Now the frame is done it's time to put down the decking.
I did a lot of extensive research regarding buying the timber, and also fixing the timber down. Now as you would have read in my recent post about on-line deck building resources, "extensive research" = "Google".
After Googling about deck fixing I came across Kopper's no-nail deck post on The Renovate Forum and from that I was pretty much convinced that no-nail decking was the way to go. The very first deck I ever made was a substantial 40 sqm treated pine job, and I nailed every one of those boards down by hand. By the end of it I had arms like The Hulk. The deck next was a small 15 sqm merbau deck and I used (shock horror now!) a Paslode nail gun that I hired! Sacrilege I know, but forgive me as I knew no better. This one. NO NAILS!
Kopper's post is fairly compelling and made it seem a very straightforward process. After speaking with Peter Lloyd from Deck-Max on the phone (who I have to say is without a doubt one of the most helpful and knowledgeable guys on decking you could every hope to meet) I went with the "original" biscuit system as Kopper used. I brought a 20 and a 5 sqm kit which come with the biscuits and screws as well as driver bits, glue, joiners etc. I strongly suggest getting their decking clamps which are awesome for pulling the boards in line. You'll need at least two decking clamps and a joist clamp. Check the Deck-Max web site where there is a heap of videos showing how it's done.
I did a lot of extensive research regarding buying the timber, and also fixing the timber down. Now as you would have read in my recent post about on-line deck building resources, "extensive research" = "Google".
After Googling about deck fixing I came across Kopper's no-nail deck post on The Renovate Forum and from that I was pretty much convinced that no-nail decking was the way to go. The very first deck I ever made was a substantial 40 sqm treated pine job, and I nailed every one of those boards down by hand. By the end of it I had arms like The Hulk. The deck next was a small 15 sqm merbau deck and I used (shock horror now!) a Paslode nail gun that I hired! Sacrilege I know, but forgive me as I knew no better. This one. NO NAILS!
Kopper's post is fairly compelling and made it seem a very straightforward process. After speaking with Peter Lloyd from Deck-Max on the phone (who I have to say is without a doubt one of the most helpful and knowledgeable guys on decking you could every hope to meet) I went with the "original" biscuit system as Kopper used. I brought a 20 and a 5 sqm kit which come with the biscuits and screws as well as driver bits, glue, joiners etc. I strongly suggest getting their decking clamps which are awesome for pulling the boards in line. You'll need at least two decking clamps and a joist clamp. Check the Deck-Max web site where there is a heap of videos showing how it's done.
Next up was timber. I did a bit of further Googling from a number of local suppliers before picking one that was fairly cheap. However I have to say (without naming names) they were a bit "painful" to deal with (issues with delivery charges, someone needing to be on site to accept, missing first delivery date, late for the 2nd, you know, "painful") but eventually the timber was delivered to site.
TIP # 1 - DO NOT BUY TIMBER FROM THE CHEAPEST SUPPLIER! Have you ever had the experience of receiving a pile of lovely new timber all tightly bundled in that metal strapping? It looked beautiful in a neat package on the driveway and I actually had to go out and buy some snips to cut the strapping. When it was cut the strapping and the timber went "sproing!" What had looked like beautiful straight long boards were only on the outside of the pack. In the middle were lots of short boards, and also lots of not very straight boards. Sheesh! You really do get what you pay for, hence TIP #1. I should have known when they were so painful to deal with!
So I sucked it up and went through the pack sorted it into long, medium, and short boards (as well as sub categories for bent and straight!). I then picked out the longest and straightest timbers I had and got down to laying some timber!
TIP # 2 - SET THE FIRST BOARD RIGHT! When starting to lay a new deck, and particularly when using Deck-Max, it's very, very, very important to get the first board laid straight. It will set the scene for how every board following will go as you move across the deck, so take the time to get it right. I didn't have a straight edge long enough to reach across where the first board had to go, the only straight edge I had was the side of the house which runs at a right angle to where the board has to go. Tricky. So to get around this I relied on a bit of High School maths with Pythagoras theorem.
In builder's terms it's also known as a 3-4-5 triangle. For example assuming the board (b) is 4 metres long, measure along the wall (a) from the starting point of the first board for 3 metres and drop a peg in. Attach a string to the inside edge of the peg against the wall that is 5 metres long (c). Get your tape measure out and measure 4 metres (b) out from the wall. When the 5 metre (c) mark for the string meets to the 4 metre (b) mark on your tape measure it will be all square and you can mark the line (b) along the tape measure. It will be a perfect right angle (assuming the house is straight!).
