Raised decking

[fenhayman]

Rear of house has slabbed patio approximately 15 X 3m accessed by steps down from two separate doors. Patio is solid and has been down for about thirty years.Aim is to build a wooden deck upto door level to eliminate steps. Both fearful of falling.
Deck will need to be about 900cm above slabs (planning permission needed and obtained), with wide steps and handrail down to garden. Domestic use only with a design life of about 20 years. Would prefer to build onto patio.
Will hope to employ local carpenter to build.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can find plans for such a structure or pointers as to design.

 

[harryc]

Attach a stringer beam to the house wall using through bolts.
will need at least two strings of bearers held up by 4x4 posts or larger.

Then you can run beams across the bearers and main beam spaced at 18” intervals or longer if using hardwood decking.

If the patio is on solid ground and not liable to movement you can get away with putting the posts on concrete pillars, saves burying them into the ground and reduce risk of rot.

 

[Jameshow]

I'd just ask the carpenter if he doesn't know how to lay it out walk away.

If he does then telling him how to do his job will wind him up!!

Just give him he basic idea and let him quote for it.

Don't go for the cheapest or the one who can do it quickest as theres a reason he hasn't got any work ......

 

[Bingy man]

Rear of house has slabbed patio approximately 15 X 3m accessed by steps down from two separate doors. Patio is solid and has been down for about thirty years.Aim is to build a wooden deck upto door level to eliminate steps. Both fearful of falling.
Deck will need to be about 900cm above slabs (planning permission needed and obtained), with wide steps and handrail down to garden. Domestic use only with a design life of about 20 years. Would prefer to build onto patio.
Will hope to employ local carpenter to build.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can find plans for such a structure or pointers as to design.

You mention a fear of falling in your post , is this due to mobility issues or or a general fear of heights - either way decking is extremely slippery in wet / damp weather so you may want to budget for non slip decking or as a minimum fit non slip strips to the steps to prevent falls , you can purchase decking with the non slip strips incorporated into the deck board. I fitted these as I didn’t fancy going head first into my greenhouse.

 

[squib]

Beam and block concrete and finish of your choice .... .decking can be very slippery.

 

[fenhayman]

Thanks for the helpful comments. Have had decking before. Mobility not an issue at present but combined age is 160 and don't want a broken hip.

Beam and block concrete and finish of your choice .... .decking can be very slippery.

Thanks. Hadn't considered concrete. Would height of 900cm be possible.

 

[Bingy man]

Thanks for the helpful comments. Have had decking before. Mobility not an issue at present but combined age is 160 and don't want a broken hip.

Thanks. Hadn't considered concrete. Would height of 900cm be possible.

Easily achieved using shuttering levelled out to your dimensions, even stronger if you add e few reinforcement bars to each pile , a concrete poker( vibrating rod ) will remove any air pockets allowing you to then top up each pile to the correct height. These can be hired at a reasonable cost . I used a similar method to this over 20 years back and they are still intact.

 

[okeydokey]

Do you really need to put decking over the entire good patio area just to be able to walk out of the house.
Have you thought of something like Static Caravan Steps maybe searching accessries at a Caravan Suppliers

 

[Bingy man]

Do you really need to put decking over the entire good patio area just to be able to walk out of the house.
Have you thought of something like Static Caravan Steps maybe searching accessries at a Caravan Suppliers
View attachment 133080

Those steps are nice and practical but it’s the steps he’s trying to illuminate due to fear of falling- on o personal note tho I’ve saved your link as I could of done with a set like in your picture last year for a raised portacabin.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If you are planning to raise the decking 900mm above the existing level, I assume you will need to specify a safety/hand rail around the deck.

An inadvertent step and fall from that height would definitely be uncomfortable.

 

[fenhayman]

As well as the steps from the house the patio has three levels with drops of about 3 inches. Almost as dangerous as the steps because they are not obvious. Don't really want hazard marking tape everywhere.

 

[okeydokey]

Why not just get a couple of quotes from Decking installers and see what they recommend - just be aware that wooden decking cab be lethal when wet or has even a small amount of green mould/slime