Our backyard renovations are really coming along nicely with our patio and deck project underway.
As soon as the stonemason had finished building the limestone retaining walls the carpenter could start building the deck and patio.
Firstly, the carpenter built a treated pine wood frame all around the inside of the retaining wall structure and then support beams were attached to the frame.
Then he added both pine stumps and metal supports which were concreted in underneath the deck to add further support to the deck above.
Once all the frame work was in the timber deck was laid on top of the frame - we went for a natural timber in Merbau hardwood which is a dark brown wood similar to Jarrah and will compliment our Jarrah floorboards well.
There are two sizes to pick from - thin or wide boards and as it's a big space we went for the wide board in 140mm - a smaller space would look better with a thin board.
We thought about using a composite plastic deck material but it would be more expensive and because our deck is undercover of the patio and protected it won't be exposed to the elements so the natural timber will keep in great condition. If the deck was not covered and exposed to the elements we would've paid the extra money and gone with a composite plastic deck material.
The natural timber will still need to be oiled and sealed to protect it and I'll be doing a DIY How to oil a deck blog post using some awesome outdoor products from Cabots.
You can see how the deck is all on the same level as the dining room french doors and the laundry door so when we step out of the house the deck will be like an outdoor room and extension of the house.
The sandy patch below that steps down to our garage door (which is at a lower level) we are going to lay pavers and lawn here so the backyard is dog friendly for our rescue dog Lexi.
Once the carpenter started laying the timber boards the deck was built pretty quickly.
A trap door was also made with a staircase going down underneath to access under the house which we can use for storage and to access the house for any plumbing or other maintenance needs. A lid was made for the trap door with a flush handle fitted to lift it up. The trap door was my clever idea and I think it's a great addition and the workmanship is seamless you can hardly notice it's there!
Next we need to oil and seal the timber deck to protect it and as mentioned I'll be writing a DIY How to oil a timber deck blog post using some awesome outdoor products from Cabot's just as soon as we've done this (our next DIY weekend project)!
The next project underway is the carpenter building a patio over the top of the deck which I'll share in a separate blog post very soon.
Do you have a deck?
What deck material did you use - natural timber or a composite material?
Sharing with link parties:
Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
As soon as the stonemason had finished building the limestone retaining walls the carpenter could start building the deck and patio.
Firstly, the carpenter built a treated pine wood frame all around the inside of the retaining wall structure and then support beams were attached to the frame.
Then he added both pine stumps and metal supports which were concreted in underneath the deck to add further support to the deck above.
Once all the frame work was in the timber deck was laid on top of the frame - we went for a natural timber in Merbau hardwood which is a dark brown wood similar to Jarrah and will compliment our Jarrah floorboards well.
There are two sizes to pick from - thin or wide boards and as it's a big space we went for the wide board in 140mm - a smaller space would look better with a thin board.
We thought about using a composite plastic deck material but it would be more expensive and because our deck is undercover of the patio and protected it won't be exposed to the elements so the natural timber will keep in great condition. If the deck was not covered and exposed to the elements we would've paid the extra money and gone with a composite plastic deck material.
The natural timber will still need to be oiled and sealed to protect it and I'll be doing a DIY How to oil a deck blog post using some awesome outdoor products from Cabots.
You can see how the deck is all on the same level as the dining room french doors and the laundry door so when we step out of the house the deck will be like an outdoor room and extension of the house.
The sandy patch below that steps down to our garage door (which is at a lower level) we are going to lay pavers and lawn here so the backyard is dog friendly for our rescue dog Lexi.
A trap door was also made with a staircase going down underneath to access under the house which we can use for storage and to access the house for any plumbing or other maintenance needs. A lid was made for the trap door with a flush handle fitted to lift it up. The trap door was my clever idea and I think it's a great addition and the workmanship is seamless you can hardly notice it's there!
So that's it - the deck is done!
The next project underway is the carpenter building a patio over the top of the deck which I'll share in a separate blog post very soon.
Do you have a deck?
What deck material did you use - natural timber or a composite material?
Sharing with link parties:
Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
[All images my own]
What a fantastic space you have created! I am so glad you went with the natural timber, looks so good! Enjoy your deck :)
ReplyDeleteYes me too Nicole the timber looks great and we hope to oil it this weekend :)
DeleteIt looks so nice! What a great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cristina, it was more than a few years in the making but we got there in the end!
DeleteThe deck looks really nice and wow it is a good size space! I bet you'll be eating out a lot on it!
ReplyDeleteCarrie
curlycraftymom.com
Thanks Carrie it is a great size I can't wait to set up our outdoor furniture out here and crank up the BBQ!
Delete