Outdoor Deck and Chest
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This was a "necessary" project since our courtyard was paved with terrible looking and terribly slippery tiles... more over, somehow, they had managed to mess up the slope altogether: although there is a drain, the water was accumulating and stagnating no where near it.
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Thank god we live in Australia where, let's be honest, it only rains seldomly (although, when it rain it pours, literally...) so we lived with it for a few years. But as the kids got older, they started to come in and out back and forth, getting water and dirt everywhere, it is not like you can ask them to wipe their feet... Well, you can always ask but in my case they just don't listen... From what I hear about how I was as a kid, it must be Karma... :-)
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But I'm digressing... So when we decided to go for it, the big question was what to use? Wood? composite? ... I'm lazy so the perspective to have to sand and oil the deck again every other year or so was just unfathomable to me. So composite it was, but which one ?
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There's a few choices, yet little choice, let me explain: there are a few brands, but most only propose a limited panel of colors/textures so if you want something a little different (and I'm not talking a pink deck) you are limited.
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After ordering a few samples, which most brands provide free of charge, we settled on the Island Mist from Trex. Not very famous in Australia but there were a few dealers. The advantages of Trex, beyond the large choice of colors are:
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Comes in length of 6 meters: perfect for me as I had a total of 7 m to cover total lengthwise
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It is quite large (wide): about 14 cm = less "decking" work
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It has a hidden fastening system so that you can't see any screws - slick
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This is what what we started with: ugly, not maintained and and generally disgusting:
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Pretty dirty
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Damaged paint
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a garden full of bad grass
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An the list goes on and on...
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The first thing we did was to get a gardener (muddy Gumboots in coogee if you ever look for one) to tidy up and clean up everything. We could have done it ourselves, but moving into a new house you have too many things to do. Plus, I hate gardening.
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I have no particular photos but it already looked much better and after a few year, I got onto the decking.
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Step 1: Drainage
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Since there was no slope, I had to dig drain "conduits" (not sure it is the best term but I can't think of another) about every 40 cm and with a a gradual down slope to the garden bed. Easier said than done.
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Lucky for me my good friend Steph did lend me his big angle grinder (when I say big, imagine a 40 cm diameter wheel).
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It greatly facilitated the work but:
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It produces dust like you never seen
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It is hard labor
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Gathering the broken tiles to throw them out is no walk in the park. It is razor sharp so after my first cuts, I did used gloves. And yet, at the end, the gloves were so worn out I had to throw them away... Gotta be careful here.
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Step 2: Slope building
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This is where I tried (emphasis on the word "tried") to make a smooth and regular slop in each drain.
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I used cement that I thought would be viscous enough to allow me time to work on the slopes and make it gradual.
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Of course, it was too runny, sort of self leveling, so it became a race against time to make sure that I could "model" the slope profile along with the cement setting...
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Somehow it sort of worked... but it was not pretty.
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Step 3: Water proofing
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Quite self explanatory... To make sure it would not leak or ingress water, I painted over all the drains with waterproofing paint The blue thing on the picture). It is supposed to create a waterproof membrane and it seems to work.
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And just to be sure, I painted over the whole thing with some garage floor paint, a very hard wearing product in order to add protection (suspenders and belt kind of guy).
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After all was dry, it was time to lay out and assemble the stud frame to support the deck.
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Step 3: Building the stud frame
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With time and patience, it was not that difficult, I just had to follow the design concepts I had set upon:
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Every stud is on small "shims" to ensure it is horizontal all the way and also to raise it a little from the ground
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The whole structure is "floating": only fixed to a few key point (the wall, a beam...) and once fully assembled it is just locked in place. I wanted to avoid any drilling in the tiles.
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Took a lot of screwing and cutting but I got there in the end. Note that it is where an impact driver comes really handy, and also a mitre saw, but since I don't have one, I used a circular saw. Does the job.
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Step 4: Lay out the deck
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Probably the easiest part, nothing much to it : lay, align, screw, repeat.
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After that it was pretty much all done... But as I was at it, I also build a chest/bench to increase seating capacity and storage... The process (very simple) and final result are shown below.
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I do not regret the Trex choice: after several years, it is still as good as new... If dirty, just use a pressure cleaner and boom ! done !
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