Originally Posted by ausdesign
Greetings 2 Bob.
A couple of points - I assume your in the sandy soil around Hastings which if the case will be rated as Class "A" or "S". The minimum post embedment will be 400mm.
19mm merbau can span up to 500mm
The pad size is related to the area of deck supported. ie a 250*250 pad with 150mm of concrete under the stump can support 5m2 of deck area. A 350*350*200 thick pad can support 10m2
With a minimum height of 90mm each for your bearers & joists the deck will be 200mm above ground level even with the bearer sitting in the dirt.
The stump spacings are tied in with the sizes of your bearers & joists (or visa versa ) 90*70 f5 treated pine bearers with a spacing of 1200mm can span 1400mm and 90*35 joists at 500 spacing can span 1500mm.