John P
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 01:08 PM |
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Building a Raised Deck
We’re buying a bungalow on a sloping site so at the rear the internal floor level is around 5 ft above ground level.
I’d like to build a raised deck with steps down so we can access the rear garden from the lounge but don’t really want to build it like a timber deck
as I’m concerned about the amount of ongoing maintenance it would need.
I’m thinking about having either brick piers or possibly powder coated steel box section uprights supporting a timber structure with the flooring from
say 18mm ply. On top of this I’d like something like ceramic tiles as these would be virtually maintenance free but presumably I’d need some form of
waterproof surface onto which the tiles could be laid.
The handrails would then probably be stainless steel with glass below.
At the moment I’m just looking for comments or alternative suggestions.
The attached picture of the back of the bungalow may help.
John.
 
Rear of Bungalow
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steve m
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 01:12 PM |
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What about building in PVC ?
you can google PVC decking to get an idea
steve
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 01:20 PM |
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Yeah long term wood decking can be very difficult to keep protected as it’s the underneath that gets damp and rots which is also the one place you
can't get to without taking the boards up. Mind too that under decking is often a place well liked by mice and other furry things unless use
wire mesh to stop the blighters. It’s quite amazing what gets dragged under there to make nests.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 01:40 PM |
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Square section steel uprights, C channel horizontals. With timber decking on top of that. Stainless and Glass balustrading will bring it into the 21st
century nicely. Timber clad the horizontals if you want to soften it.
Like this:
or
or
without the stainless frame:
[Edited on 19-12-13 by loggyboy]
Mistral Motorsport
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mcerd1
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 01:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by John P
or possibly powder coated steel box section uprights
I'm fairly sure that steel is not going to be your most cost effective option 
steel will be the best option if you want skinny looking columns but thats about the real only advantage for you in this case...
also powder coat is not going to be the best long term protection for it, you'd be better off with a good paint system - that way you can repair
it later when it gets damaged and you shouldn't get water/rust tracking between the powder coat and metal...
(i.e. a proper blast to clean it, then a couple of coats of zinc rich undercoat with a couple of coats good compatible top coat over that)
hot dip galv. is the best option - but thats not cheap
if you did go for steel I'd make it as a steel frame that includes the primary floor beams, then you just need to use timber for the secondary
beams to make it simple and strong (you can even weld on brackets for the timber to make it even easier)
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ravingfool
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 02:05 PM |
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FYI, off the top of my head, decking at that height would technically need to be building regs compliant.
Not sure what regs apply to decking but might want to have a quick look before you start building; presume it's mostly to make sure it's
safe and you have a suitable railing to prevent people just falling through the deck or toppling 5ft to the ground off the edge!
That means you'll need to get the local building control round to take a look once complete. Obviously if you don't do that,
they'll probably never know but it will come up when you sell the property in the future.
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mcerd1
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 02:14 PM |
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Here's a thought if your looking to do something fancy - why not build the base as series of 3 or 4 brick vaults / arches - then concrete over
that and you can lay your tiles strait on without ever worrying about the water
you can use the vaults underneath as storage or even as features in the garden - i.e. stick some benches or a water feature in them
btw I'm thinking less railway arch and more roman terrace 
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loggyboy
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 02:17 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ravingfool
FYI, off the top of my head, decking at that height would technically need to be building regs compliant.
Not sure what regs apply to decking but might want to have a quick look before you start building; presume it's mostly to make sure it's
safe and you have a suitable railing to prevent people just falling through the deck or toppling 5ft to the ground off the edge!
That means you'll need to get the local building control round to take a look once complete. Obviously if you don't do that,
they'll probably never know but it will come up when you sell the property in the future.
Indeed. General provisions would be in part K -
Not readily climbable (ie no ladder style balustrades).
No gaps (in balustrades) large enough to fit a 100mm sphere through.
1100high balustrades.
and there would be a stength requirement for the balutrading. (0.36KN IIRC)
Obviously there would be structural requirements for the frame itself, but the Building Control engineers would give guidance on that if you
spec/building it yourself.
Mistral Motorsport
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 04:15 PM |
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I built a raised deck in 2000. Used concrete in metaposts, 4x4 fenceposts and 8x2 framework. I bought a whole load of treated 4x1 roofing boards as
the actual deck. 13 years later it has been jetwashed about 6 times and retreated once. Needed about 20% of the decking replaced in the summer, and
treating again (we just sold the house, and I probably replaced more boards than I needed to...)
Anyway, the frame had no rot at all, and the metaposts look fine too. Saying that, these days galvanised metalwork is easily available.
Be sensible and it can be built for not a lot of cash. But I have a suspicion that you need planning permission these days. Not an issue when I built
mine, and no questions asked when we sold the house (they did ask about the carport, which did have pp)
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John P
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 05:50 PM |
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Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.
Although PVC would be simple and maintenance free I'm a bit concerned it may look like a bit like it belongs on caravan site.
I quite like the idea of brick vaults / arches but wonder if it's really too small a bungalow to carry this off.
Probably the second picture put up by loggyboy is nearer to what I had in mind but with some other type of vertical supports as my wife doesn't
like the look of steel now that she's seen the picture.
My main remaining concern is what to make the actual flooring from. I've looked on the web and some seem to use plywood with ashphalt on top
but this wouldn't really be a DIY option and I'm not sure if it's Ok to tile onto ashphalt.
Are there any waterproofing systems which could be put on top of a plywood deck and then be tiled over? I'd also need something which could
take the rain water into a gutter.
John.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 19/12/13 at 11:02 PM |
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IIRC decking needs planning permission anyway doesn't it? I could be wrong.
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Smokey mow
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| posted on 20/12/13 at 07:54 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
IIRC decking needs planning permission anyway doesn't it? I could be wrong.
any decking greater than 300mm abone the ground level would
do, yes.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/decking/
[Edited on 20/12/13 by Smokey mow]
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mcerd1
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| posted on 20/12/13 at 08:13 AM |
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not sure about the costs I have to admit, but you could use concrete for the floor on top of a steel frame - that way water and strength won't
be issues
precast slabs would be heavy to lift in so would probably add a crane to your costs
but you can do it with wet concrete and metal formers like slimdek: http://www.tatasteelconstruction.com/en/design_guidance/slimdek/components/
(my boss used it on his house extension a couple of years back)
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Peteff
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| posted on 20/12/13 at 10:23 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
not sure about the costs I have to admit, but you could use concrete for the floor on top of a steel frame - that way water and strength won't
be issues
I'd use reinforced concrete as suggested on steel work with brick or block piers filled with concrete slurry.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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John P
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| posted on 20/12/13 at 05:28 PM |
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I was just thinking about block and beam construction which I think is used for suspended floors.
Anyone know if this can be used externally? I guess one problem could be if the beams are too heavy to handle manually.
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