Decking in Oak Flats for Flat Lakeside Blocks
Oak Flats sits on the flat ground between Lake Illawarra and the highway, and the suburb is mostly post-war: fibro and brick cottages, sixties and seventies brick veneer, and infill since. The blocks are level, which sounds like the easy version of a decking job and is not quite.
A deck close to the ground has a problem an elevated deck does not have, and it is the reason low set decks fail earlier than high ones. There is nowhere for the air to go underneath, so the frame stays damp long after the boards on top have dried out in the sun. Water comes through the gaps between the boards, as it is meant to, and then sits on the ground in a space with almost no ventilation. The boards usually look fine while the bearers underneath are going.
Marcio is Wollongong based and Oak Flats is a straight run down. Decking, carpentry, the grading and drainage under and around the deck, pergolas and screens are all our own work, which matters on a low set deck because the ground underneath is what decides how long the frame lasts and it is not another trade's job.
Decking Work We Do in Oak Flats
Frame Clearance on a Flat Oak Flats Block
Every extra bit of clearance between the ground and the bearers helps. We take what the door threshold allows rather than sitting the frame as low as possible. Sometimes that means a single step down onto the deck instead of a flush threshold, and on a low block it is a trade worth making for the years it adds to the frame.
Ground Graded Underneath
Water that gets through the boards has to run somewhere. Grading the soil under the deck before the frame goes down is cheap and it is impossible afterwards. A low spot under a finished deck is the one defect nobody can reach without taking the deck apart, which is why we would rather spend an hour on it at the start.
Screens That Breathe
Battened or slatted skirting with real gaps instead of a solid board. Same finished look, air still moves under the frame. If you want it closed in for storage we would rather raise the deck and vent it properly than seal a damp space and call it tidy, and we will tell you which option your block can take.
Matched Fixings Near the Lake
Lake Illawarra is salt water, so the frame near it needs the same fixing discipline as an ocean block. Stainless with stainless, galvanised with galvanised. Mixed metals in contact corrode at the join, and on a low deck the joins are the part you will never inspect, so it has to be right the first time.
Decks We Have Built Around the Illawarra
A low set deck with a battened screen that lets air move under the frame rather than sealing it in.
Ground Clearance and Airflow
A deck built low to a flat yard sits in a narrow space between the boards and the soil. Rain gets through the gaps between boards, as it is supposed to, and then it sits on the ground under the deck with very little air movement to dry it. The bearers and joists are the first things to suffer, and they are the parts you cannot replace without pulling the whole deck up.
There are a few ways to deal with it and they are all easier to do at build time than later. Raising the frame as much as the door threshold allows makes a real difference, and sometimes that means a single step down onto the deck instead of a flush threshold, which on a low block is a trade worth making. Grading the ground under the deck so water runs away instead of pooling matters more than people think, and it is impossible once the frame is down. Leaving the perimeter open, or using a screen that actually lets air through rather than a solid skirt, keeps a breeze moving under there.
On the lake side of the suburb there is also the salt question. Lake Illawarra is salt water, so fixings near it need the same thought as an ocean front block. Matched metals through the frame, not stainless into galvanised, because mixed metals in contact corrode at the join and on a low deck the joins are the part you will never inspect.
The upside of a flat block is that the rest of the job is simple. No long posts, no complicated bracing, and the stairs are usually one or two steps rather than a flight. That means more of the budget can go into the frame, the boards and the things that decide how long it lasts, rather than into footings and structure you will never see. It is also why the honest comparison between two quotes on a flat block comes down to what each one is doing about the ground.
More on decking, landscaping, pergolas and patios and property maintenance.
How Long Should a Deck Last on a Flat Block?
A long time, and the frame is what decides it rather than the boards.
Boards are consumable. They weather, they can be sanded and re-oiled, and individual ones can be swapped out if something goes wrong. Replacing boards on a sound frame is a manageable job.
The frame is different. Bearers and joists are under the boards and under the fixings, and replacing them means dismantling the deck. So the whole question of how long a low set deck lasts comes down to whether the frame stays dry, which comes down to clearance, drainage and airflow.
This is why we spend time on the parts nobody will ever see. A deck with a beautifully finished surface and a frame sitting in damp soil is a deck with a short life, and it will look perfect for the first five years of it.
If you are getting quotes, the useful question is what each builder is doing about the ground under the deck. A vague answer there tells you something.
Thinking about a deck in Oak Flats?
Send through photos of the area and the rough size you have in mind, and you will get a straight answer on what it involves and what it costs.
Contracts, Deposits and What NSW Asks For
Renovation work in NSW comes with consumer protections worth knowing before you sign anything. A written contract is required once the contract price is over $5,000 including GST. Work between $5,000 and $20,000 can run under a small works contract; above $20,000 it needs a full home building contract, and home building compensation cover with the certificate that goes with it. The maximum deposit anyone can ask for is 10 per cent, on a small job or a large one. Variations should be agreed in writing before the varied work happens, not reconciled at the end. None of that is unique to us, and you should expect it from whoever you use.
Quoting a Oak Flats Deck
Every job gets quoted on what it actually needs. We look at the access, the condition of what is already there, the materials you want and how much of the existing work can be kept, then give you a figure before anything starts. Two jobs that look identical in photos can be very different once someone is standing in the room, so we do not publish a rate card. You get a price for your job, and it does not move once we have agreed it.
Oak Flats is a straight run down the highway from Wollongong, with Albion Park, Shellharbour, Warilla and Shell Cove all minutes away. Work in this group gets batched where the timing allows, which keeps travel off the invoice on a smaller deck. A first look on a flat block means measuring the threshold height and checking where the ground falls, because the clearance under the frame and the grading beneath it decide how long the deck lasts.
Plumbing and electrical work is carried out by licensed partners, not in-house.
Oak Flats Decking Questions
Why do low decks rot before high ones?+
Because there is no air moving under them. Water comes through the gaps between the boards, which is normal, but on a low deck it sits on the ground in a space with almost no ventilation and the frame never dries out properly. The boards usually look fine while the bearers underneath are going, so the deck gives you no warning. Raising the frame, grading the ground beneath it and keeping the perimeter open are what prevent it, and all three are build time decisions rather than things you can add later without pulling the deck up.
Should the deck be skirted in?+
Only with something that breathes. A solid skirt around a low deck looks tidy and it stops the air moving, which is the opposite of what the frame needs. A slatted or battened screen with real gaps gives you the finished look and still lets a breeze through. If you want it closed in for storage, we would rather raise the deck and vent it properly than seal a damp space. We will tell you which option your block can take once we have seen the threshold height, because that sets the ceiling on how high the frame can go.
How do I get a deck quoted in Oak Flats?+
Photos of the area and a rough size are enough to start, and it helps to know the height of the door threshold off the ground. On a flat block that measurement decides how much clearance we can get under the frame, which is the thing that decides how long the deck lasts. If the ground holds water after rain, mention that too, because it changes the grading. Call 0413 147 335.
Do you handle the drainage and the landscaping around the deck?+
Yes. Grading and drainage under and around the deck are part of our work, not another trade's, which matters on a low set deck because that is what keeps the frame dry. Paths, turf and garden edging around the finished deck we can take care of in the same job, so the levels around the deck are set once rather than adjusted by someone else afterwards and left draining back towards the frame.
Other work we do around Oak Flats: kitchen renovations and welding. Nearby: decking in Minnamurra and retaining walls in Albion Park.
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