Sigourney’s DIY Deck – All The Details

As part of our backyard renovation, which will eventually include putting a pool in, we needed to move our deck to the other side of the backyard, as the pool is going where the current deck is. My husband Damien, being the DIY tragic that he is, said, “You had me at ‘project’”. As with any good DIY enthusiast, he grossly underestimated the scope, budget and time required to complete said project.

He initially planned just to move the current deck to a new location, but after he found someone in the neighbourhood giving away several large timber posts, he got excited about the idea of making it more substantial. He then felt like the old deck would be too small for the big thick posts, so decided to increase the size of the deck and to take advantage of the space available there. Our local council regulations allow up to 20 square metres without a permit, (with some other constraints – such as floor height and roof height), so we stuck to those guidelines to get it done without the paperwork.

He also wanted to put a roof on it, so we didn’t have to put the cover on the outside furniture when it rained. It quickly went from a simple ‘move the current deck’ to a ‘build an entirely custom indoor/outdoor living space’. We initially thought the deck move would take a few weekends. But not that’s not how it turned out. Spoiler alert: It took 8 months (Damo justified this timeline based on the change in scope and his weekend availability) …

The Brains Trust

Before any big DIY project is the research process. Damo is lucky enough that his Dad was an engineer and his Grandpa was a builder so was able to pick their brains. He also spent many a BBQ harassing any tradie mates for tips. Despite all this, he decided to build the entire project without drawing any plans. Not from a lack of planning apparently but more of a mental challenge. Oh-kay… Whatever butters your biscuit, Damo.

Laying the foundations…

(For once we’re not talking about makeup.) We discovered that the higher the deck is from the ground, the more circulation you get which helps keep the timber decking dry (less of an issue if you’re using composite boards). We built it on a slightly sloping part of the garden which worked well.

Once Damo got his big, recycled timber posts, he put them through a thicknesser (an electric plane that he borrowed from his grandpa) and they came up beautifully. Then he had to dig a bunch of holes around the backyard to concrete the posts in, after painting the bottoms of them with a thick waterproof protector (like Diggers Eco In-Ground Timber Protecta).

With the help of his Dad and sister Elicia (who happens to be a Champion Powerlifter), he erected the posts and bolted in the beams around the foundations and the roof frame. Next step was to put in the bearers and joists (the big timber that go under the floor) to make the framework for the decking.

The Decking

The material choice for decking (the actual floor of a deck) is a common topic of discussion – often heavily debated between the old school timber craftsmen and the progressive composite enthusiasts. Every deckhead has an opinion: “Timber wears out and needs to be oiled all the time”, or “You don’t want to walk on recycled plastic that gets hot in the sun”

50 shades of Grey

One of the most desirable, but also hardest colours to achieve, is that beautiful aged grey timber look. You can’t really buy grey timber (unless it’s recycled), but timber does gradually turn grey in the sun over time, or you can oil it with a grey tint. It can take a year or more to naturally turn grey (depending on conditions) which most people don’t have the time for, and most stains can look a bit unnatural. Damo did a lot of research and testing, then basically had to go through a detailed process to achieve the grey look we wanted.

Choose a light timber such as Spotted Gum (our choice) or Blackbutt
Leach the timber by watering it and letting it dry every day for a week to remove the natural colour tannins. If it doesn’t dry properly, it can get back water stains
Use a timber bleach to lighten the timber (we used LiteniT)
Use a timber stain with a small amount of grey colour additive (we went with Intergrain Universal Timber Oil with ‘Coastal Grey’ colour additive (at half strength) or you can also try Cutek Extreme CD50 with ‘Grey Mist’ Colourtone (at half strength)

I see the light

One of my main requirements was to have the space filled with natural light, which you would typically achieve with skylights for an enclosed deck. Damo thought they were too expensive for really big ones and he would probably need a roofing specialist to install them, so he instead came up with an open glass panel design where we just alternated sections of the roof with large panels of glass that went all the way from the top of the roof to the bottom, so we didn’t need to worry about flashing (whatever that is!) on the corrugated roof which is apparently tricky. This made it easier (Damo installed them himself with the help of family and friends to lift the heavy glass panels), cheaper and gave us more light than skylights, so it was all-round a better outcome.

The Barbie

Damo decided to add a built-in BBQ area with dowel sides and white stone benchtop. He individually screwed the half dowels into the panels around the curved sides which took a while but looks great). You can buy pre-made panels but we couldn’t find any waterproof ones, so he had to make them and waterproof them himself. We got our friend Andy from Allambie Marble Crafts to supply, cut and help install the quartzite benchtop which looks beautiful.

Finished product

To complete the space, we added the Hemmingway Hanging Chair, which we first spotted while staying at Crane Lodge in Palm Beach. The kids loved it, and we thought it was the perfect addition to our outdoor retreat—a spot to relax and watch the sunset or keep an eye on Max and Lulu in the yard.

We couldn’t be happier with the result. It was a bit of a labour of love for Damo for more than half a year, but it was worth it in the end. Now onto the pool…

Words by Sigourney Cantelo and imagery by Camilla Quiddington