While most people might not believe it to be so, building and laying your own garden decking can actually be a relatively easy task. By following the proper instructions and taking care and consideration in what you’re doing, you can actually complete your own garden decking assignment, efficiently and effectively.

Starting Off

The materials required should be attained of course before you plan out or begin any garden decking job, and some of the supplies that you will need to build your own garden decking are: flashing, caulking compound, pre-mixed concrete, gravel or crushed stone, cinder blocks, post caps, post bases, seismic ties, joist hangers, cardboard tube concrete forms, rebar, stainless steel or HDG nails, joist hanger nails, HDG bolts or lag screws, and washers. Some of the tools that you will most likely need for this project are: shovel, carpenter’s level, carpenter’s square, plumb bob, wheelbarrow, caulking gun, drill, wrench, hammer, circular saw, tape measure, safety eyewear, and scrap lumber for bracing.

Once you have all the required materials and tools, and you have finished your deck design plans, you are able to begin preparing the site. You must measure and mark the area size which you are planning to build to, following up by removing any grass or weeds and applying mulch over this space to suppress weeds.

It must be known before any part of this garden decking job even begins that the key to constructing a good decking area is the frame. The frame is without a doubt the most essential and important factor in regards to the entire construction job, which is why many steps need to be taken before you can even begin building the frame itself.

Before building the frame, you will need to decide which way you are planning to have the final deck boards run, and then build the main joists of the frame in the opposite direction each way at approximately 400mm centers.

The frame itself for your garden decking can be built either directly on top of your existing patio, or otherwise can be built using small brick pillars to increase the height. Another important factor is the finished surface, and the most important thing to remember here is to keep the wood in as long of lengths as possible. The best way to go about screwing the surface to the frame is by marking out the lines you want the screws to go in and pre-drilling the holes before using an electric screw driver to screw them into the wood.