Decking On Top Of Slabs - Low Clearance to house + Pergola

[ger83]

Hi All,

Long time reader of this great forum, I need some advice for this part of the project.

We are on to the final part of our garden redesign. We are hoping to have a deck area in front of the french doors. The area is 2.6M x 4.2M. I've read a lot about drainage issues and raising the frame so that it doesn't rot. The clearance from the top of the slab to underside of the door frame is 65mm which doesn't seem like a lot of space to get everything in!
Below are a couple of photos of what it looks like just now. We also like the idea of a pergola as well over this area, do these need concreted in or just secured to the floor?

What's the best option here? Due to the relatively small size I could probably justify the cost of composite. My other half likes the idea of decking tiles.

Cheers

EDIT - The existing patio has no drainage issues, I had a tarp lying on the slabs that spilled rain water on half of it when I moved it before the photo

 

[Halitosis]

Hi. Does the patio slope away from the house to ensure water run-off rather than puddling? If so then support timbers running front to back wont rot (give them a good treating first anyway) and decking running across.

I'd say bracket/secure your pergola uprights to the slabs and then lay your decking.

Just an opinion, but decking requires much more maintenance than that patio you already have... at least you can lift it back off again in the future if you want

 

[ger83]

Thanks for the reply. I understand the maintenance issues with decking but the current slabs are a bit weathered. Would you be more inclined to replace the slabs? The stepping stones at the side are new flagstone style and are quite nice.

 

[Halitosis]

A good jet-wash would brighten them up, and if you simply don't like them you could possibly even lay different style slabs on top, which would bring it closer to the threshold