Building a deck over an existing concrete slab
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- čas přidán 9. 03. 2021
- In this video we show you how we go about building a deck over an existing concrete slab in an alfresco area.
It's important to keep any timber off of the ground to reduce the chance of the timber rotting, as well as to increase the air flow underneath, so we use Eurotec deck feet.
These deck feet are an adjustable plastic (they're actually made of poly something, but for lack of the actual name, we'll call them plastic) foot which the joists sit on and are attached to. For this project we used 86x19mm Silvertop Ash, screwed to 90x45mm treated pine joists, which are screwed to the Mini and Small feet, which are fixed to the concrete slab. - Jak na to + styl
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Great demo and useful hints. I used this to construct ours over concrete. First time too. The mini feet worked well. We ran the joists parallel to the house.
Thanks, great to hear! Running the joists parallel to the house looks great too if there are internal floor boards running long ways so then running the same way as the decking boards
Love your work, Joel. Attention to detail!
Thank you sir 😀
Thank goodness metric measurements.
Top job mate
Thanks mate! Even with my mumbling it's easier to understand than "3 and 5/16 of an inch"!
Nice work done. Very detailed and well engineered.
It’s a deck foot from Eurotec. The height changes by twisting the foot. It’s best to set it at the right height before fixing it to the concrete
Good luck!
Thanks for the vid, nice work. Cheers.
Exactly what I was looking for thanks!
No worries!
Good luck with your deck!
Great demonstration. Very helpful!
- How do you use these deck feet in a situation where you have to install double joists example for a picture frame type decking?
- What size screw did you use to secure the joist to deck feet?
Great video, about to tackle my alfresco / filming area. Perfect information 👍🍻
Thanks Dean!
Good luck with it, and sing out if you need any advice 👍🏼
@@InStyleGardens cheers mate 👍🍻
Such an informative, well explained video. What is the distance between each of the deck feet along the joist and what is the spacing between the joists. Thanks
Great video…!
Thanks Mat!
@InStyle Gardens, thanks for the video. I am planning to build my first merbue deck of size 3.8*4.8 on my alfresco concrete...will be using 90*45 joists and increase height by 35mm using pedestal foot. What spanning do you recommended between joists for a size of my deck...also how many minifoots should I install for a lenght of 4.8m...
Hi good video... question can you list the items used for the deck?
Thanks for this! I'll be doing my deck in the same fashion. I'm looking at using the plastic fake wood decking as there's no covering (at this stage!)
No worries Andrea.
We've only done a couple of the composite decks, but I don't mind them. Certainly saves on maintenance, and it looks pretty much the same in 5 years as the day you lay it, not exactly, but pretty close.
I hope it all goes well!
Hi Joel - a few questions:
- what is the rubber strip on top of the joists before you laid the planks ?
- how did you attach the face board at the end - is it directly screwed onto the outer joist ?
- I would also need a face board across the front edge (where you have the drain) - do I screw that onto the end of the joists ?
Hi Andrew,
The rubber strips on the joists are joist protection. Even though we're using treated pine, this is extra protection which will extend the life of the deck/frame.
The face board is screwed directly to the joist. Because the deck feet can only go a certain distance from the edge, ie they can't overhang it, I had to double up on the outside joists for the sole reason of being able to fix the face board to it.
If we were putting a face board on the front edge, we'd have screwed it into the end of the joists as you suggested.
Good luck with it!
This looks great and very helpful! Is there a set distance the feet pedistool have to be apart ?
Thanks Thomas!
The spans depend on what timber you’re using. The decking boards are 19mm thick so we wouldn’t have the joists any further than 450mm apart, and the joists we use here are 90x45mm and while technically they can span 1400mm, I don’t like going over 1200mm.
If the joist is bigger, like a 140x45, you could span up to 2300mm, but we didn’t have the height to be able to use them here
great video thanks for making. I wanna do this in a much smaller area, but my clearance is only 110mm, could I use 70x45mm joists? and decrease spacing maybe?
