How to Build a Deck . Deck Building Tips with Uncle Knackers

[pause] 00:11 Speaker 1: Gidday Knuckleheads. Uncle Knackers is here again with another outstanding episode offering renovating tips. Today, we're going to tackle the deck. Now, most of you, at some point, will attempt a deck. But just to make it a little bit easier for you, I'm going to give you some secrets, some tips, so make sure you keep it to yourself. 00:33 S1: First of all, timber selection and may I suggest a cheeky little Merbau. There we go a Merbau deck, decking board, flat on one side and ribbed on the other. Don't make the mistake of putting the rib side up. A lot of people do that because they think it looks better and you get stacks of grip. That's wrong. It's designed to go rib side down. Apart from that, the rib side down because what that does is it let's water run from beneath your board over the top of your joist and down. It doesn't sit on top of your joist and it rot your joist. It makes sense, doesn't it? And secondly, the rib side up, because it's so dirty and messy, you spend all your weekends cleaning your bloody deck. You should be out playing golf or going to the footy. 01:31 S1: Next up, your nail selection. Now, because most decks are done on a treated pine sub-frame, I'll show this one here. Follow me. This is treated pine. Treated pine contains arsenic which will rot most nails. So what you got to do is use a galvanized nail. Let me show you. We have a fine selection of nails here. We have the three-inch nail for nailing the subfloor. And your ribbed nail, decking board nail, for putting your decking boards on. And you'll notice it has got a cut head. Don't drive your nails all the way home because the cut on top is designed for water to run off. You don't want it to seep inside the hole and rot your board out. Never use one of these nails. It's galvanized but it's a flat board head, okay? It doesn't hold your decking board down very well, so don't use that. 02:41 S1: Also, this tree here... This deck that I'm doing at the moment and excuse this stack, I'll just give you a big grant that we are not putting the ribs up, but this deck here was a reinstated deck. So I had to put it back the way it originally was and the arms had a rib side up, naughty. Also, when nailing your decking board down, see how they're all staggered? Stagger your nails. The reason for that is if you do straight nails, what the original one was here, all it does is create a split along that line which water can get into. So don't do straight, do stagger. And, if you're trying to work out how to place your boards, a great little tip, just drive the nail in there. See, got a nail there and I'll I plump my board against it. See up here, same deal. It's too easy. Don't tell your mates that one. That's your secret. 03:48 S1: And also, something else I should tell you is that I've been putting together this deck. And because it's quite low, these little fretwork things... I've been smacking my head on it every time I walk past the damn thing. So, get it covered up. Get a pair of your mum's undies. I don't care what it is. Just hang something off of it even if you got one of these. 04:18 S1: Sorry about that, viewers. We're back. I had a couple of technical mishaps. I must have hit my head against that bloody fretwork one too many times. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed those little gold nuggets in regard to your decking and I'll see you next episode. Great tips Knackers. [pause]