Decking In Caulfield

Installed decking in Melbourne generally runs between $350 and $650 or more per square metre, and the board you choose is the main driver. Treated pine sits at the bottom of that range, merbau a step above it, spotted gum and other dense hardwoods above that, and premium composite at the top. What people underestimate is that the substructure costs roughly the same regardless of board, so upgrading from pine to spotted gum adds less to the total than the raw board price suggests. Height off the ground moves the figure more than the timber does, because once you pass a metre the posts get longer, the footings get bigger and a compliant balustrade is added at its own per-metre rate. Call 0468 347 781 and we will measure the actual space rather than pricing it off a photo.

A straightforward ground-level deck of around 20 square metres is usually finished in three to five days, of which two to three go on footings and substructure including cure time and one to two on laying boards. Composite is marginally slower to lay than timber because the hidden-clip systems are fussier and the gapping has to be more precise. If we are replacing boards on a substructure that is already sound, the whole job can be done in a day or two. Weather matters more than people expect, because we will not lay hardwood in steady rain or fix boards onto a saturated frame, and we tell you that at quote stage rather than after.

Melbourne is genuinely hard on decking because of the swing between wet winters and hot dry spells, which makes timber move more here than it would in a stable climate. Merbau will give you ten years and comfortably more with regular oiling, and spotted gum will typically outlast it while holding its colour better. Composite will not rot or split, though it does fade and it gets noticeably hot underfoot in full afternoon sun. The bigger factor in every case is the substructure, because a deck almost never fails at the board before it fails at the bearer. That is why we build the frame in H3 and H4 treated timber with proper drainage clearance regardless of which board goes on top.

We come out the same day you call, measure the area, check ground levels and look at where water currently runs across the site, then send you an itemised quote with boards, substructure and labour on separate lines. Once you accept, we set out and dig footings, pour them and let them cure, stand posts in galvanised stirrups, run bearers and set joists at 450mm centres, then lay boards with consistent 3mm to 5mm gaps and install steps and balustrade where the height calls for it. Merbau gets its first coat of oil once it has weathered enough to take it, and we tell you when the next one is due rather than leaving you to guess. We clean up at the end of every day and the offcuts leave with us.

A spongy deck is almost always a subframe problem rather than a board problem, usually joists spanning too far, posts set straight into soil without stirrups, or bearers that were never treated to H3 where they needed to be. Cupping is water sitting on one face of a board and not the other, which comes back to gapping and airflow underneath. End splitting is timber drying too fast, often because boards were fixed too close to the end or fastened without pre-drilling. Greying is simply ultraviolet exposure and is cosmetic rather than structural, and it happens to every uncoated timber deck in Melbourne within a season or two. We will tell you which of these actually matters and which you can ignore.

If budget decides it and you do not mind oiling, merbau is the value pick and it is what most Melbourne decks are built from for good reason. If you want a harder board that holds colour longer and you can spend more up front, spotted gum is the upgrade worth making. If you genuinely will not oil a deck, choose composite and accept the higher up-front cost and the heat underfoot, because an unoiled hardwood deck looks tired within two summers. Treated pine is the right answer for a low deck on a tight budget or for a deck you intend to paint. Be honest about the maintenance you will realistically do, because that single answer decides this more reliably than anything on the spec sheet.