Decking ideas

[thinfourth]

Outside of our kitchen we have a decking.

It is 5m wide and 8m long. It sits over some slightly broken concrete that runs down the side of the house. The concrete runs at maybe a 5º down slope. The concrete is about 16m long with the top half forming a patio outside of the lounge. The decking is level so it is on the concrete at one end and about 18 inches up at the other end. The decking is exactly level with the kitchen floor

i would take a picture but i am eating steak and it is dark

Now

The decking is utterly knackered and is going to be replaced before someone falls through it.

The current plan is to go like for like with cheapo pine decking as it has been there probably 10 to 15 years

Before i spend some money what other options are there?

Budget can be increased but not too much

 

[CompoSimmonite]

You can get recycled plastic decking.

 

[Burdekin]

Used scaffold boards.

 

[thinfourth]

Used scaffold boards.

I was hoping for better

Not cheaper

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Our local wood yard does a good line in oak, beech and elm decking boards.

Pop to your local yard and have a ask.

Plus some local fencing suppliers do a good range in hard wood decking.

Avoid pressure treated soft wood.

The treatment preserves it yes, but the outer layers are soft. But when you cut it to size or drill a hole you expose untreated wood. So it rots. Ok slowly, but it does.

Still at my grand parents house is a wooden small deck and stairs made from Burmese Teak. Still good after 27 years old.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Haven't had the opportunity to use composite decking firsthand but hear good reports about it.
I'll echo TYA's comments. Don't use softwood.

Personally I won't have timber decking. Deadly slippery in winter. Much prefer a paved patio.

 

[addjunkie]

You can get recycled plastic decking.

You can......but its 3 times the price of wood

 

[Rocketman]

Personally I won't have timber decking. Deadly slippery in winter. Much prefer a paved patio.

Same here and it lasts a lot longer.

 

[Burdekin]

I was hoping for better

Not cheaper

New boards shrink a lot. Scaf boards are thick, quite long lasting and are decent for decking. Hardwood is going to be better but more expensive.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

New boards shrink a lot. Scaf boards are thick, quite long lasting and are decent for decking. Hardwood is going to be better but more expensive.

Fitted it for customers against my advice. Even worse than traditional decking in the winter months. Lesser of two evils is the hardwood decking with rubber inserts for grip but they look gash.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I have seen, but not fitted, recycled plastic deck boards.

Nope.
Nope.
And nope again.

Good for pallets, good for shipping cages. Good for the environment.
Looks rubbish, slippery as hell.

Not my c

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Fitted it for customers against my advice. Even worse than traditional decking in the winter months. Lesser of two evils is the hardwood decking with rubber inserts for grip but they look gash.

Gash, a term I not seen used for a dog watch.
Thank you for reminding me.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Gash, a term I not seen used for a dog watch.
Thank you for reminding me.

Not a word I've uttered for many years either. :/

Swear filter brings out the thesaurus in me.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Hay diddle diddle, you got the middle.

Oh look it does the same for m.

 

[atomant48]

Some good ideas about paving slabs etc but the OP says he has 18in drop at one end so that’s going to take a lot of filling in. Decking is an easy way to cover uneven ground like he seems to have. Having had some decking down for the past 5 or so years I think the “slippery”
Comments are valid but it’s easy to give it a pressure wash each year and this takes care of it. I’d definitely get the best wood you can within budget - the cheap softwood can be really dodgy and won’t look good a week after it’s laid. You’ll also be chasing it all the time with more screws as it warps and lifts.

 

[pedrobedro]

Dig the top out and spread it out to the bottom then put a step and slab it. I nearly broke my neck on wet timber decking a few times.

 

[pedrobedro]

Also why are you eating steak in the dark?

 

[frank horton]

steak/dark, depends who ur with.......in the nicest possible way..........hahaha..
frank

 

[slim_boy_fat]

steak/dark, depends who ur with.......in the nicest possible way..........hahaha..
frank

Now I can't shake this mental image......Dark night, stars, soft music, Jacuzzi, candles, steak.......

But this is way fftopic: and not in the least bit helping the @thinfourth

 

[thinfourth]

Dig the top out and spread it out to the bottom then put a step and slab it. I nearly broke my neck on wet timber decking a few times.

That will NOT be happening as at the top end of the concrete is the garden shed and greenhouse.

Also the concrete is flush with the lawn which also has a few degrees of slope. So to make it look sensible we would have to drop the lawn also. The size of the lawn means we are looking at moving hundreds of tons of soil