Tag Archives: timber

Balau Timber Stairs Built in Umhlanga Rocks, Durban

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These balau timber stairs that we built in Umhlanga are actually temporary stairs which will be removed at some point. They were built in order to gain access up the bank to a converted container that has been placed at the top. It is for a new development at Umhlanga Ridge and the converted container will be used as a sales office to sell the units. Their life span will depend on how long it takes to sell all the units after which the container and stairs will be removed.

We nevertheless used balau as we needed to create a very upmarket feel as this development is targeted at the high-end market.

Initially we were going to build a platform or landing at the bottom, one at the top and one mid way to break the stairs into two flights. However the total distance did not require that and we settled for a landing at the top and one at the bottom. Normally if the flight of stairs is quite long one needs to split them into two flights with a landing mid way. This is to be compliant with National Building Regulations. It is stipulated for safety reasons because a very long flight of stairs becomes dangerous if not split into two flights.

It is a bit more difficult to build two flights with a landing mid way because one needs to first build your top and bottom landings and then work out exactly at what height the middle landing needs to be. This is so that the two flights can be of equal distance and the risers of the first flight can be equal to the risers of the second flight. If the middle landing is not placed exactly in the middle of the total height, the risers of one flight will need to be different to that of the other flight in order to close the gap between landings. It can also result in a different number of risers.

We used balau stingers, cleats and treads. We left the risers open and installed a balustrade down both sides of the stairs for obvious reasons. The balustrade was also full balau and installed in a vertical picket style with a 102mm capping on top.

The stairs were 1m wide which allows for two people to occasionally walk up and down at the same time. I say occasionally because if it was a busy stair case and people were walking both up and down at the same time regularly then one would need to make the stairs 1.5m wide with a balustrade down both sides. There are other building regulations that stipulate when a hand rail is needed in the middle of the stairs case once it reaches a certain width.

For a free no obligation quote on wooden stairs, decks, balustrades and other outdoor timber construction please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Wooden Pool Deck Building in Summerveld, Durban

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Wooden Deck and Stairs

We built this wooden pool deck in Summerveld, Durban in July 2015. There were various challenges in this wooden pool deck build which tested our skills somewhat.

Firstly the ground in Summerveld is very rocky, in fact in some areas it is just one large rock, and when digging you are actually making a small hole in a large piece of rock. There were 21 holes in total on this wooden pool deck so digging was slow and costly.

From the pics you can also see that the edge rim of the pool is a rock feature so it is not level or flat and we had to try to get our deck height to a comfortable level for access from the rock rim of the pool on to the wooden pool deck. We also had to then try to conceal the gap between rock and deck as far as possible and as neatly as possible. In some areas it took a full deck board as a fascia and in other areas it was tapered down to a half width deck board.

We ran deck boards perpendicular to the pool to avoid having long thin slivers of deck board on the pool side. When we started out the deck was planned to be half the finished size. As it took shape it was decided to extend it to its final measurements which was a double-edged sword for us as we had to dig even more holes through the rock but it increased our surface area and therefore our earnings. So we put on our big boy pants and carried on. The ends result was that the deck now extends past the front of the house so that when you are standing on the front you can see all the way along the front of the house.

A pool pump cover was added, a full balustrade around the whole deck and we clad the open vertical gaps so that one cannot see below the deck.

In one of the pics above you can see how we have returned the balustrade at 90 degrees on the first corner. This is to give the long run of balustrade perpendicular to it more strength. Long straight runs of balustrade can often become quite “wobbly” and this corner gives it good strength.

We opened a gap in the existing post and rail fence and built stairs from the garden at house level to the pool with a hinged gate and latch. Because of the angle of the stairs, and to prevent digging too deep into the ground at the top of the stairs, we built a small landing.

A short free-standing balustrade was added along the electric fence to provide some protection from the electric fence when accessing the lower garden on the right hand side of the deck.

