9m x 9m deck ?Modwood ?Pine

Hi all,

Firstly I would just like to say Hi, I have only just found this forum but expect I will be visiting regulary from now on. :D

I am in the process of planning rather large deck and having never done this before on such a large scale I have a few questions (with more to come no doubt).

I am trying to decide on a suitable decking material
Options are

1. Treated Pine, cheapest but have been put off after reading a few posts around here.
2. ?some varitey of hardwood, no idea where to start with this one
3. Modwood (if my wife gets her way)

The deck will be approx 80% covered with ?polycarbonate roofing.


I like the look of this new modwood product and it doesnt seem to have the draw backs of the other materials, however it is rather expensive at around $50 square metre.

What does everyone think of this product? worth the extra cash??

I will leave the questions at that for the moment......

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie.

Cheers
Joel

Hi and welcome.

You must be Peter Costello, are you? :confused:
The only way I would spend $50 per 2m on decking is if the money belonged to someone else. Hence the Abbott and Costello question.:D
Go with the treated pine, its like a good woman, if laid properly to start with there will be no problems in the future.

Or you could do first grade Jarrah cheaper than Modwood, what is Modwood anyway, sounds like something from the 60's?

Al :)

Check out

www.modwood.com.au

It is a composite of plastic and wood

I was told as a general rule

Treated pine= $30sqm
Hardwood= $40-45sqm
Modwood= $50

Sound right?

And hell no I am not Peter Costello, if only I had his salary though.

Cheers
Joel

Decking is usually sold by the lineal metre. Last time I looked, T/P was about $2/m and hardwood like jarrah or merbau goes from say $3-$4/m. Assuming 100mm coverage, you're looking at about $20 sq. metre for T/P and $30 - $40 sq. metre for hardwood.

Don't know anything about Modwood. There's a bit of evidence around that T/P might be bad for kiddies, so if you've got kids you might want to consider that. I'm about to lay a couple of decks and I'm using hardwood, mainly because I like the look of it.

Thanks SilentC,

Yep sounds about right, The modwood was $3.95 a lineal metre.

Dont have kids but will do soon thanks for the advice.......

Can I ask what type of hardwood you are using?
and what are you using for the bearers/joists etc?



Cheers mate

Joel,

I'm using Merbau. It's the most common (and therefore cheapest) hardwood decking timber down here.

One of the decks is just a refurb of an old one. The joists are 6x2 hardwood on a block wall.

The other hasn't been built yet. The joists will be T/P 8 x 2. Has to match in with the existing sub floor, otherwise I could possibly get away with a smaller section. I'll use an RSJ for the bearer. This deck is 2.4m off the ground and there'll be a double carport underneath, so I need the 6 metre span.

Do a bit of a search on the site because this is a common topic and there are a few links to different places to get specs for deck timbers.

JDub, i've recently had a verandah replaced ( involved jacking up the roof of the house and I ended up getting someone in to do it ), tongue and groove jarrah on treated pine joists where the joists had to be replaced. I used tongue and groove because a) its what all the houses of similar age in this area have and b) The decking is undercover under the roof line of the house (although it does gets wet under driving rain )

I've coated the surface with a tinted decking oil and so far it seems to be holding its colour. When it rains the water sits on the top of the oil coating in beads which can be swept off.

An outdoor table made of reeded jarrah decking timber and coated with untinted decking oil has lost its "jarrah" colour quite badly in just a few months of exposure to the weather.

If you go down the reeded jarrah decking route don't buy your timber from somewhere like Bunnings ... i had to pull pretty much every bit of jarrah decking in their store out for inspection before I found enough pieces which weren't split / full of holes etc to make a table top ... no chance of finding enough to make a deck out of it.

... and if you have balustrading round your deck do not do what my installer did and leave only a 2.5cm gap underneath the bottom rail because then you can't sweep dust and leaves off of the deck easily .... go for a bigger gap.

Cheers,

Have done a search and printed out a whole bunch of stuff, i have a bit of reading to do now..... Thanks.

My deck will incorporate an old one (but the existing deck will only be 1/4 the size of the new one)

I am building over the top of an old paved area and various old garden beds that are riddled with bamboo so the clearance under the deck will vary from about 2 foot to almost nothing.....

