Composite Decking Hills District

Decking in the Hills District

Most decking enquiries we take in the Hills District come from the same place: boards that have cupped and split after years without oil. It is worth understanding why that happens here before deciding what to replace it with.

We are based at Wentworthville and the Hills District is well inside our regular run, so a site visit is a short trip rather than a scheduling problem.

Half the skill in decking around the Hills District is knowing what not to disturb. Established gardens, old services and acreage in Dural and Glenorie sitting a short drive from dense new estates all sit in the way of the obvious approach.

Call 0492 879 796 for a free measure in the Hills District and we will walk the job with you before anything is priced.

Decking Configurations We Install

Soil, Slope and Access in the Hills District

Because so much of the Hills District is everything from 1970s brick on quarter acres to brand new estate housing, boundaries and structures tend to have been built within a few years of each other. They also tend to reach the end of their life together.

Hills District sits on Wianamatta shale clay grading to sandstone along the northern ridges, which behaves very differently in February from the way it behaves in July. Anything set into it has to tolerate that seasonal swing without moving.

Site conditions here run to rolling ridge country with acreage in the north and dense estates in the west. Levels get set out and recorded before anything is ordered, because a change of grade halfway along a run is a design decision, not something to improvise around.

Why the Hills District Owners Replace Decking

We have been doing decking across the Hills District long enough to know which streets throw up surprises. The one that catches people out most often is long boundaries that need setting out properly before anything is ordered.

• Balustrade that no longer meets current height and infill expectations
• A substructure that has rotted where it sat in contact with damp ground
• A springy feel from joists spanning further than they should
• Boards that have cupped and split after years without oil

Technical Notes on Decking

Everything we install carries a manufacturer specification, and we install to it. Warranty claims fail on installation detail far more often than on product defect.

The parts you cannot see once the job is finished are the parts worth paying for: footings, drainage, fixings and substructure. That is as true in the Hills District as anywhere.

• Hidden fixings look better and remove the row of screw heads, but they demand a more accurate substructure.
• Boards need a gap for movement; hardwood shrinks across the width as it dries after installation.
• Merbau bleeds tannin for the first few rains, which is why a pre-coat before laying saves staining on light paving below.
• A deck is only as good as its substructure, and the substructure is what nobody sees when comparing quotes.
• A deck built low to the ground needs ventilation underneath or the substructure will hold moisture and fail early.

Our Process on the Hills District Sites

Existing survey marks are worth finding before the first hole goes in. A boundary argument costs far more than an hour spent looking, and around the Hills District the older subdivisions do not always agree with the plan.

We photograph the site before we start and again at completion. On a the Hills District job that record settles most questions about what was there and what changed.

• Pool surround decking
• Galvanised and hardwood substructure
• Hidden fixing and pre-oiled finishes
• Elevated decks with balustrade
• Low level decks over existing slabs
• Composite and capped composite boards