For a free no obligation quote on your wooden pool deck or other outdoor timber structures please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Balau vs CCA Treated Wooden Deck Durban

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I often get asked about using balau as a substructure in a wooden deck. There are various pros and cons of using balau as a substructure in your wooden deck so I thought I would jot it down and in future I can direct clients here who want the ins and outs of using balau as a structure for your wooden deck.

Balau is a very good, hardy and durable wood to use in outdoor wooden decks and other outdoor projects. It contains toxins that limit insects eating it and it is high in resins and oils which naturally repels water and limits rot. All wood will eventually rot. It is just that some will rot quicker as they are less dense and less oily which means they will absorb water more easily, which remains in the wood, causing fungus to grow which breaks down the fibres in the wood and is commonly called rot. This is a simplified explanation but I think it delivers the message accurately. Water doesn’t cause rot. Fungus, as a result of water and sunlight, causes rot.

Balau therefore will rot and I have started documenting some pics of rotten joists that I have come across in my repair work of wooden decks. It may take 15 years for this rot to start but it will happen and when it does repair work can run into thousands if not a complete deck rebuild. Joists are often difficult to access whereas deck boards are not.

On the other hand a piece of wood that has been chemically treated to prevent, or limit rot, will last a lot longer and a pre determined life span can be calculated.

CCA Treatment is a process of pressure treating SA pine. A vacuum is created in a chamber that contains the pine and a solution of copper, chrome and arsenate is introduced which then takes up the void created by the vacuum sucking the solution into the cells. The copper prevents fungus growing which in turn prevents rot, the arsenate keeps the insects away and the chrome binds the two to the wood so that I doesn’t leach out.

Balau is too hard and dense to treat. Pine is a commercially grown timber in South Africa which is inexpensive and very suitable for treatment as it is soft and takes up the solution of CCA successfully. There are various different Hazard Classification or H classifications. Basically H2 is good for indoors (roof trusses etc.) H3 for outdoors exposed to the elements, H4 for in constant contact with wet soil. H5 for submersion in fresh water and H6 for submersion in salt water. A correctly treated piece of pine to H3 will, as per SAWPA guidelines, last in excess of 50 years which is pretty impressive in comparison to a piece of balau that comes with no fixed life expectancy. A poor quality piece of balau may start to fail within 5 years whereas a good quality piece may only start in 15 years. Most of the pics I have documented here are of decks that range in age from 8 years to 15 years. But generally speaking I have found some rot setting in all the decks of 15 years or older.

S5 (SABS Structural grade) Pine is considerably cheaper than balau structural timber. So from an economic point of view it makes sense to use pine in place of other woods wherever possible.

One might now ask why is pine not used on the surface of a deck? Why is balau preferred?

Balau is a very stable wood and therefore expands and contracts less than pine. It is about twice as dense, knot free and doesn’t twist and warp as easily. Pine is soft and with the sun beating on the deck it will tend to crack, twist and warp more easily. To use pine as a deck board one needs to use a 38mm board as opposed to a 19mm board in balau (twice as much wood). Also pine deck boards are normally manufactured from S7 as opposed to S5. S7 refers to the number of knots per square inch (or centimetre) and is therefore a lot more expensive than S5. The cost of pine deck boards is in fact a few rand more per square metre than balau. Hence the reason to use correctly treated CCA pine as a substructure and balau as deck boards. Again pine doesn’t work well in balustrades because twice as much wood needs to be used at S7 grade.

For a free no obligation quote on your sun deck, pool deck, balustrades, pergolas etc., please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Balustrades on Wooden Deck, Durban

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Balau deck boards
Wooden Balau Walkway to beach
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There are a number of different types of wooden balustrades one can have built for your wooden deck. We offer this product in both Durban and Cape Town. I will run through a few options in this article and will mention the pros and cons of each one.

There is a slide show above which shows the different options. I do not have fancy names for them such as Colonial, or Mediterranean. I call them simply what they are.

