Hello all
A bit of advice on possibly decking over a ditch at gthe end of my garden.
The ditch is 4.3m back to front, that gets me on a decent bit of ground to put any foundations in. The length of ditch i want to deck is 15m.
Now I'm more than capable of digging holes, pouring concrete, cutting josts and laying decking, but I have no idea on the size of joists I need for that kind of span and number of joists.
Advice anyone?
Many thanks
Steven
If you mean you want to span a 4.3 metre width, then it will require 8X2 timbers, spaced at 400mm centres Forget trying to span a 15m width, you'd require steelwork
That sounds like what you might need for an upstairs room (bedroom etc.) to restrict the amount of bending and prevent the ceiling underneath from cracking. But do you really need to apply the same rules to decking?
Only just. A 47 x 195 will span 4.04m at 400mm spacing. However the OP said >> The ditch is 4.3m back to front, that gets me on a decent bit of ground to put any foundations in
I think so. I always use the Building Regs table A1 specs. Entirely possible to have 40+ people on a deck during a party.
If I don't build it right, they end up on the floor & I end up on News at Ten.
On Mar 29, 11:24=A0pm, "The Medway Handyman" wrote:> You are looking at
Its what lives under them that would be on my mind. A deck over a ditch providing dappled light and wind cover would make a perfect nursery for a lot of rats or other vermin. Have a bbq or eat on there and all the crumbs get swept down the cracks too. I know they say you're never a few metres away from a rat but I'd rather not be laying on a lounger with beady eyes peering up from the gloom below!
Can't the OP put a large tube liner in the ditch and fill the thing in? Probably work out cheaper too if you put a sign up saying 'free rubble dump here'
Dave
Assuming the ditch is more than 6" deep the deck would make no difference.
Spilt food would provide a meagre diet for a rat. I built my first deck in July 2000 in my own garden, loads of BBQ's later, no sign of rats whatsoever. I must have built nearly 40 decks since, no sign of a rat whatsoever.
Decking attracting rats is an urban myth.
There are some sailors and dockers who would disagree. ;-)
Very true, but BR timber sizes are based on minimising deflection and noise transfer rather than strength. Joists a lot under BR requirements perform perfectly ok re strength, and 1/4" deflection when loaded with partygoers is a non issue when bridging a ditch.
NT
As the text suggests, it's not the decking it's the spilled food debris.
Rats in the back garden at our place keep the debris from the overflowing sewer clear, give next doors cat something to chase, get rid of the squirrels and eat their shyte, clear up the dead birds, and provide endless hours of entertainment when cat chases rat and the dog chases the cat.
Hey ho............Nice on a farm innnit
;-)))
Interesting - but as a sad person who both thought he recognised the IP range and then checked it, can the OP confirm there's no plan to drive any of Caterpillar's traditional products across the decking?
... and what's to stop rats living in the tube liner?
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Martin Bonner saying something like:
Ticket inspectors.
But my way guarantees I don't appear on News at Ten :-)
I'd rather do an OTT job than compromise on the build quality.
All
Thanks VERY much for all the advice so far.
Robin, No I won't be driving any CAT equipment over it :) How on earth did you recognise the Address?
What kind of footings would the joists need? I'm assuming nothing too substantial as there are in the region of 40 of them.
I'd better start calling about for some deals on timber now, any advice on ballpark figures?
Thanks again
Steven
Nah! You don't need 40 footings. Use 8 x 2's parallel to the ditch (each side), say 5 x 3m lengths. Use 6 short lengths of 4" x 4" fence post & 6 bags of postcrete. Dig down about 12 - 18" & insert posts where the 3m lengths join. Level them off & bolt them to the posts, then trim the post flush.
You now effectively have a 15m length of 8 x 2 with 6 supports.
A few of these will hold the joist to the post
Where is this ditch?
Steven I saw the address because I was trying (and failing) to set up a reader with IP filtering. I thought I recognised it from a time, many moons ago, when I had a lot of email dealings with someone there. [I did say it was sad ;( ]
Dave: I've no plans to build a bridge but, for my education, do these butt joints demand close tolerances on the length of the spans and square cuts in order to achieve a strong joint at both ends? If so, wd it be easier for someone like me who'd find it hard to cut 8x2 so accurately to use joist hangers?
You can get away with a bit of tolerance on the length because the turbogold coach screws will pull the joint closed, but not more than a few mm. The ends do need to be square. I use a SCMS, but you could use a sawboard
I do use joist hangers where its not possible to bolt through from the back. I much prefer the coach screws because of (a) cost & (b) a much stronger joint. I use 6mm x 50mm turbogold coach screws to attach the joist hangers, rather than nails though.
Thanks.
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