Mr Skill

Like most things in life, a satisfactory timber deck begins with a solid foundation. Similarly, a successful career may begin at a good primary school, and a victory in a debating competition often depends on well-founded logic. I myself am sometimes equally guilty of wanting to get started without planning properly – do this when contemplating a wooden outside deck and you really do invite trouble.

An old hand I knew as a lad and who was a Joiner in London loved to say that every journey begins with the first step, and that when it came to woodwork that first step was down to the timber yard in his mind. After all, it is pointless planning a job unless you can get the right timber, and in the lengths your job needs too. Plan your spacing correctly and help save trees as opposed to accumulating off-cuts.

At this stage in the project there is no substitute to mocking things up on the ground with string or whitewash so that you can visualise exactly where things will go. If you Find a Joiner that you hired setting in the support posts without doing this first and discussing the results with you, best you cut your losses and start again.

A Joinery Quote must define the type, treatment, dimensions and quality of the timbering to be used on a wooden deck, and the quality of the fixings too. Insist on timber cut from the heart of a tree, and materials that will not rust. While this may increase the project cost by 50%, it could more than treble the lifespan of the finished product.

With everything agreed and the posts set in concrete, the frame should be built up in a matter of days. Inspect the work as it goes along and do not allow any planks to be attached until you are completely satisfied. Keep an eye on the planks themselves too. They must not be split, warped or twisted. Reject those that are, because you specified the best.

The rest should be plain sailing and you can probably leave it to the decking firm to continue undisturbed for the rest of the job. This will be partly because they can see that you know what you are about, but mainly because you found them on Mr-Skill.