Thanks,
I wouldn't span any bigger than 1000mm if you use 70x45. Spacing them at 450mm for the decking boards should still be fine
Good video! That's the video I am looking for. Just wondering what's the timber frame size (90x45mm)? what's the spacing between every joist and noggings?
Thanks.
They're 90x45 and they're slightly less than 450mm apart and the span less than 1200mm between deck feet
Top work bud, good to watch a vid that does what it says on the tin without a massive intro, shit music and self promotion. Not only that, I learned a thing or two as well.
Thanks! My videos certainly wouldn't be described as 'top quality' but whether there's a fancy song at the start or not, the information is the most important part.
Thanks for the video, I’ve got a similar slab setup to yours except I have a drain in the middle and any rainwater runs down to the middle. Should I build a little hatch on the deck to access this drain?
I wouldn’t bother with a hatch if you’re screwing the boards down. You’ll possibly never need to access it, but if you do, you can just unscrew whatever boards you need to
Thank you for the video. It’s very useful.
I have a situation where in order to keep the termite protection warranty the company has advised to keep 25mm gap between the brick wall and the deck. What’s your experience in these type of situations? 25 mm seems a bit gap and I’m worried that it’d look ugly.
I work within three different municipalities, and thankfully only one of them requires a 25mm gap. I’ve only built one deck in that area and we had to have the gap.
Not sure there’s any creative ways around it sorry!
This is an awesome build. I need my deck to be really low to the ground...has anyone heard of tuffblocks? They look like they'd do the trick.
Lol I saw your question on other videos as well, did you get an answer?
Thanks John,
The Tuff Blocks look like they'd be higher off the ground. The Deck Feet I used can go as low as 20-25mm. You're not going to get much lower than that
That is absolutely A Grade…!
Thank you Mat, the production quality certainly isn’t! 😬
amazing work!! what is the level device you are using??
Thanks Kane,
It's just a normal rotary laser level
Thanks for this video but i want to know bit more briefly,
Like height paddles what did you fill in them , like plastic rope thing , is that kind of work like screws or it has another function.
Not sure what you mean by height paddles, but the orange rope thing is a masonry ‘spaghetti’. It partially fills the hole and then when the screw goes in it expands it. It’s just like a masonry plug but in a much longer length
@instyle - do you happen to have posted the final pictures of this deck and pool? It looks very similar to my home and would love to get some ideas for our project. Thank you.
I would have on my Instagram but it was 3 years ago, so you'd have to scroll back a fair way
Hi, sorry fpr the silly question, I wonder how do i drill the minifeet pedestal feet. I got 10 drom bunning, but there is no hole to drill and very hard for make to drill. I just got the house and would like to save some money so I tried to do small decking byself. I love your video
The ones I had didn't have holes either, I just drill it through the foot at the same time as you're drilling into the concrete. Don't drill too close to the outside of the foot.
Awesome video! And a quality build. What do you do where there less clearance? Can you use 70 x 45 joists on their side, with more feet or plastic packers every 400mm?
What screws do you recommend? Looking at Spax but they're pretty pricey!
Thanks Tim.
I've never come across one with less clearance than what we could use 90mm joists for, but you could use a 70x45 on it's flat but you'd want to make sure you use a joist tape so that no water is sitting on top of the joist. 70x45 isn't a legal way of doing things as they're not mentioned in the timber spans table as far as I'm aware. But if you go down that path, the more support the better.
I haven't heard of Spax screws before but you generally get what you pay for with screws.
@@InStyleGardens thanks for the reply! Have just watched a few of your videos and they're great. Keep up the good content👌
Yeah I've got 80mm between the patio slab and interior floor height. Will just use packers close together under the 70x45 and it should be plenty solid. Good tip on joist tape. It's undercover too.
Re screws, last time I used stainless decking screws from Bunnings. They were ok, but maybe not great. Is there a particular brand you like or where do you usually buy from? I'm in Aus too 😀
@@TimB-lb1zn I'm not sure of the brand but will find out tomorrow and let you know. I get them from a timber yard in Geelong. They're expensive but great quality and look awesome too.