The vertical picket wooden balustrades are probably the only ones that are compliant in terms of building regulations as none of the gaps are larger than 100mm. They are generally made from 60 x 60 balau upright posts attached to the fascia beam or first or last joist in a wooden deck. We use the 60 x 60 upright post on the corners and in the middle of a long run. All other intermediary posts are 30 x 60 balau. There is a top rail and a bottom rail onto which the vertical pickets are attached. Rails are generally 30 x 40 and pickets are 20 x 30 balau. The bottom rail is set at 100mm off the deck surface and the top rail can be set either 100mm below the capping, or directly beneath the capping. The capping is generally made from a 30 x 102 balau giving it ample width to place a glass or lean comfortably on it. The capping is then routed to give the corners a rounded edge. The distance between upright posts is determined by the total length of the wooden balustrade resulting in equal spaces between uprights. Pickets too are set at equal spaces between uprights. This is the most affordable design of balustrade as it is fairly simple to construct.

The Criss Cross design can come in two main designs. A simple criss cross between uprights with a capping on top or a criss cross between uprights with a box in the middle of the criss cross. The two pieces of timber that are used for the criss cross are normally notched half way through each piece at an angle so that they fit snugly into each other instead of lapping over each other. The box is also set inside the two criss cross pieces so that the whole balustrade is in line rather than pieces over lapping each other. This design can be expensive as the method to construct is time-consuming and the pieces of timber are generally larger than the vertical picket design. It can also be changed to result in many different patterns.

The wire rope design is particularity useful when you don’t want to obscure the view when seated. A balustrade at 1m high will block the view in a seated position for most average height people. The wire rope is 4mm in diameter so it is less visible than say a 30mm piece of timber. The posts are generally also 60 x 60 and 30 x 60 uprights with a capping of 30 x 102 balau on top. The wire rope is set at 100mm intervals but can be opened wider as they are not tensioned to guitar string tension. As such they are not suitable if you have small kids and anything over 1m from the deck to ground level. The swages, turn buckles and wire rope are all marine grade stainless steel.

For a free no obligation quote on your timber balustrade requirements please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Wooden Decking in Durban – What Timber to Use

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Wooden decks Durban

A CCA treated pine substructure and balau deck boards

Wooden decking in Durban, or any other area in South Africa is a valuable, inexpensive way of creating extra outdoor space. The climate in South Africa lends itself to outdoor living and as such a wooden deck in Durban is almost essential. There are many articles on this blog on how to build a wooden deck, what methods we use in building etc. so please feel free to browse and find what you are looking for. In this article I will mention some of the types of wood we use in building our wooden decks and provide reasons why we choose those types of wood.

Our deck substructures are made from CCA treated pine. Pine is a locally grown timber, relatively fast growing and as such inexpensive. It is used widely in the building trade as structural timber. It does however need to be CCA treated in order to prevent rot and insect infestation. CCA treatment is available in various H levels or Hazard Classifications. H3 is what is typically used in wooden decking as it is suitable to live out doors with occasional wetting. H4 is what one uses for posts or beams that are in constant contact with wet soil. If you stick to these guidelines, as set out by The South African Wood Preservers Association, then you will get a minimum of 50 years life span from your H3 timber and 30 years from your H4 timber. Pine is also relatively cheaper than balau. Balau can be used as a substructure but it is about 4 to 5

Wooden decks Durban

A balau substructure

times the price of treated pine. Balau will rot quicker than correctly treated pine in a substructure, believe it or not.

The pine that needs to be used in the substructure needs to be at least S5 which is SABS structurally approved timber. What it means is that there is no more than a certain specified amount of knots per square metre of timber. Pine is very knotty and is split up into different S categories which all carry a different price tag.

