decking tiles question

[nickyotron]

Ive just bought 6 wood decking tiles for an area of garden ive levelled out, added weed fabric, and covered in gravel (roughly 20mm )
http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/fenci...Q-Square-Deck-Tile-L-600-W-600-T-56mm-9276085
now would i need to make a frame for these, or have them raised further? Or are they ok just to keep laid down?

Untitled

• nickyotron
• 4 Apr 2012
• 1

btw the tiles are 600mm x 600mm x 42mm (not 58mm)
Im going to lay them 3 wide an 2 deep. Do i need to just frame them in all together with 42mm high boards, or raise them all on top of joists n bearers?
Im just really confused as to what else i need now. Any help much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[nickyotron]

any advice as to frame them, or raise them onto joists etc would be great

 

[mikej2005]

Making a frame up would keep them off the floor to prevent them rotting and give you a better chance of getting them all flat and level, so worth doing IMO.

There are a number of ways you could do this, but using the rear wall as a mounting point for your frame would be a good place to start.

You could either build a frame separately and then screw it to the wall, or screw a baton to the wall and use joist hangers like this - http://www.builders-express.co.uk/documents/JOIST HANGERS.jpg - to construct your frame.

I'm not sure about the spacing - 2ft seems a bit too far apart to me, but your boards are effectively already mounted so you might get away with it, depending on which way round you mount your tiles. Perhaps an expert could advise on this ?

To support your frame at the front, you could attach it to 3 short lengths of (thicker) pressure-treated timber, mounted vertically and set in concrete.

I wonder how these decking tiles are supposed to be mounted ? By the time you've done what I suggested, you'd have probably been better off buying individual decking boards !

If all this sounds a bit OTT for your needs, then the other option would be to screw the tiles to four 6ft batons and rest the whole thing on your stones. This would at least ensure that the surface is flat, but won't give you the benefit of raising it up off the floor.

 

[nickyotron]

Hi Mike. Thanks for the reply. I kind of agree with you now im doing this, maybe starting off with boards would be better rather than decking tiles.

But, Ive bought them now lol.
I think maybe your 2nd idea will suit my skills more. Or lack of...
Build the frame an rest it on the bricks at evenly spaced points throughout.

Ive since had a good email from B&Q who have drawn up some small plans to show me what they mean. But their idea involves 'post-crete' cementing small posts. I really dont think im that skilled :\

But again thankyou for stopping by and helping me Mike.

 

[BigRobCanUFixIt]

did you lay a membrane to stop things growing through the gaps?