@@TimB-lb1zn We use stainless steel screws from Anchor Mark
Can you see Eurotec pieces from the outside? I did not see the side views of your deck. Should you do an outer frame to cover those plastic feet? If so how do you attach a nice frame?
I put a decking board on the ends so you can’t see under the deck. I explain this poorly around the 1.20 mark 😬
Thanks for the very informative video. I understand you are limited by the height of the sliding door, but isn't 90x45mm bean very little for a deck? Wouldn't it flex overtime?
Not at all. 90x45 is what we use 95% of the time regardless of space. They can span 1400mm if continuous.
There have been times when we've had less height than this example, and you just need more packing under the timber if it's thinner, so it doesn't span as long.
Hi mate, great vid! Could you please tell me what size and type of screws you used for the plastic pedestals?
Thanks Kevin.
I used 50mm 10g Stainless screws
@@InStyleGardens thanks mate. Do you think 6g x 40mm will do the job?
@@kevinlay1797 Yeah they’d be fine. If the pedestal is fixed to the joist, it can’t really go anywhere. And the deck is too low to the ground for uplift to be a concern
@@InStyleGardens sweet. Thanks for the advice
I only have 90mm deep from the back door to the concrete...is it advisable to use 70x45 timber joist? planning to do diy and this will be my first time.
It's certainly not ideal, but if you lay the joist on the side it'll fit. You just want to have the spans closer together. There's no recommendation for how close, but the closer they are, the stronger it'll be.
I'd using skinny decking boards (90mm max) because the joist will be wider which will increase the amount of water that can sit on it, and bigger decking boards are more likely to cup in that situation.
Good Luck!
Hello! Great video! If I may ask, how much space would you leave between the plastic thingys on a 2.45 meter joist? Thank you.
Thanks Fernando.
I’d have three along a joist that size.
One at 0.1m, one at 1.2m (the middle) and one at 2.35m. That’s if the joist is 90mm tall. If it was any less, I’d add another one
Thanks man! That info was very much needed/appreciated!
Nice work mate :-) I'm building a decking on soil that I will lay some weed mat and gravel first.Do you reckon mortar the foot down will be necessary? Cheers
You'd definitely want something more solid than soil or gravel to put the deck foot on. A concrete base would be the best option
Whats the plastic stuff you put in each of the plastic footings? Does it come with the footing product?
You mean the orange stuff? It’s called spaghetti and is like a masonry plug. It allows you to screw to the concrete.
I drilled a 6 or 6.5mm hole in the concrete, put the 5mm spaghetti in and then that allows the screw to get a good grip in there
Can you tell me the name of the plastic deck feet again? Thanks for the video. I’m attempting this here in Texas and this video was very helpful. Cheers
Thanks Eric and good luck with your deck.
www.bunnings.com.au/eurotec-30-53mm-small-pro-feet-pedestal_p0066017
This is the larger of the two I used. Not going to help you because it’s an Australian store, but it’ll show you the name of it at least.
Eurotec is the manufacturer
www.familyhandyman.com/project/how-to-build-a-deck-over-a-concrete-patio/ Eric Emelianenko try the low tech version. PVC wood cut into strips. Can't find this particular size that he used in the video in the US. There's the bigger one for rooftop deck. But nothing this small. I think the link above will help you. That's the version I'm going with. Hope it helps.
@@grandmaraps I appreciate the response sir! I will research that.
What tool is beeping when you measure the height of the eurotec deck support pieces?
It's a self levelling rotary laser level
I would be building this on top of a concrete slab and the question I have it’s if I need some sort of barrier in between the cement slab and the pedestals to avoid vegetation from growing (weeds). The concrete slab has a few small cracks here and there and every year weeds grow in between those small cracks. Any advice will be appreciated.
Yeah you could absolutely put a layer of weed mat between the foot and slab. You could still screw the foot into the slab through the weed mat
@@InStyleGardens And what ideas you have in regards to preventing the wood from rotting with the weather. The deck will be exposed, it won’t have a roof. Is there a special kind of wood you would recommend that will prevent it from rotting?
@@fgrodriguezqac absolutely, the timber has to be treated to withstand being used outside.