Pine is however not my fist choice for deck boards. Firstly it costs pretty much the same as balau. The reason for this is that the grooves below are machined here in South Africa and it is S7 timber so virtually knot free and it therefore carries a higher price tag then S5 pine. Added to this is that you are using almost twice as much timber because it is less dense. Typically a pine deck board would be 32mm thick whereas a balau deck board would be 19mm thick. The cubic metre rate for balau deck boards is also about half the price of the structural balau. Pine also tends to, warp and crack more easily then balau when exposed to direct sunlight because it is less dense and expands and

Wooden decks Durban

Balau deck boards

contracts a lot more than balau. This is fine for a substructure which uses thicker pieces of wood and is protected from the sun, but doesn’t work well on deck boards.

Based on all the above, it makes financial sense, and structurally it is the best option, to use H3 and H4 CCA Treated pine as a substructure and balau deck boards.

There are other options for deck boards. Massaranduba and Garappa are both very good woods which will outlast balau, but cost about 20% more per square metre. They are mostly used in the Highveld and in areas of South Africa where they experience extreme temperatures between seasons. Because they are denser, more stable and less prone to cracking

Wooden decks Durban

Balau deck boards

and warping, they can withstand minus 10 in winter and plus 30 in summer. Durban however has a more stable climate with less extremes between seasons and as such balau is the most suitable choice for hardwood decks.

For a free no obligation quote on your wooden sun deck in Durban please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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DIY Timber Decking in Durban

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Timber decking companies DurbanAlthough we are professional installers of timber decks in Durban, we also offer a DIY service whereby we will supply the materials required to build your own wooden deck. We will also provide a brief outline of what is required and how to go about installing it.

As an introduction to this service I will offer some basic guidelines of how to set about building a wooden deck.

The most cost-effective method is to use an H3 and H4 CCA Treated substructure and balau deck boards. H3 timber is guaranteed, by the supplier, for 50 years and H4 is guaranteed for 30 years. This is of course subject to certain conditions that need to be fulfilled such as sealing cut ends with an approved end sealer and using H3 and H4 where they should be used. You can see a list of H classifications on www.sawpa.co.za. Provided the correct H level of timber is used in the correct application your deck will probably out live you.

Wooden decking companies Durban

First few rows of balau deck boards down

Substructure construction will vary depending on the height of the deck and some other criteria, but basically you will be aiming to install joists at about 450mm to 500mm centres. This will vary depending on the total length you need to install joists over. The joists are generally built using 38 x 114 S5 H3 timber. S5 is minimum SABS structural grade timber and refers to the number of knots per square metre that are present in the wood. H3 is the level to which it is treated at the treatment plant. H3 is suitable for outdoors. If you are placing timber in the ground, or in constant contact with wet soil, it should be treated to a minimum of H4.

Should you require main beams to support your joist structure you will typically use a 50 x 228 H4 beam and you can use 76 x 76 H4 treated square posts to support these beams. Your beams will be installed at 3m centres. If the structure is higher than about 2m I would suggest using gum poles to support it as they are harder and stronger. Again use H4 CCA Treated as they will be placed in the ground.

Timber decking companies DurbanIt is best to use balau deck boards as they are a lot more stable than pine and will not bow and cup as easily as pine. I use the 19 x 68mm reeded deck board as they are relatively inexpensive in comparison to the 19 x 90 deck board. They need to be reeded and the grooved side must face down in order to allow water trapped between the bottom of the deck board and the joist to escape, thus preventing premature failure due to rot. One can also use other timbers such as Massaranduba and Garappa, but they are more expensive. Balau is fine for coastal regions. Garappa and Massaranduba work well in the Highveld where the temperatures range from very cold to very hot.

Deck boards should be spaced with a 5mm gap between them in order to allow water on the surface of the deck to drain away quickly.

For a free no obligation quote on timber supply or supply and install for your decking needs, please contact us on 082 496 5444, or use the contact us form below.

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Hardwood Flooring Companies in Durban

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IMG-20140511-00288Hardwood flooring is becoming very popular again in modern-day home building. There is a separate article on this blog about the history of hardwood floors so I won’t write much about that here. This article is intended to share some info I have gained about hardwood floors and how to ensure that you make the right decisions when choosing your hardwood floor.

