Low profile deck

[hadi]

Hi all,

I've been planning to build a low profile deck for about 4 months now. Been trying to discover what's envolved and how  I can build it.

Currently we have a pavers in the backyard which I'm trying to convert a part of it to a deck and the rest will transform later to white pebbles and some big black tiles in between.

The issue I'm currently facing and need help to decide is: from the pavers to backyard window (which is the entrace to the backyard from the house) I have 14cm height only. 

So I have two options:

1- to remove the whole pavers from the backyard, dig a bit to open up some space which for me is a quite an effort and will take time to complete. (P.S: I'm a full time employee working in industry and this is my first deck to build. I'm quite handy and I've refloor our house [remove carpet and put luxury vinyl] )

2- Use the pedestal (https://www.bunnings.com.au/builders-edge-pedestal-foot-smallfoot-35-60mm_p2450074) and put the bearers and joist inline with eachother. 

So the deck I'm trying to build is 6 meters by 7 meters. I'm open to any ideas and help please.

If you need more information let me know as well.

I've just took out some of bricks and the underneath was a bit of sand and then concrete.

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

[beemerx65]

Hi All. 
im currently looking at building a deck over existing paving & luckily came across this thread. I did think about using the good time pre made panels but unfortunately the height is to high as my FFL is 90mm for doorway. I was thinking of using 70mm treated. Would this also be ok ?  
thanks in advance 😁👍

[StevieB]

Welcome @beemerx65. It's great to hear that you've found this discussion helpful.

Let me tag @Stuardo, @Adam_W and @MitchellMc for their advice. @MitchellMc will be happy to help with any questions about your project when he's back on the site on Friday.

We'd love to follow along with your project so please feel free to start a new discussion when you begin so you can share images and details about your progress along the way.

Stevie

[Adam_W]

Hi @beemerx65 you can use 70mm it just means that your supports will need to be closer together to avoid flex and sagging.

[beemerx65]

 

 

@Adam_W 

Thanks Adam. What spacing would you recommend? What do you think I should do about drainage? 
ive attached a couple of pics

tia

[MitchellMc]

Hi @beemerx65,

Let me mention @Adam_W, so he is alerted to your question.

So that you know, 90mm total working height minus the 19mm decking board is 71mm. Your joists will be basically sitting on the ground. This won't allow airflow or drainage, and you should expect the deck's lifespan to be limited to some degree. What you might like to do is use 90 x 45mm and lay it on it's side so it is only 45mm thick. This would at least allow 26mm underneath, which is still considered an exceptionally minimal gap.

Our members commonly support 90 x 45mm Pine at 1000mm, so for 70 x 45mm, you'd likely drop that to around 800mm. You can check timber span tables available online if you'd like to get a specific max span.

What sort of drainage issues do you experience at the moment? Does water pool on the pavers or drain away quickly?

Mitchell

[beemerx65]

Hi Mitch. Thanks for the reply and an alternative suggestion to having the joists upright. The reason I mentioned drainage is that I have soakwell grates also my downpipes. Would you suggest using spacers for the gap or screwing off cuts to the beams to level & raise. 
cheers 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @beemerx65,

I'm not sure if I quite follow correctly. When you mention using spacers for the gaps, what gaps are you referencing, and what is the relevance of the downpipes? The beams will be self-supporting over their length and will travel across the soakwell grates. I'm unsure where a spacer or offcut would be screwed to level or raise the beams.

Looking forward to more information.

Mitchell

[beemerx65]

Hi Mitchell

im referring to like this or using shims as I been told I will not have any drainage or airflow as I was going to lay directly onto pavers. 🙏

[MitchellMc]

@beemerx65,

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, you do need to space the timber and you can use plastic shims. The timber will be on the ground so you'd need to use H4 treated as H3 is not suitable for that. Alternatively, you can use Builders Edge 25-40mm Pedestal Foot Minifeet to place your timber on top of. Their min-height is 25mm which would be perfect for the 26mm gap I specified above.

Mitchell

[beemerx65]

Just looked on the Bunnings website. They don’t mention that size (90x 45) in h4. Do you know where I can source it ? 🙏