Great demonstration. Quick question, do I need to get a permit for this? I’m getting differing opinions from different forums. Had a chat with VBA but they redirected me to the council
It does depend on the local council as they have different rules, but everywhere I work you would need one, however most people don't bother because they can rip it up or get a permit if they're asked to.
Hey joel
I have heard mixed reports on these things regarding how sturdy they are long term.
I am doing a large deck circa 60m2 would you recommend these? Thanks mate
I've used them for at least 5 years and have never had a call back about them. We may only do a deck with them two or three times a year though.
I've recently seen KlevaKlip have some galvanised post supports/joist hangers which may be another solution. I'll probably give them a try the next one we do.
Thanks for the response. Yeah i have looked at these aswell but they are stainless steel not aluminium so they are no good for low lying decks in my opinion due to moisture and rusting. Wouldnt you agree?
I am also near the beach but cannot find aluminium options. 👍
@@avianweber If you’re near the beach, stainless would be the only way to go in my opinion. Or these plastic ones in the video
Nah stainless will rust. Must be aluminium only 👍
I only have 5 inch to build the deck, 1inch for board, 4 inch for wood, can I ask the minimum height this foot deck can adjust?
The smallest one they do is 1 inch
Wish you were located in Sydney western suburbs as I wouldn’t take this job on but I’d get you to do it for me, I know I’d get a great job done
Thanks Steve!
You guys get too much rain for my liking up there
What size joists are you using
90x45mm
Just wondering what's brand and size of the nail do you use to connect pedestal and concrete?
Can’t recall the brand but any stainless steel 8-10g screw at least 40mm will be fine in situations like this one
@@InStyleGardens Does the deck feet actually have screw holes in them or did you just drill two holes through?
@@jem6411 I drilled the hole in them to go into the ground. There’s a hole where it’s drilled into the timber.
@@InStyleGardens Thanks. Sorry to be a pain did you use the same 50mm screw to attach the feet to the timber? Same as the screw to attached the feet to the concrete?
@@jem6411 Yep same ones
Hi, what leveler are you using?
The brand of this rotary laser level is Spot-On. It’s not an expensive model so any rotary laser for outdoor use would be fine
Can you explain how exactly you set the right height on the plastic Eurotek feet? I hear a beeping sound coming from your level, but not sure how the level is set (you never rotated the Eurotek to increase or decrease height)
I would've already rotated it to the right height. I'd have set the laser level to the finished height, and taken off 99mm (90mm for the joist and 19mm for the decking board) and that's what the laser was then set at, and I rotate the foot up and down until it is at the correct height. You need to get them to the right height before screwing them down, because they cant rotate when screwed down
@@InStyleGardens - thanks! Do you have a video of doing that process and making sure the edges are squared? That seems like the hardest part in this deck build to me 🤷♂️
@@calebprabhakar nah this is the only video I have of it.
Not sure what you mean by squaring the edges, but if you mean having the outside decking boards square with the house, you can run the decking boards long and then cut them off at the end. Do a 3,4,5 off the house (a2 plus b2 = c2)
Can you let me know what tool you are using to measure height?
What's the space between two decking feet?
For this situation it was no more than 450mm one way and 1200mm the other way
Hi Joel,
Really nicely demonstrated video. One question, how to adjust the hight of the mini feet if I don’t have your hight measurements machine. I assume I can just spirit level before crew it in?
My concrete all over place and I have more than 60mm slope, so I’ll need few different sizes pedestal. I guess the other sizes easier to adjust as you just twist the middle part after fixing it?
Thanks.
Yep you just rotate them to get to the right height and you could do it with a spirit level as long as it’s long enough.
Can’t remember what range the small ones go to but it might be 25-40mm and then to go over 40 you’d get the next size up like you say.
They have to be at the right height before screwing them off as they can’t rotate when screwed off
Do you need to slope the deck to drain water
No because the rain will go through the gaps in the decking boards. So it's more important that the concrete below is draining away from the house.
@@InStyleGardens Thank you .
@@InStyleGardens Hi Joel and team, with regards to this topic of making sure that concrete slab is having a slope going away from the house.