There are a number of hardwood flooring specialist companies in Durban to choose from when installing hardwood floors in your home. A few important points to consider when choosing a hardwood flooring company is their track record and their knowledge of wood, its characteristics and how it behaves.

There are broadly speaking two ways to install a hardwood floor. It will either be suspended on battens or joists, or be glued to the substrate which is normally concrete.

Suspended Floors vs. Glue Down Floor Boards

IMG-20140511-00284Suspended or sprung floors are exactly that. They are floor boards that are fixed to joists or battens with a cavity between the bottom of the floor board and the substrate. They are useful when there is no substrate or the substrate is below the desired height of the floor and filling with concrete is not an option due to cost. One can then simply run beams and joists, or battens if the height to be gained is not that great, at specified centres and then attach floor boards to the joists. The distance between joists will be determined by the type of wood being used as floor boards and its density and hardness. They will generally be between 400mm and 500mm. Anything less is a waste of wood and anything more may result in the floor boards being “spongy” and “bouncing” with slight movement up and down. Despite being annoying when walked on, this will also put strain on all joints and failure of the hardwood floor may be premature.

This substructure, or substrate, must be completely flat and level on the top in order to get a flat and level floor. Shimming and notching are practices used in suspended floors to achieve a flat and level substructure. Skimming or screeding may be necessary when making use of a glued down method. Either way that substrate or substructure MUST be completely flat and level otherwise you will have boards popping or unnecessary strain being placed on suspended boards resulting in nails pulling out or breaking. Once the substructure is completed and you are happy with it you can start installing floor boards.

IMG-20140511-00281If the concrete substrate is 20mm or so below the desired height of the top of the floor, then one has no option but to glue the wood down to the substrate. A batten is typically 25mm to 35mm thick and a floor board is typically about 20mm. So one would need at least 45mm between the desired top of floor height and substrate in order to make use of this method. Most older houses made use of suspended floors and the ground was typically 500mm to a metre below the floor and was sand. Columns were built up to support the beams and joists. In these older houses a suspended floor is the only option. In most modern-day homes the concrete substrate is set at about 20mm to 25mm below the door frames so that any floor can be utilised (i.e. wood or carpets). In these homes a glued down floor is the only option as the height of the substrate won’t allow for battens and floor boards as it will result in the top of the floor being higher than the door frames. It’s not impossible but also not preferable to have your floor 20mm or 30mm higher than your door frame.

One should be careful of glueing floor boards to a substrate that moves itself. If for instance the substrate is ply wood, installed on top of joists, then a suspended floor should be the method as the substrate will also be moving, thereby creating problems with the floor boards.

IMG-20140509-WA0001All wood “moves”, that is it expands and contracts with seasons and humidity. A suspended floor will allow the wood to move more freely as it is nailed down as opposed to being glued down. Being able to move a bit more freely will result in less boards splitting, popping or cracking over time. A suspended floor will have a hollow sound to it, which some people prefer while a glued down floor will have a more solid sound to it as it is glued directly to a concrete substrate.

Wood should always be allowed to acclimatise before being installed. This applies to both glued down and suspended methods. If we take teak for instance. It will originate probably in Zimbabwe, be machined there and exported to South Africa. It will arrive and will spend some time in Gauteng and then be shipped to Durban and then to its final destination. The changes in humidity and temperature between all these places affect the overall size of the wood. In more humid environments the wood will swell, expand slightly and in drier environments it will shrink, or contract slightly. It should be allowed to “rest” for at least two weeks, at its place of installation before being installed, to acclimatise to the local climatic conditions. Thin pieces of wood should also be placed between boards to allow for movement of air while it is acclimatizing.

The best time to install a floor is in the summer months. The wood would have (excuse the pun) swelled slightly due to heat and humidity (assuming of course the local conditions are more humid in summer than winter, such as Durban). The boards will be installed in this slightly swelled state and in winter they will contract slightly. If we do it the other way around, install in winter, then the wood will be contracted when being installed and will expand in summer and the boards will push up against each other, on the sides, and may pop. If winter is the only time one can install them, then allowance needs to be made for this and small gaps need to be left between boards to allow them to swell in summer. The size of the gap will depend on the type of timber being used. Harder woods will require less than softer woods as they will move less between seasons. When I say gaps I mean very slight gaps and I should rather refer to it as loosely laid as opposed to tightly laid.

