My patio is looking grubby, my wife has suggested decking. Has anyone installed decking before? Is it a difficult job? I'm pretty handy with a drill but never done anything like this before.

I was thinking of laying the decking straight on top of the patio, no need to get rid of the old slabs or should there be a gap between the ground and the wood work? Any advice anyone??

Cheers all! Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

a death trap...  ...

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Never used it but I would imagine that as with any timber outdoors, airflow will be key to prevent rot and I would certainly put it up on a frame or it will be sat in puddles.

Grubby patio? Get it cleaned up with decent cleaning products and re pointed, your only going to hide the problem not solve it.

youd need a 'purlins' under the decking and a damp proof layer between purlins and ground, dont do it if the area is at all shaded as the decking will get green and slippy. At work
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It also makes a great home for mice/rats. As I found out!!

I'll send you a step by step .. Give me 10 mins BETTER looking half of the famous Twinlanders
The wanna be other half - http://www.freel2.com/forum/member-carriec.html

Step By Step



1. Work out where you want to build the deck and compress any loose soil with a thumper or a heavy roller.

2. Lay weed-control fabric over the whole site to stop unwanted greenery from poking through and ruining the finished appearance of your decking.



3. Lay concrete slabs at the corner and centre points of the space you want to deck. The slabs provide a solid, load-spreading foundation for the deck and keep the wooden frame clear of the damp ground. Put a straight piece of wood on top of the slabs and check for level. Get the level as close as you can now by adding more slabs, ifnecessary. Other options for this foundation part of the job include concreting pressure-treated wooden posts in the ground at regular intervals to support the frame this is particularly useful for creating a level deck on a sloping site. Dedicated deck blocks that are slotted to take the joists of the frame are also available.

4. Make up a simple box frame that will allow the decking to overhang by the thickness of a board at each edge (around 32mm but check the thickness of the boards you are using).



5. Lay the joists inside the frame so that they have 400mm gaps between them.

6. Nail the joists in place. A nail gun comes in very handy for this part of the job. Most tool hire outlets stock them.



7. Once the main frame is built, check it for level. If the frame needs lifting by a small amount to make it level, sections of slate or even floor tile can be inserted where necessary.

8. Make up some 600mm pointed stakes from 25mm x 50mm timber. Treat these with a couple of coats of wood preserver and hammer them in at eight inside corners around the frame. Screw through the stakes into the frame to prevent the structure moving around.



9. Measure, cut and fit noggings staggered along the centre line of the frame. These provide extra strength.

10. For this project we decided to run the outside edges at 90 degrees to the main decking planks that were to run parallel with the back of the house. To get this attractive effect to work well, youll need to mitre the point where the decking planks meet. A manual mitre saw is available quite cheaply from most DIY stores. Lay the planks roughly in position before you cut them and then put a pencil line across the plank in the direction you want the mitre to be. Set the saw to 45 degrees and make sure it is pointing in the same direction as the pencil line; insert the plank and cut. Repeat for the adjoining plank.



11. With the inner corners mitred you can now start to lay the decking planks. Fix the planks 5mm apart with two screws at each joist.

12. Once the decking planks are fixed, mitre the outside corners using the method described in step 10. Plane and sand a rounded edge on the outer corners (inset).



13. Fix a decking plank to the front, back (if seen) and sides of the frame. The face of this plank should fit flush with the edge of the outer panels.

14. If there's a big drop off the deck onto the garden, you can easily add a step. Make up a framework wide enough to take two decking planks. If you want to face the vertical part of the step with decking, reduce the width of the frame by the thickness of the deck plank you are using.



15. Level and fix the frame all round the deck.

16. Make up stakes (see step and hammer in place. Screw through to the frame to secure the framework.



17. Mitre and lay the decking planks for the steps and fix in place with two screws at every joist. Finally, screw decking panels to the front face of the step to create a neat finish. BETTER looking half of the famous Twinlanders
The wanna be other half - http://www.freel2.com/forum/member-carriec.html

Last edited by Slaneydore on 28th Jul 2013 6:11 pm. Edited 2 times in total

Cheers all! We had a patio 5x6m laid when we had our extension done. To be fair to cut costs down the builder used reclaimed concrete slabs as we were at the end of our budget. Now after a couple of years down, even when power washed they are looking dated. Me and the wife are just exploring possibilities, the other option is to lay fancy paving over the old paving. All the ground work in effect is done, so was just wondering how difficult decking is, after all its a big job so will be expensive and was just wondering if there was a way to cut costs. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

Just had mine done this week for the same reasons. Thought about doing it myself, as a couple of work mates have done their's themselves and said it was fairly straight forward. By the time I priced it and take into account buy/borrow/rent the tools it wasn't much more expensive getting it done by a joiner. He also recommended laying it on top of the paving.

5m x 6m is a good size , I've just priced a decking job up at 4.3m x 4.6 m and a 2m x 2m section , this was using 4x2 joists sat on an old patio . Cost for timber was £600 and around £30/40 for ironmongery . Don't use nails to fix the decking boards down proper decking screws do a better job and are cheap enough at screwfix/toolstation as are screws (exterior) for the framework . I would get a pro in for the job it will be done quicker , a job of that size sat on an existing patio should take a joiner & mate 2 to 3 days , doing it yourself without the right tools etc considerably longer . If you need anymore advice just ask .

Mark