Thanks Fire. I have a couple of during and after snaps which don’t show the old decking to advantage, but at least show the mess involved and the underneath revealed. The pics of the sandstone were taken just after installation and the site is much tidier now. Hope they all attach! This is the deck minutes before it was dismantled in late October. All the pots, hoses etc have been shunted from their homes further back. Funny how much clutter is accumulated in a small space. This is what was revealed, a nice sheltered spot for the mice to live in when they were not exploring our home. The same area after the stone was laid, in the wettest of January weather. And finally, the completed area. The camber seems quite steep in the photographs but doesn’t appear as prominent in real life. I have reseeded the grass, and have a greenhouse full of flowers to put in the planters at the end of the month.
Thanks very much for posting. Mine is very much like your decking, except my garden rises from the house, rather vice versa.
I think I am going with a plain replacement of what is already there, but this time done with sober builders, not drunk students on a bender It's a bit of a 'good enough' solutions, but I might extend the house in coming years and don't want to spend more for something that would need to be ripped out. But then, we can get trapped in 'temporary solutions' and 'what if' s for decades.
Ah yes, Fire, the ‘temporary solutions’ that you end up with for years, end up hating then spend more money ripping out and doing what you really wanted! Speaking from experience here
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
You'd think by now we'd be getting government subsidies for using recycled plastic for decking and sleepers etc. We're drowning in the stuff yet the costs of plastic timber replacements are still way too high.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Apart from the safety issues with decking- I almost broke an already damaged hip slipping plus the need for maintenance there is the issue of the area under the decking becoming rat central, as we found when our neighbours installed the damn stuff. Plus most of it is installed badly so that it will start to rot within two years but it's not possible to get at it to maintain it. Alternatives are stone, we've had York stone for years and it needs cleaning once a year or so and that's it, gravel if it's laid properly, grass depending on use. I haven't seen more than one but they are starting to use resin bonded products for drives which could give you the right look. Don't know about the environmental impact. You can stain concrete and that gives some nice effects. Most polymer wood decking bleaches out to a grey colour- worth a look for durability and a small reduction in maintenance but not cheap for the decent stuff. It doesn't really look like wood when it ages but it still functions.The product that I looked at was oddly not very strong either but that may depend on the polymer/ wood ratio.
I loved my decking in my previous garden. I think one problem is that people think it doesn't need maintaining, which it does - like any other surface. The biggest problem is that people lay it in the wrong place. Paving is every bit as dangerous and slippy if it's in the wrong place. In the right place, and correctly looked after, decking's a great surface.
I'd also agree that we should be seeing far more, affordable plastic composite decking, so that it can be used in less favourable aspects and give the same effect. It's much easier to lay than paving, for a half decent diy-er, especially if you have a slope to accomodate, although I appreciate that many folk would still need 'a man in' as you describe P.Jo.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
This is the deck minutes before it was dismantled in late October. All the pots, hoses etc have been shunted from their homes further back. Funny how much clutter is accumulated in a small space.
This is what was revealed, a nice sheltered spot for the mice to live in when they were not exploring our home.
The same area after the stone was laid, in the wettest of January weather.
And finally, the completed area. The camber seems quite steep in the photographs but doesn’t appear as prominent in real life. I have reseeded the grass, and have a greenhouse full of flowers to put in the planters at the end of the month.
Johnny
I think I am going with a plain replacement of what is already there, but this time done with sober builders, not drunk students on a bender
Alternatives are stone, we've had York stone for years and it needs cleaning once a year or so and that's it, gravel if it's laid properly, grass depending on use. I haven't seen more than one but they are starting to use resin bonded products for drives which could give you the right look. Don't know about the environmental impact. You can stain concrete and that gives some nice effects.
Most polymer wood decking bleaches out to a grey colour- worth a look for durability and a small reduction in maintenance but not cheap for the decent stuff. It doesn't really look like wood when it ages but it still functions.The product that I looked at was oddly not very strong either but that may depend on the polymer/ wood ratio.
I think one problem is that people think it doesn't need maintaining, which it does - like any other surface. The biggest problem is that people lay it in the wrong place. Paving is every bit as dangerous and slippy if it's in the wrong place.
In the right place, and correctly looked after, decking's a great surface.
I'd also agree that we should be seeing far more, affordable plastic composite decking, so that it can be used in less favourable aspects and give the same effect. It's much easier to lay than paving, for a half decent diy-er, especially if you have a slope to accomodate, although I appreciate that many folk would still need 'a man in' as you describe P.Jo.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Spam. Reported.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...