In this video we're following Tony the Ginger Landscaper as he completely renovates the
garden of this home transforming it from this to this. Tony does it all from fences
lawns retaining walls earthworks and much much more. But today we're going to be following along
as he builds two decks either side of this pool using TuffBlocks. Stick around to check it out.
Hi I’m Tony from Ginger Landscaping and this is one of our current projects at Manly West.
We have two decks going either side of our pool here. One of the challenges that we have is our
natural ground is sloping away from the house so we're gonna have to use stumps at one end
and low mount our joists at the other end. So basically the steps that we take when we're doing
a deck like this is we start with our ground prep work from the ground up set out our TuffBlocks
and then work out our heights from there. Get our joists all nice and level,
frame it up. Always use joist tape especially next to a pool and then boards across. Done. Things
have got off to a great start here. I’m looking at the string line in front of me and around the pool
looks like we've achieved the height that we're looking for. Can you just run us through how we
got to here and what comes next for the project? I set up my laser and I pick a height off my coping.
I go through and I mark that on my posts so that's our level height off the pool coping for our deck
and then I'll go through pull my corners make sure everything's all nice and square and that's our
deck height and our perimeters. Perfect. So everything's square and level.
Excellent. So I’ve noticed you're obviously going to use a TuffBlock foundation today
so basically adjusting I can see that there is a little bit of a slope to the property here
you've mentioned going up and down so obviously TuffBlock is going to help you with that. Was
that one of the major considerations to choosing TuffBlock for this project? Absolutely the fact
that I can use the block on joist or I can bring it up with a stump or a bearer in the lower areas
and just build it all to suit in situ is perfect. Allows you to course correct if you run into
any sort of unplanned problems. Absolutely plus we've got services in the ground here somewhere
associated with the pool and I’m not exactly sure where they are so not having to excavate
for stumps means I’m not going to hit them. Tony has prepared the ground using paver base and
a soil compactor so the TuffBlocks sit on stable compacted ground. Here he's marking the ground
with spray paint along the span of each joist so the joists are supported at 1.2 meter intervals.
Each joist is spaced apart at 450 mm centers so the deck boards will be nicely supported
underfoot. Tony's cutting two lengths of joist. A longer cross joist that spans the entire deck
and then a smaller cut that will be used to bridge the joists to add strength and prevent bowing.
Sealing the ends with ecoseal especially around the pool, we always take those little extra
precautions when we do have this proximity to water. Give the timber every chance it can.
On this deck Tony's using posts at various heights to account for the sloping ground.
Here he's measuring the height from the base of the TuffBlock to the base where the joists
will sit using the level and string line to get that measurement. Got our height list here now
all written out so then we can just go over to the uh drop saw and just cut them as we go and
bang. We'll even give you a hand sounds good.
To achieve a 90mm post Tony is using two 45mm
joists fastened together. This is a fast and efficient way to create checked in posts but
we also have an extensive video showing how this can be done using traditional methods
which you can click above or in the description. With the posts now measured to height they're
placed into their respective TuffBlocks so the post can create a completely level base
for the joists to sit on. Here Tony is fastening the shorter joists for bridging. By using a small
cut of the deck board and the three meter level we can check to see if our measurements are correct.
The biggest difference between this deck and the front deck is that this uses posts
on sloping ground whereas the front deck uses the 45mm joist slot on level ground
showing the versatility of TuffBlock for any job.
Boom I’ve used TuffBlocks on about five jobs now um yeah this this one's the fifth
that I’ve used the TuffBlocks on. They're the perfect product for these sort of decks. We were
building a deck at our own house. It was over an old spa that had been backfilled and it was just
a really weird corner of our back patio. Yeah we came across these things called TuffBlocks on I
think it was Facebook and did a bit more research a bit of YouTube research and thought yeah they
look like the go used them once and went these are fantastic yeah I'll definitely use them again. So
here we've got our joist protection tape. Comes in two sizes. This goes over our deck subframe
to help protect it from any water sitting on the top and causing rot and other issues like that.
Tony's removing any debris before adding joist tape. It's always a smart idea to use joist
tape to prolong the life of your deck and even more important when in close proximity to water.
So
that's the rear deck frame complete now onto the front deck.
This one's going to be a little bit tricky because I’ve got to sort of frame around the skimmer box.
Here Tony's marking the joists for where the TuffBlocks will sit typically deck supports
allow for a 30 centimeter overhang which also helps hide the TuffBlock under the deck
Again he's treating the cuts with a sealant spray.
Because Tony's prepared the ground and levelled it out with a compacter, the joist can sit straight
into the TuffBlocks Perfect.
What I do is I put a fascia board on the end usually 100 or 150 mil off their last joist
so that way it just brings the deck out that little bit cantilevers
over the feet of their blocks and um and just hides them and then I'll usually use a wider
deck board to match in and it'll go across the front so visually when you look at it that way
you don't see any of the pine or any of the feet it's just all nice floating deck. With
the subframe now built all that's left is to add joist tape and then we can start laying boards.
So next we will get our decking boards in. We'll cut them to length and we'll start
laying them from end to end with a little bit of overhang off our last joist so we can
get a perfectly straight line from end to end and trim them so it's all nice and neat. Because our
boards are going in that way so generally you just start laying them in space screw it space
screw it space screw it you might end up sort of fanning the boards out towards the end which is
a lot of effort to fix so this tells us that we put every fifth board down at a set measurement
and then it should be evenly spaced from one end to the other and in theory save us a bit of time.
Tony's got an app which does all the calculation for him so he can measure every fifth board.
This is all my fasteners these are my batten screws that I use for framing and the like
fences when I’m doing them and then I’ve got my little deck box which is just an old
fastener box but it keeps my um all my deck things like a string line that I use
just for decks my deck spaces deck drill wedges
spacer guide all that sort of stuff keeps it all nice and convenient.
Then there are stainless steel t25 head decking screws.
If you have a moment make sure you follow Tony on instagram at the Ginger Landscaper.
He posts great daily content where you can follow his builds and see what projects he's working on.
So typical jobs for us are obviously fencing and retaining pool surrounds gardens decks tight
access earthworks yeah generally most aspects of landscaping is the kind of stuff that we do.
If you're in South-East Queensland and need a top-notch landscaper then reach out to Tony.
This is our chalk line and what we do is we line up the marks that we made off our phone,
flick a string line and that way when we put our board down we can um if it's bowed we can still
pull it and push it so it's in that perfect line without any issue.
This technique gives us the measurement for every fifth board across all joists
making it easy to accurately install the boards and ensure they're in perfect alignment.
Now it's a case of cutting the deck boards to length and taking into account the skimmer box.
Yeah I’m just sort of giving them a scrub as I cut them just to get any particle
off them so it doesn't get trapped under.
Just an old bank card that I’ve put marks on so when I go through
I can line it up on every board and my hole spacings are identical.
I’ll leave this screw high so I can put my string line on there and pull it through
to my last board and flick a line so that way it gives us our center of joist the whole way along.
With every fifth board screwed down and chalk
lines complete let's watch Tony finish off this deck
If you're a professional or handy diyer consider how TuffBlock can save you time and money on
your next build. We hope you've enjoyed watching and we'll see you on our next project. Build On.
Thanks for supporting and watching through to the end. If you like the content we produce
subscribe below and check this one out. This is a great video and click on the link here for this.