The Deck-Max system uses a set of screws and plugs to secure the first board. There is a special drill bit shown below that has a countersink set to the correct depth that the screw then goes into. You just clamp the board in place and drill down until the collar stops spinning, and you're then at the correct depth. It also drills a pilot hole for the screw making it simple to fix the board down. Run a bead of the supplied "liquid nails" type adhesive (the provided is Bostik Ultraset) on the top of the joist and screw down the board. Once all the screws are in, drop in a few drops of wood glue in the holes and bang in one of the their chamfered hard-wood plugs to cover up the screw.
Once the glue is dry, cut off the excess with a vibrating multi-tool and you'll have a smooth, nail-free surface!
TIP #3 - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS (RTFM)! If you're using "Original" biscuits you need to make a cut in each board that the biscuit sits in to hold it down (see details below). Before you get carried away and screw down the first board make sure you've put the cuts in on the opposite side for the first row of biscuits (and before you ask, no, I didn't)! You can do it after the fact with the biscuit cutter while it's screwed down but it's tricky. I took the messy glue route, and unscrewed the board, put the cuts in, and screwed it back down!
As shown below the first three boards are down. Happy days, we're on our way!
TIP # 4 - BOTTOMS UP! As per TIP #3 the Deck-Max Original biscuits require that a cut be made in each board with a biscuit cutter aligning with the joists.The best way to achieve this is by turning the board upside down and putting it in place, then mark a line across the board where the joists are with a piece of chalk. The chalk marks are where the biscuit cuts need to go on each edge. Because it's upside down any marking or scratching will be on the bottom of the board, thereby preserving the pristine top! Set your biscuit cutter per the provided Deck-Max specifications, but remember set it for cutting from the bottom side of the board, not the top.
TIP #4 - HOLDING BOARDS TO CUT SLOTS. To help in cutting the slots I set up a special area at the other side of the deck for making the slot cuts with the biscuit cutter. The cutter requires two hands, and without this you have to clamp down the decking timber every time which is time consuming. Grab a length of joist timber (or a couple of pieces) and nail it down on a right angle square across the joists in the direction the boards will run. This will be where you cut the slots in the timber. Just push the decking board to be cut up against the piece of timber, with the chalk marks offset between the joists. The pressure applied to the biscuit cutter will keep it in place leaving both your hands free! Line up the middle of the biscuit cut with your chalk line, turn it on, and push. Easy as! You can see below the area I have set up behind where I am working. After you've cut the slots on one edge, flip it over and make the cuts on the opposite edge to match, again pushing the timber up against your cutting edge board.
TIP # 1 - DO NOT BUY TIMBER FROM THE CHEAPEST SUPPLIER! Have you ever had the experience of receiving a pile of lovely new timber all tightly bundled in that metal strapping? It looked beautiful in a neat package on the driveway and I actually had to go out and buy some snips to cut the strapping. When it was cut the strapping and the timber went "sproing!" What had looked like beautiful straight long boards were only on the outside of the pack. In the middle were lots of short boards, and also lots of not very straight boards. Sheesh! You really do get what you pay for, hence TIP #1. I should have known when they were so painful to deal with!
So I sucked it up and went through the pack sorted it into long, medium, and short boards (as well as sub categories for bent and straight!). I then picked out the longest and straightest timbers I had and got down to laying some timber!
TIP # 2 - SET THE FIRST BOARD RIGHT! When starting to lay a new deck, and particularly when using Deck-Max, it's very, very, very important to get the first board laid straight. It will set the scene for how every board following will go as you move across the deck, so take the time to get it right. I didn't have a straight edge long enough to reach across where the first board had to go, the only straight edge I had was the side of the house which runs at a right angle to where the board has to go. Tricky. So to get around this I relied on a bit of High School maths with Pythagoras theorem.In builder's terms it's also known as a 3-4-5 triangle. For example assuming the board (b) is 4 metres long, measure along the wall (a) from the starting point of the first board for 3 metres and drop a peg in. Attach a string to the inside edge of the peg against the wall that is 5 metres long (c). Get your tape measure out and measure 4 metres (b) out from the wall. When the 5 metre (c) mark for the string meets to the 4 metre (b) mark on your tape measure it will be all square and you can mark the line (b) along the tape measure. It will be a perfect right angle (assuming the house is straight!).
