Brick Patio: Extended Outdoor Dining and Recreational Room

When you plan to design a new landscape for your back yard, consider the idea of putting up a brick patio. A patio can serve as your extension dining or recreational room outdoors. Visualize the fun, relaxation and games you and your family with guests and friends can enjoy in the patio. Imagine the dinners and small parties you can hold under the bright moonlight and stars in the confine of your outdoor patio.

Your project will require basic planning and research. If you want to tap the internet, you can click on the photo galleries of numerous landscape contractors' websites. There you can view lots of models of brick patios and see what type will complement your house and garden. If you have the resources, consult with a reputable landscape designer contractor who can assist you design and build your brick patio. Your consultant can create for you the design and pattern layout and give you a cost estimate for your approval. You can request for at least three conceptual layout plans. Look for a landscaper contractor who can be trusted and with whom you are comfortable to do business with. You can observe their professional etiquette with the way they handle themselves. Punctuality and dedicated commitment to one's word are ideal traits.

Functionality, aesthetic appeal and cost are the important aspects to consider in your patio design. As soon as you receive a cost estimate from the contractor, study it closely and find out if you are getting real top notch value for your investment in the proposed deal.

If you do your own research about brick pavers, you will confirm the many advantages of this type of paving. Brick pavers are reasonably priced and highly affordable.If properly maintained, you can expect to use and enjoy them for a long time. The guarantee for brick paving can last up to 40 years. It is also safe for being skid-free. They are available in a variety of colors and patterns and shapes. Versatility is another characteristic of brick pavers you can admire. They are also durable and is strong enough to withstand heavy traffic.

Brick paving is available in several colors. Its dimensions are rectangular in shape with measurement of 4 x 8 inches and thickness of 1 ½ or 2 3/8 inches. You can have clay paving brick or a concrete paving brick. It is very easy to install and maintain. Many homeowners believe that brick patios are good investments because of the refreshing look it give and added value on the property.

When you can discern satisfactorily the good faith and sincerity of your landscape design contractor, you can select which conceptual design plan is the best and perfect the deal. Belief and confidence with the professionalism of your chosen contractor will give you the desired bottom line. You and your family will end up with a beautiful and elegant brick brick patio to enjoy and have fun with for many years to come.

Timber Decking Kit - Installation Guide

Safety First
Always remember to use gloves when handling any kind of timber, and be sure to wash your hands after handling it - particularly before eating. Never burn the treated off-cut timbers, as they are likely to contain chemical preservatives. Always remember to dispose of treated timber offcuts as refuse.

Where possible, wear eye protection when using a pressure washer on your deck, or when applying chemical cleaners or restorers to it's surface. Keep young children away from the decking area until after the installation is finished and until all of your kit and tools have been stored away safely.

Fixings
Timber decking kits usually contain complete fixing kits, which have everything you need to complete the deck build.

Top Tips
Try to lay out the decking joists in place before actually fixing them together. Similarly, lay out the decking boards separately if space permits. By allowing the timber to become surface dry, you will make the timber much, much easier to work with - whilst also minimizing the effects of timber shrinkage. Drill pilot holes wherever you need to insert decking or joist screws, a this will vastly decrease the risk of timber splitting.

Lastly, be sure to cover the ground area underneath your deck with a high quality weed control membrane before you begin to build the deck. Try to ensure that cut ends, notches etc are all well protected from rot using a high quality brush-on timber end-grain preserver.

Oversite preparation
Make sure the site onto which you intend to mount the completed deck is as free draining as possible, or at the very least, has a gradient of 1:40 or above. This will help aid water drainage after rainfall.

If yours is a ground decking kit, you might want to excavate the top 100mm of soil before starting. Fill this space with compacted-down gravel stones or with hardcore - this will help provide a really solid and free-draining site, where otherwise this may not be the case.

Constructing the Joist Sub Frame
Timber decking kits include all the timbers necessary for the construction of joist sub frame undercarrages. This is basically a structurally-sound base onto which the decking timbers can be directly fixed. Start by laying down all but 2 of the timbers in a line, at 60cm intervals. These timbers will act as what the trade calls 'regular joists'. Next, lie the final 2 joists along the top and bottom of this row, to create a grid. These joists run at 90-degrees to the other timbers and are called 'cross joists'. Next, cut down the regular joists by the width of the two cross joists (typically 47mm x 2) so that the deck is correctly proportioned for the specified size.

Next fix the crossjoists to the two outer joists from the row of regular joists, to create a square or rectangular frame. Then fit the remaining joists at equal spacing (no more than 600mm centres). Bear in mind that your joist timbers may have to be trimmed to size before completing this step where you have been provided with oversized joists (say 4.8m lengths rather than 4.2m lengths). Timber decking kits occasionally include oversized joists where stock is limited.
N, we are ready to install the deckboards.

Bear in mind that throughout the seasons, your deckboards will swell and shrink slightly in according to changes in the climate. If possible, make sure the boards are dry when yo come to install them. Lay them at equal spaces and approximately 5mm apart. Once you are happy with their positions, drill each board twice where it falls onto each joist (remember, the deckboards should be running at 90 degrees to eachother). Using pilot holes first, fix the deckboards in place.