Types of wood

There are various types of wood one can use for flooring. Some work better than others and the imported exotic hardwood such as Oak and Walnut are very expensive as opposed to locally grown timber such as pine or Saligna. Softer woods such as pine and Saligna (gum) can be used but will not be as durable as a hardwood such as teak or oak. They may split or crack sooner and will expand and contract more. Pine and Saligna work best being suspended rather than being glued down because they expand and contact more easily due to their lower density. Also the floors life span will be shorter because with every maintenance interval the soft wood will lose about 2mm from the surface when sanded. A hardwood such as teak will loose considerably less than that and as such its life span will be longer (i.e. it can be sanded many more times).

The different types of wood also vary in colour from dark to light and then some with varied colour like brown and white teak or Kiaat. Some of these variations in colour are due to heart wood and sap wood being present. Brown and white teak for instance is made up of heartwood and sap wood, heart wood being the timber close to the middle of the tree and sap wood being that close to the outside of the tree. Heart wood is by far the best as it is older and therefore harder and more resistant to attack by insects and rot. It is unavoidably more expensive.

Types of floor boards

There are various types of floor boards available on the market today. Most are tongue and grooved so that one side has a tongue and one side has a groove. When installing the tongue of one floor board is inserted into the groove of the board next to it to provide a tight fit and stop the boards from moving in a vertical direction against each other. The result being that your floor will remain flat for longer, if not forever. There are various different types of tongue and groove too which makes installation easier and results in less problems. Normally the tongue is slightly shorter than the groove to allow it to slide into the groove and not be prevented from being inserted all the way in so that the boards butt up flush with each other. Sometimes the tongue swells and the inside of the grooves swell, when moving into an area of more humidity, which makes it near impossible to get the tongue into the groove. A good floor board manufacturer will allow for this by making the tongue slightly thinner and shorter than the groove.

With locally grown timber such as pine or Saligna the boards come in longer lengths, typically 3m or so. With these longer boards they are normally only tongue and grooved on opposite sides along the length of the board. When installing, one will either cut the end of the board to reach a joist or batten, resulting in a small amount of waste or one will install an extra batten on that board only to support the end of the board. With imported timber such as teak, the boards will come in much shorter lengths as the longer stuff carries a premium price tag and is normally reserved for other uses. These are commonly known as maxi planks and vary in length from 450mm to 1m. If the same method as above was used one would be inserting extra battens all over the place which would not be feasible. So what the manufacturer does is to tongue and groove all four sides of the board. When the end of the board is reached there is no need to install an extra batten as the ends are tongue and grooved and fit snugly into each other without any vertical movement.

There are specialised tools for hardwood installation. We make use of an angled floor nailer. The nailer drives a nail at a 45° angle through the tongue and into the batten or joist. It also counter sinks it so that the nail does not impede the next board from butting up tight against the first one. The nail is now invisible and cannot be seen from the surface of the floor. The nail is also flat in that it is thinner than it is wide. This allows the nail to be driven through the timber between the grain on it’s thinner side so as not to split the tongue. It is hook shaped and ribbed so that it does not pull out over time.

I hope I have shed some light in the pros and cons of hardwood flooring and what to consider when installing hardwood floors and that you enjoy your hardwood floors for many years to come.

For a free no obligation quote on your solid hardwood floor, please call us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Timber Decking Companies Durban

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We are a timber decking company based in Durban and specialise in the construction of timber sun deck, pergolas, walkways, stairs etc. We use primarily H3 and H4 CCA treated pine as our substructure and balau deck boards. Our balustrades and stairs are all made from balau unless otherwise specifically designed in pine. The H3 and H4 CCA Treated pine has a life span of between 30 and 50 years outdoors in the elements and although the balau is not pressure treated it will also last in excess of 30 years.

