Decking Challenge!

[kingsmill]

Hi all,

I'm looking to lay a deck in the corner of my garden to (primarily) support a (right angled) corner arbour, about 2.5m high by 1.5m wide (both directions).

The problem I'm faced with (apart from never having attempted a deck before - but a reasonably competent DIYer) is that the corner of the garden is only 70° and not 90°. Now, I'm planning on pulling the arbour away from the corner to fit (leaving a small space behind, perfect for a pot plant!), but I want to deck right into the corner.

The two long sides are only fenced, so the deck will have to be freestanding and the ground underneath is sloped (less than 300mm along the 3m length) so I'm planning to support the deck on concreted-in posts, aiming for a maximum height of the ground of 200mm.

I've attached a plan of the proposed deck; can anybody even begin to tell me where to site the posts, run the joists and deck the thing for best effect? Comments on recommended joist sizes wouldn't go amiss either!

Many many thank you's!

View media item 20185

 

[Thermo]

which way do you want the deck boards to run (take into account which way traffic will go across it for best grip etc when walking on it and what effect you want to achieve visually)

 

[Richard C]

Be carefull with planning regs.

 

[kingsmill]

Thanks for the responses so far...

I was hoping to have the boards running parallel to the angled edge (at the bottom right of the picture), I think this would look best, but it would depend on how much more difficult it makes it.

Regarding planning regs, are we talking in relation to the deck (which will be below 300mm) or the arbour on top (which is below the 2.5m threshold)? Or have I missed something?

Thanks.

 

[Richard C]

From your response you are aware of the regs. so probably not; without looking in detail, the 2.5m height just rang some bells.

 

[Thermo]

planning not an issue with what you have.

in regard to the frame, build the outside of the frame first and get it all levelled up.

If youre running them parralell to the 1805 length then it wont matter what angle they run at too much. Therefore i would start working from the right angled corner at the bottom, running the joists att 400mm centres parrallel with the 1000mm long edge at the bottom. It will mean that you have an angled cut on one end each time, but you will have a straight edge to go off of at the back and will be much easier. you can then just keep them like this the whole way across as you go.