New Deck

[Daniel]

Hi all,

I have a large outdoor area that is currently paved which I wish to place a deck on; I have done some research into this and there is something that I can't seem to clarify anywhere.

The deck will be sitting in the ground with no raised sections however I keep seeing conflicting information some documents and videos say it needs to have posts in the ground and cemented and others say it's not required as its on the ground.

Any opinions or advice for building it moving forward? At this stage I am looking at around 6m wide x 4.5m deep.

Cheers

Community manager's note: Check out How to build a low-level deck for expert advice.

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @Daniel. Thank you for joining us. I hope you find plenty of ideas, information and inspiration here. 

Your new deck sounds like a fantastic project. I trust that members of the Workshop community will have some advice for you. I'm also looking forward to seeing the project come to fruition.

Jason 

[Handy_John]

So your planning to just lay some framing onto your pavers and then your decking boards on top?

[RodAndo]

Hi Daniel,
I think your starting point would be to determine how solid the current base is. Are the pavers currently laid on a concrete base?

[Daniel]

At this stage this is what I am trying to determine as its a bit grey from everything I have read so far

[Daniel]

No I believe that they are payed inset in the ground with no concrete base thing old 1970's style rectangular pavers

[RodAndo]

Thanks Daniel,

If it's not on a concrete base I'd be concreting in stumps for the subframe. Also as you mentioned it's a large area you may need to look at a building permit and the general requirements for the subframe (such as clearance requirements for the joists).

Also I'd check if you're in a termite area as this may impact on the design as well.

[Kermit]

If you are not going to have a concrete base, I would also think that you would need to concrete posts in the ground. You wouldn't have to remove most of the pavers though. 

[Andy_Mann]

G'day Daniel
RodAndo is right on the money.
I royally messed up years a go when I asked for advice, & purchased their recommended timber from a lumber yard.
I assumed that it would be rot & termite proof (which it wasn't), & in my ignorance, I didn't know about termite proofing.
http://www.bunnings.com.au/pryda-125mm-galvanised-termite-shield_p2450068
In my case, I was making it to appear to closely hover over a pine barked area. The way I went about the construction, including supporting it was rock solid, but omitting termite shields was an expensive mistake.
All I did, was scoop multiple shallow but broad pits in the soil around what was to be the perimeter, & under the the proposed slat brace/support beams. I filled them with concrete to slightly above ground level, & set bolts into them to later, secure the deck. For the life of me, I can't recall how I built the deck, & secured it with the bolts. : (
What I do know, is that it was a lot of work, was rock solid, looked amazing with slats set at 45o, & lasted for years until those jolly termites feasted on it.
My advice would be to map out where you want to fit your deck, remove the pavers, or only those where the concrete stubs will be, lay a weed mat regardless, & use treated timber.
Others are free to correct me, but my thoughts are that if you want to install a low lying deck, then lateral movement shouldn't be a problem, so deep footings are overkill.

[JP_Finlay]

@Daniel as our backyard is technically common land ,due to the strata title, I didn't want to make our deck overly permanent so I used Evo-Crete Handi Blocks. There were mixed reviews about them but once down it is solid as a rock and I found it pretty easy to get them aligned and level. As you don't have joists and bearers it sits pretty low to the ground.