The timber deck we built in this article was in Plantations in Hillcrest and was a low-level pool deck. The pictures alongside show the different stages of construction and I will explain, in this article, the challenges we experienced with this one. All timber decks we build come with their own challenges and there are various techniques we use to overcome these challenges.
Our first challenge here was that the paving alongside the pool was not parallel to the house. There was a difference of about 80mm over a distance of about 3m. If we had simply placed our deck boards down with equal gaps between them we would have ended with a wedged shaped deck board with a measurement of zero on one side and 68mm on the other side which would be unsightly. In order to overcome this one needs to vary the gaps between deck boards.

In this instance we needed to gain 80mm over a distance of 3m. We needed to start with a gap of 4mm on one side of the run, and the gap needed to increase along the length of the deck board run to 6mm on the other side effectively giving us a gain of 2mm per board. Over a distance of 3m, a total of 40 deck boards, with a width of 68mm and a gap of approximately 5mm, will be needed. If we increase the gap on one side of the run to 6mm and reduce the gap on the other side of the run to 4mm, we gain 2mm per run of deck boards. 2mm x 40 deck boards gives us a
total of 80mm that we will gain thereby reducing the difference on either side to zero. In effect you are “fanning” the deck boards to close the difference created by the wall not being parallel to the house. Simple hey? Not always so. Because each run of deck boards is made up of about 3 or 4 separate pieces it can be tricky to keep the runs straight whilst still “stealing” millimetres. At the same time you need to try to end on a full deck board instead of having to rip one deck board to half the width to finish decking the area. We weren’t able to do this because we were running out of space to start increasing or decreasing the gaps to end on a full board. So instead we installed a 90mm deck board on the last run to close the 32mm gap we had left.

We built this timber deck in two sections and then filled the gaps in between. Some of it was on grass and some was on soil, so there was a mixture of posts in ground with concrete and posts on top of paving.

Another challenge here was that because we were building flush to the pool paving AND the floor inside we had to check that the height of the pool paving and the height of the floor inside were the same. They never are because the world is not flat. While I prefer building as flat, level and square as I can, sometimes one needs to build slightly off in order to line up with other substrates that are not perfect, and they never will be. One needs to be careful though that by building off square and level does not affect the total build or the visual appearance of the structure. If it will, then another plan needs to be made.

For a free no obligation quote on your sun deck and other outdoor related structure please contact us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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Wooden Decking Durban

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Wooden decking DurbanWe built this wooden deck in Pinetown, Durban over a well so could not rest any joists on the well lid itself. Normally we would have raised the height of the deck enough to use 50 x 228 as joists. A 50 x 228 piece of wood can be spanned about 3m without any support below which would have solved our problem. However we could not come up that far as that would have resulted in two steps from the raised deck level to the tiled area on the patio.

We used 38 x 152 stock as our joist material, compared to the normal 38 x 114 stock which we normally use. This allowed us to span up to about 2.2m which still wasn’t quite far enough to get over the well. We brought the feet of the deck in as close as we could and placed them on top of the side wall of the well. We also braced the deck in other places so as to stop any bouncing which would have occurred otherwise. There was also a corner that we had to cut off so that it created a clear pathway from the lower deck around the awning upright and on to the tiled patio. Half of the Wooden decking Durbanpool was built with pavers or coping stones on the edge of the pool and the other half had wooden decking. So we had to get all our levels right to create a seamless integration between materials. It is quite popular now to mix materials and have a combination of pavers and wood and grass.

The pool pump was installed below the deck on the highest end and some trap doors were built on top of the deck to access the filters etc. We had to build a big enough trap door to allow a person to climb in there to change the sand or do other maintenance if needed.

The sides were clad to block visibility underneath the deck and a full length step was built along the one side for access to the grassed area.
A small opening was created on one side to house the pump DB board and this can later be hinged with a small door if the client wishes.

