"The best decking in Seymour"

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Principle 5: Use and value renewable resources and services

 Red Gum that was felled, milled and dried on the house site for use as decking - amongst other things

Our original plan with the rear decking was to attach it to the slab of the house. Chris (from Chris's Timber) convinced me that it would be better to set the decking up independantly from the house, on stumps, because it would be so heavy. I decided to coat the bearers and joists with raw linseed oil to help preserve them, and cover the bearers with recycled iron, and joists with rubber to resist rot.
The Red Gum boards that were milled up on the site spent a bit over a year drying before being taken around to Chris's Timber for thicknessing. All of the shavings were collected to be used at the house site.
There were just enough of the right sized boards for the job, quite a bit or work was required to fill the gaps with resin and straighten them up again. Brian suggested that the boards be painted on both the top and bottom to extend their life. I painted them with Bio Natural Timber exterior oil with a total of three coats.
The smaller front deck is under a verandah, while I've covered the bearers and joists with iron and rubber I haven't oiled the sub-structure or the underside of the boards. Peter got some heavy duty brackets made up locally which connect the bearers to the house and bush pole. Again, there was just enough boards for the job - just luck or destiny?

Dylan suggested that stringlines be used to ensure that the screws all lined up, not vital for the function, but attractive all the same. My partner Kunie thinks that it's "the best decking in Seymour", I'm inclined to agree.


Decking sub-structure under construction. Recycled gutter downpipe used to cover bearers and protect against rot.


Raw linsed oil used on decking sub-structure


Red Gum boards that were grown, milled and dried at the house site


Chris's Timber, Seymour - Boards getting thicknessed. Originally cut at 40mm, reduced to 32mm after drying and thicknessing.


Shavings from thicknessing of Red Gum boards collected to be used on site


Preparing boards for filling with resin using wood filler for large holes and duct tape for smaller ones. Joists covered with rubber cover strips to protect against rot.


Red Gum board filled with resin before being sanded


Boards being plained to get them straight. One edge is scribed with a straight edge, plained and then the other edge is scribed using the adjustable square before being plained.


Mark painting boards with Bio Natural Timber exterior oil on both the top and bottom


Decking being laid out by Dylan and Doug with 7mm spacers between each board. String line used to mark for drilling holes. 75mm galvanised batten screws used to fix boards.


Mark displays decking after being trimmed and painted with timber oil


Front deck installed, ready for sanding and oiling

Comments

Caro said…
Hey Richard, looking good.
BTW, how can I meet that hot looking Mark!?
April 27, 2010 at 11:19 PM
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