Garden Decking
Project, twelve months on. |