Wooden decking DurbanThe challenges on building pool decks between a tiled area and the side of a pool is to get the deck boards to fit into the space you have been given to work with. If the side of the pool isn’t 100% parallel to the side of the house, up to which you will deck, then you need to adjust the spaces between deck boards on one or both sides of the deck to either gain or lose space as you lay deck boards. If for instance one side is 20mm wider than the other side, you will need to gain 1mm per row of deck boards in order to bring your deck boards parallel to the house so that you don’t end on a wedge-shaped deck board. At times this can be quite tricky. We are working on one in Hillcrest where the house and the pool paving is 77mm out of parallel. The total distance is only 2.4m. So the space will take approximately 32 deck boards to fill. Which means we need to gain or lose more than 2mm per row of deck boards to bring the last deck board parallel to the side of the house (or pool depending on which side we start decking). What we’re doing there is to increase the gap between deck boards to 6mm one side and reduce it to 4mm on the other side.
Then the last trick is to adjust your deck board spaces so that you don’t end on a half deck board. So once you are parallel you need to either reduce Wooden decking Durbanthe gap tot 4mm or increase to 6mm to gain or lose space so you end on a full deck board.

For a free no obligation quote on your wooden sun deck, balustrades, walkways, pergolas, screens and other timber construction, please call us on 082 496 5444, or use the contact us form below.

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Wooden decks Durban

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooden decking Durban

 

Wooden Decking Companies in Durban

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wooden decking companies durban

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There are many wooden decking companies in Durban that one can choose from when planning to install a wooden deck. Some are reputable companies and some are not, as in any industry.

Besides comparing price one should always compare services to make sure you are comparing like quotes. Some wooden decking companies in Durban for instance will offer to build you wooden deck as well as seal it and other will only quote to build it. Some will offer to fill the screw holes with epoxy to stop water getting in them which will cause rot and others won’t. It is these small things that one needs to ask about and make sure that the service being received from one wooden decking company in Durban is the same as the other that you are comparing to.

Our service at The Wood Joint, includes the following: –

Building the deck with quality yellow balau. We generally build our substructure out of H3 and H4 CCA Treated pine. This is not only due to a cost factor but also because the pine is correctly treated to H3 CCA level which has a life span of at least 50 years exposed to the elements. You can expect to pay about 40% more if you chose a balau substructure. H3 CCA Treated pine is guaranteed for 50 years if used in the correct application and installed correctly.  It will therefore outlast balau as a substructure because the balau is not, and cannot be, pressure treated. I have often seen balau joists rotting from the top where the water gets trapped between the joist and the deck board. We always use balau deck boards as balau behaves better than pine on horizontal surfaces. Balau is a lot more stable and the pine tends to cup and warp over time with the constant hot and cold, expansion and contraction and occasional wetting.

wooden decking companies durban

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Our balustrades and stairs are all made from balau, unless otherwise specified, because if one uses pine as a balustrade, the pickets and cross supports need to be almost twice as thick as balau so they tend to look a bit too chunky. Balustrades do not work well in pine because of the knots found in pine which weaken the timber.

We use a kalgard decking screw which is guaranteed for 25 years by the manufacturer against rust. The screws are counter sunk and the counter sunk hole is filled with epoxy and saw dust so as to match the colour as closely as possible. Filling the screw hole stops water sitting in that hole and travelling up the deck board along the grain. Exposure to water for too long will speed up the rot process. So we fill it, sand it flat, and seal the deck using an oil based sealer which contains no wax. This makes it easy and therefore inexpensive to maintain your deck going forward. I have done a few refurbishment jobs where the decking company has not filled these holes and on the older decks, the deck boards have started to rot there. These are all standard services we offer which are normally included in the price we quote. So when comparing our quotes to others, please check what value added services they are offering you.

For a free no obligation quote on your wooden deck, pergolas, screens, walkways, etc. please contact us on 082 496 5444 or use the contact us form below.

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