Using Reclaimed Materials
How do you create a decking area for (almost) free? Answer, you find suitable timbers from demolition sites. The timbers used to create this decking area came from a Victorian Town house. If you know about your wood, you will already know that providing the timbers have not rotted or caught woodworm, they are 10x stronger and denser than modern farmed pine.
These timbers were not exception to the rule and many blades were blunted cutting the timbers to size. Many of you might think or question about what if the timber has old nails or screws in them.
With a bit of elbow grease they can often be removed with the right tools and determination. For those timbers that have stubborn bits left, as any good carpenter will know you mark the bad area and either hide it, or cut it out completely.
The main challenge with using older timbers is your using imperial measurements plus not all the timbers are standardised in terms of thickness, width and length.
This meant measuring every timber for it dimensions and to ensure consistency of design, ensuring that only the right sized timber is used in the right part of the build.
In an ideal world the timbers would be run through a wood thinner to not only freshen up the edges but also ensure a uniformed set of timbers.
The reason this could not be done this time around in it former life these timbers were used for roofing and some of the older nails broke off within the timbers - making it nearly impossible to safely thin the wood.
From the timbers, 80cm x 80cm blocks were made. To prevent the timbers from rotting, the underside was all creosoted which were then all fitted and levelled and then bolted together.
Once the main decking was built, an industrial floor sander was used to smooth and level the timbers in readiness for having decking sealant and oils painted onto them.
Along side making a levelled platform, a banister was added due to the height of the decking off ground level.
Once sanded 3 coats of preservative was added to complete the finish.
Egham, Surrey