Decking Drouin: The Deck, the Pergola and the Slab as One Job

Planning an alfresco area behind a newer Drouin house usually means booking three trades. A carpenter for the decking, a concreter for the slab it steps down onto, and someone else again for the pergola over the top. It is one structure, so it can be one job. Big Fella Landscapes holds qualifications in Landscape Construction, Concreting and Carpentry, and has built outdoor areas across West Gippsland since 2007. Kane Dalman does the site visit himself and prices it all in one go. Ring 0412 881 728.

The Three Trades Big Fella Landscapes Holds

Kane Dalman started Big Fella Landscapes in 2007 and still fronts the site visits himself. Thousands of residential and commercial projects have gone through the team since.

Decking is carpentry, and Carpentry is a qualification we hold alongside Landscape Construction and Concreting, with qualified tradesmen and apprentices working side by side on site. The wider range and our guarantees sit on our decking page.

Which Boards Suit a Wet Gippsland Winter

Timber against composite is the decision that takes longest, and out here the weather decides more of it than the look does. Drouin sits in cool-temperate West Gippsland, wetter than Melbourne, and boards stay damp for long stretches of winter.

Merbau and Spotted Gum are the hardwoods most decks get built from: dense, good underfoot, rich in colour while a coating holds. Treated pine is cheaper and ends up as the frame more often than the surface. Left uncoated, all three silver off.

The composite ranges you will come across are Ekodeck, Modwood and WoodEvo. They remove the oiling entirely, and the colour runs through the board rather than sitting on it. What composite does not change is the frame underneath, still timber or steel, and still what decides how long the deck lasts.

What the Deck Asks of You Each Year

Hardwood wants a clean and a re-oil about once a year to hold its colour, sooner where it stays shaded, plus a light sand of the traffic lanes once they wear through. Treated pine takes a stain on the same rhythm. Leave either for several seasons and the next job is a full sand back. Composite wants a wash, and a look over the fixings every couple of years.

If the Deck Ends Up on the Shaded Side

South-facing boards, and boards under an established tree, dry slowly for months. Damp timber grows algae, algae makes a deck slippery, and on a flight of steps that stops being cosmetic. Most of the answer is built in rather than applied later:

• Board gaps wide enough that water and leaf litter fall through rather than sit on the frame
• Airflow under the deck, with bearers clear of soil and garden beds
• A grooved or textured profile where shade is unavoidable, or a composite carrying a tested slip rating

Will Your Deck Need a Building Permit?

Height brings the paperwork. In Victoria a building permit is generally required once a deck’s finished floor level sits more than 800mm above the ground. That is the state-level position, and how it lands on your address is confirmed with Baw Baw Shire, the responsible council for Drouin, or with a Registered Building Surveyor.

On a newer lot that turns on how far the ground falls away from the back door. We settle the height at the on-site visit, so the engineering and any permit step are priced and scheduled from the start.

Bushfire attack level is a separate question, decided parcel by parcel against the Victorian bushfire-prone-area mapping. A BAL governs the timber species and substructure allowed, so resolve it before choosing a board.

Why There Is No Square-Metre Rate

Two decks of identical area can be completely different builds. What sets the number:

• Area, and how much of it is a plain rectangle
• Height off the ground, which drags footings, posts, engineering and possibly a permit with it
• Substructure: treated pine, hardwood or steel, and footing depth
• The board, with composite costing more up front and less to keep
• Balustrade and stairs, both of which arrive with height
• Access to the back of the block for materials and machinery

A slab or a pergola alongside the deck is priced in the same quote.

Book the On-Site Visit

A deck on its own, or a deck with a pergola and slab attached, gets quoted from the yard rather than a description of it. Where the deck is one part of a wider yard build, that is the work we do as a landscaper in Drouin. Ring 0412 881 728 or send the details through the enquiry form to book the free on-site visit. After-hours times can be arranged.