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I always wanted to have a deck over our alfresco area since we moved into our new home. Our alfresco is only just about 10sqm so I decided to double the size and make it 20sqm by extending the deck past the concrete slab and over some soil. I used composite decking and some decking lights around the picture frame border. This is my first big DIY project and I'm happy how it turned out.
Wow, what a fantastic result @frediynewbie. You should be really proud of your efforts.
Get ready for lots of questions from our community about your project.
I'll kick off the discussion: what was the biggest thing you learned along the way?
I'm sure members will also be keen to know what tools and materials you used so they can replicate your handiwork.
Thanks for sharing,
Jason
Thanks @Jason !
I learned that if you do all the prep works properly, things will be easy along the way. I prepared the soil by levelling it and compact it with crushed rock. I also marked every corner to keep everything square.
Also for materials, I used 90x45 treated timber for my joist and tuff blocks for my frame footing. I have about 180mm ground clearance to work with but due to the weep holes I had to lower the deck a bit. So with tuff blocks, 90mm joists and 23mm boards gave me a total of 163mm ground clearance which is what I needed. I also added 2 noggins near the centre of each joist to add stability.
I only used circular saw and did not have any issues. I use rafter square as a saw guide when cutting. As I don't have long clamp to hold the boards, I used tie down straps instead. This really help me hold the boards and keep the gaps the same all through out. It's a bit tedious removing the straps and putting it back each board but it worked for me.
Let me also congratulate you on the completion of a terrific project, @frediynewbie. The deck looks amazing.
Many thanks for providing those additional photos and details about how you completed the build. I'm sure our members will appreciate your efforts.
Congratulations once again and looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Akanksha
Well done @frediynewbie, many thanks for the extra detail. I'm sure that will be helpful and inspiring to many readers.
What's next?
Jason
Afternoon @frediynewbie
Man thats a nice look professional job! Have to agree with you about those ratchet straps, they really make life easier to do things 
What are you planning to put down over the sand to go from your steps to the deck?
And the stormwater drain? did you just lower it to ground level (the one that was on the edge of your deck)
Think you need to change yoru name from newbie tho Id be using it as a showcase!
Dave
Afternoon @frediynewbie
Always satisying when you se ethe rainwater going where it should!
And good luck narrowing down the so many ideas for pathways lol I ended up with a totally different style to what i thought of at first and only intended to have it insitu until I found more of the same style of pavers. Nope, Its going with a mixture of squares, broken pieces and recovered pavers as it suits the story
Dave
