Australian Property Investor magazine continues its Reno Guide series. This month, it’s Part 5 - dealing with the outside room. The Reno Kings’ Geoff Doidge and Archicentre’s Robert Caulfield are quoted and I gave some advice based on my years marketing bricks and pavers - I know a few things about patios, decks and courtyards! Here are a couple of snippets about decks.
Years ago garden designer Jim Fogarty gave me this key design tip for small spaces - use levels to make the space seem bigger. This is what I did at my house - the house of horrors that’s the subject of my book - and we’re talking a VERY small space, 5m by 5m, that also had to incorporate a car space! We made a decked area that’s level with the living area inside, so you get that nice seamless inside to outside feel once the bifold doors are open, with a paved space below.
While it’s decked we did pay attention to water management though. Under my deck is actually a contoured concete slab, so that the water is taken right away from the house. That’s very important to avoid making a haven for termites and other insects. After my years in paving I’m also a big believer in having your pavers installed on a rigid concrete base - better than sand as it prevents weeds coming up between the cracks and is less prone to movement.
If you’re having a tiled deck however, you should pay attention to the materials the tiles go onto. Balcony failure is one of the most common building defects, because so often waterproofing can fail, and you won’t know anything about it until water comes into rooms below. Tiles installed on a fibre cement substrate rather than particleboard are far less likely to crack and pop off. Good waterproofing installers and products are of course where you should begin!
You can read the rest of the article as well as profiles, features AND Property Bootcamp in the April issue of API.
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