This garden decking installation in Watford WD17 the client required a completely new Trex Composite Decking surface over the old paving. The steps and elevation changes were tired and originally built at dimensions which were functional, but not comfortable or attractive.
The paving edges projecting into the lawn were rounded which minimised the usable space on the upper level and left awkward and unusable space on the lower level where not only did the space not get used but also it was almost impossible to get the lawn to grow in.Like all of our decking projects, the main goal was to increase the usable space, make it as low maintainence as possible, and improve the appearance.
To increase the usable space, you have to be ruthless in your planning. If you have awkward corners and edges in your terrace this forces you to position rectangular furniture into the middle of the terrace, this reduces your usable space. The edging has to be planned with the end-use in mind. Rounded edges work very well when part of the intended walkways, so leading to or from steps, or with built in or custom furniture.
For a terrace this size, it is large enough to have at least 2 room sized areas as well as access to the lower garden. The 2 most popular room areas would be a dining area and a lounge area with sofas, coffee table, and chairs. For access to the lower garden, you need to make the stairs as flexible as possible for any combination of future furniture positioning. The easiest way to do this is with wide stairs as it gives you as much flexibility as possible for furniture positioning without limiting access to the lawn area.
We had between 50-70mm clearance for our decking frame. This limits options to timber, composite, or alumimium. We could have used 50 x 50mm timber, however this would certainly rot swiftly due to a lack of air circulation under this deck. 50 x 50mm composite (HDPE Plastic) would have also worked, however this material expands and contracts significantly as well as being highly flexible, meaning it would require far more support pedastals. The best option for these types of projects is Aluminium Framing.
We specified 45 x 45 Outdure Aluminium Framing for this project, with 45 x 135mm Framing for the Steps. Aluminium has the same advantages HDPE Plastic framing does, it is immune to wood rot and insect attack. Aluminium deck framing also has almost no expansion and contraction meaning the frame will stay where it is without movement over time.
Aluminium Deck Framing is also far more rigid meaning less pedestal supports are required. The Outdure Aluminium Frame also comes with its own system of corner and fascia brackets meaning and the joists are 5.8mt length, meaning assembly is far faster than HDPE Plastic Frames.