The concrete slab under my pergola where I am planning to do this decking is fairly flat but whenever it rains there are 1 or 2 sections which form very thin puddles. what actions should I take before I get on with building a subframe.
What material can I use if need to tweak the existing concrete slab in sections where these really thin puddles do get formed.
Is it really important to get this done even before thinking of doing the frame as the deck mostly will be under the pergola.
Any easy options at bunnings to look into ?
Few more questions, sorry but need all the help I can as my first DIY deck ( decking area is 39m2):
1) what is the type of joists timber used for subframe ?
2) if laying composite decking in diagonal pattern in a picture frame. what should be the spacing between the joists.
3) what screws did you use to screw the minifoots in the concrete ?
Thank you.
@@pwaghmare1258 Hi Parag,
You could potentially use some structural grout or levelling compound to fill the puddles, but this may just move them to another position. It's not ideal having puddles under the deck, more so because you can get mould building up under there rather than the timber rotting, because there's no timber in contact with it.
The timber we use for joists is 90x45 treated pine, but due to the timber shortage, you won't be able to get any unless you order it, and that could take 4-6 months! We haven't built a deck since the one in this video.
The decking boards can't span more than 450mm, as a general rule, so if you're doing them on a 45 degree angle, the joists can't be more than 318mm apart.
We used 10g stainless steel screws to fix the deck feet down
Good luck with it!
@@InStyleGardens Thank you instyle gardens team. your project work inspires me. Thank you for responding back to my queries, appreciate it.
Oopsie the news about about timber shortage, didn't expect it to be that bad.
does the concrete patio need adequate drainage? mine has negative slope....
Yep drainage of at least 1% is preferable away from the house. You might have to put a screed down first to get it falling correctly before you install the deck
@@InStyleGardens where abouts are u located?
@@type_one Geelong, in Victoria
Dont quiet understand the calculation end of the video can you explain in more details how it turn out a 91.09? and how to works from the 5th board down to the first one by not using a spacer. thanks
The width of the deck was 3006mm. I was chasing a 5mm gap with an 86mm decking board, so divide 3006 by 91 and you get 33.03 boards. Because we want full boards you then divide 3006 by 33 and get 91.09.
Then, because I don’t have spacers that are 5.09mm, I install every 5th board every 455.45mm.
Even if it was exactly 91 and you had a 5mm spacer, there’s too much room for error over 33 gaps, so I always do every 5th or 6th board and then fill in the gaps
Thanks for the prompt reply. What if gap is less than 5mm 3.ish or over 5mm 6.ish is that still alright?
@@ric6561 I wouldn’t go less than 4 or more than 6. The boards will swell up when the get wet, so the gap will end up smaller than it starts.
The smaller the deck, the harder it is to avoid doing a cut at the end. What you can do if you’re using an 86 or 90mm board and the same timber has 136 or 140mm options, is cut a bigger board down if the spacings don’t work.
For example if you use 5mm gaps and it’ll end up with a 30mm cut at the end, you can use a bigger board and cut it down to 116. It’ll still be noticeable, but won’t look as bad as a 30mm rip
The slab is slop away from the house say 5° why deck don't follow the slope?
@@ric6561 you could do that if you want, but most things look better level. Paving and concrete can't be level because it'd hold water, but the gaps between decking boards mean the deck doesn't hold water, so it can be level
Second video building wood deck over concrete. Why? I want a concrete deck. This level looks a bit low but otherwise great. Must be an aussie thing.
Most new houses built have an under cover outdoor concrete slab built into the house like this one. Usually about 3.3x3.3m or 11x11 feet and they always step down about 160-170mm or 6-7 inches.
Some people build a timber deck over it so the floor level is the same as inside, some people put pavers over it or leave it as concrete
volumn is too low
What language is this again? Is there a translator?
Aussie tradie is the language
What did you say…..👂👂👂👂
What language he is speeking, I cant understanding
yeah brickies did a shit job on my house walls crooked af🤬
It’s not a big deal if it’s a garden bed or concrete up against the bricks, but when it’s a deck or paving with small gaps, it’s pretty important that they’re straight!
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