What are the recommendations when it comes to air flow etc, I am concerned as some the bearers for the deck will only be a few inches (if that) from a big old garden bed, that I cannot dig out.... Will they be OK as long as they are not touching the soil itself?

Thanks for your time and patience:o

I don't believe there are any problems if the timbers don't come into contact with the ground, as long as you make adequate provisions for a termite barrier. As for ventilation, presumably you'll fasten the decking with a 10mm gap and it will be mostly open underneath, so you should be right there.

Jdub

Good to see another Canberran on this list.

I built a big deck around christmas and went through the exact same process as you. But even I am not crazy enough to build an 80sqm deck!

My deck ran off the back of an existing concrete patio/deck thing at the back of my house. It was 6 x 5m, with the maximum height about 80cm or so. It was also pretty low at one end, with only a few inches gap between the bearers and the ground.

I used 190x45 treated pine for both the joists and bearers, twinning it for the bearers. I painted it, so it gives a nice contrast to the decking.

Not sure why you wanted to use the mod-wood stuff. My SWMBO wanted me to use recycled timber becuase of her concerns about the environmental impacts of using merbau/meranti, which is a tropical rainforest hardwood or something that is harvested unsustainably from SE Asian rainforests. Or something like that.

I ended up going for recycled spotted gum from a place called Thor's Hammer, which is a recycled timber place that operates out of the old Yarralumla brickworks. Great place if you like timber.

They profiled the decking boards for me - I think it was a bit less than $5 per linear metre. A bit more expensive than the other stuff, but much nicer overall.

I wouldn't recommend the treated pine for the reasons that SilentC suggested.

Give me a PM if you want to come around and have a look.

Trav

Jdub,
I've only ever seen modwood on one of those home improvement/backyard makeover type shows (which don't inspire me with any confidence vis a vis any new products they may push). It may be a perfectly good product and I'd certainly consider it in ten years time when it's been proven. I've worked in the building industry long enough to see products become unavailable and therefore impossible to match for repairs or extensions. Some of these products were good, some were okay and some were woeful. Not making any judgement on the quality of this product, but if you do use it it may be wise to lay up some extra boards for repairs in case it's no longer available.

Mick the conservative.

Hi All,

Can someone tell me how well Merbau holds it's color?
I'm doing the same and have settled on Merbau but REALLY want it to holds the rich color. What would be the best finish to help?

Thanks in advance.

GC

Thanks for the replies all,

I am still very much in the planning stage as I have a few big trees to pull out first, and a fence to replace, so it will be a while yet before I dig the first post hole.

Trav,
I may take you up on that offer to look at you deck at some stage (maybe in few weeks) and will check out Thors as well, thanks mate
Oh and BTW what is SWMBO.... not familiar with that one LOL.

Deck may be looking a bit smaller now something like 9x6m depending on costs, gardens and of course the wife. I have to sit down and do a few more rough plans/ideas.

Problem is I dont know how long we will be in the house. I dont want to spend an absolute fortune then sell in 3 years time, then again I need to do something to up the resale value. All about finding a happy medium I suppose.

Cheers
Joel

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GC

Hi All,

Can someone tell me how well Merbau holds it's color? What would be the best finish to help?

Thanks in advance.

GC

---

I used a UV resistent product from Intergrain on a Merbau deck over 10 years ago and found it was still a good colour after 5 years......(sold the house then) - I am sure there will be even better/more advanced products on the market now

best wishes

SWMBO - she who must be obeyed. The trouble and strife. The better/other half. The Prime Minister/Treasurer/Minister for everything except the crap stuff that they delegate to us!

Trav

think long and hard about your roof covering. [this will start a huge new IMHO]
Polycarbonate roofing looks great, wonderful to sit under when the storms are flying around but IF your decking area is to be closed in then then summer comes lokk forward to a hothouse. Its only a plastic type of covering and will reflect the suns rays but not the heat. Believe me, I know from experience. Tonto

Thanks Tonto,

I will take it into consideration when designing.
Cheers
Joel

thanks Steve,

I was looking at Intergrain products but wanted some advice from someone who has used it. 5 years is plenty, cant be any lazier than that!!!

GC