The Deck-Max system uses a set of screws and plugs to secure the first board. There is a special drill bit shown below that has a countersink set to the correct depth that the screw then goes into. You just clamp the board in place and drill down until the collar stops spinning, and you're then at the correct depth. It also drills a pilot hole for the screw making it simple to fix the board down. Run a bead of the supplied "liquid nails" type adhesive (the provided is Bostik Ultraset) on the top of the joist and screw down the board. Once all the screws are in, drop in a few drops of wood glue in the holes and bang in one of the their chamfered hard-wood plugs to cover up the screw.
Once the glue is dry, cut off the excess with a vibrating multi-tool and you'll have a smooth, nail-free surface!
TIP #3 - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS (RTFM)! If you're using "Original" biscuits you need to make a cut in each board that the biscuit sits in to hold it down (see details below). Before you get carried away and screw down the first board make sure you've put the cuts in on the opposite side for the first row of biscuits (and before you ask, no, I didn't)! You can do it after the fact with the biscuit cutter while it's screwed down but it's tricky. I took the messy glue route, and unscrewed the board, put the cuts in, and screwed it back down!
As shown below the first three boards are down. Happy days, we're on our way!
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| 3 boards down. A hell of a lot to go! |
TIP # 4 - BOTTOMS UP! As per TIP #3 the Deck-Max Original biscuits require that a cut be made in each board with a biscuit cutter aligning with the joists.The best way to achieve this is by turning the board upside down and putting it in place, then mark a line across the board where the joists are with a piece of chalk. The chalk marks are where the biscuit cuts need to go on each edge. Because it's upside down any marking or scratching will be on the bottom of the board, thereby preserving the pristine top! Set your biscuit cutter per the provided Deck-Max specifications, but remember set it for cutting from the bottom side of the board, not the top.
TIP #4 - HOLDING BOARDS TO CUT SLOTS. To help in cutting the slots I set up a special area at the other side of the deck for making the slot cuts with the biscuit cutter. The cutter requires two hands, and without this you have to clamp down the decking timber every time which is time consuming. Grab a length of joist timber (or a couple of pieces) and nail it down on a right angle square across the joists in the direction the boards will run. This will be where you cut the slots in the timber. Just push the decking board to be cut up against the piece of timber, with the chalk marks offset between the joists. The pressure applied to the biscuit cutter will keep it in place leaving both your hands free! Line up the middle of the biscuit cut with your chalk line, turn it on, and push. Easy as! You can see below the area I have set up behind where I am working. After you've cut the slots on one edge, flip it over and make the cuts on the opposite edge to match, again pushing the timber up against your cutting edge board.
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| Getting your work area organised helps a lot |
TIP #5 - TRIAL AND ERROR. Use scraps of decking timber with the biscuit cutter to do a dry run and make sure everything lines up with your cuts. It's very important that the Deck-Max biscuit will sit flush on the bottom to hold the board down securely. I actually screwed together a square out of joist offcuts and had a mini-practice run just to make sure I knew what I was doing. Once it's all set in your head, then try it out on a real board.
After you've made all your cuts on both edges, flip the board back over onto the right side and line it up. It should be spot on with the cuts aligned to the joists underneath.
After you've made all your cuts on both edges, flip the board back over onto the right side and line it up. It should be spot on with the cuts aligned to the joists underneath.
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| Screwing the Biscuit |
Once the board is set into the biscuit screw down the screws all the way, then run along the board with a "gentle persuader" (aka a large rubber mallet) ensuring the entire length is sitting up against the biscuits. Then start fitting and screwing down the next set of biscuits into the (now) leading edge of the board. The gap is set to 3mm by the flange on the bottom of the biscuit without you having to do a thing!
The screwed down biscuits and the adhesive are what hold the boards down onto the joists. No nails, brilliant!
Essentially you then repeat (and repeat and repeat)!
- Take the next board and lay it face down
- Mark the joists with chalk
- Cut the slots on one edge
- Cut the slots on the opposite edge
- Apply adhesive to the joists
- Fit the board face up
- Apply deck clamps
- Apply the joist clamp and finish screwing the last board
- Give the board a "tap" with the mallet
- Fit the biscuits and partly screw down
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| As if by magic the decking appears! |
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