Decks, Pergolas and Outdoor Living, Ulladulla and the South Coast
Decks, pergolas over the top of them, and screening where you want some privacy or a break from the wind.
Often all three on the same job, because they work together. A deck on its own gets used for about six weeks a year. A deck with a pergola over it and a screen down the windy side gets used most of the year.
Do You Need Council Approval?
Some decks need approval and some don't. It comes down to size, height and where it sits on the block.
We'll tell you which one you're looking at before you spend anything, and if approval is needed, what's involved in getting it
The Part Most People Don't Think About
The best decks we've built aren't the biggest ones. They're the ones where the house and the deck stopped being two separate places.
At Mollymook that meant opening up a large doorway in an existing wall and putting a substantial steel beam in to carry the load. The deck went from something out the back to part of the house.
Not every job needs that. But it's worth asking the question before you build rather than after, because it's a much bigger job to go back and do later.
Timber, and What the Coast Does to it
Salt air and sun are harder on a deck here than they are an hour inland. What you build it from, and how it's finished, matters more than it would somewhere else.
We build in Australian hardwoods, mostly spotted gum and blackbutt. They hold up to the salt and the sun far better than the cheaper options and they age into something rather than just going grey and splitting.
Where screening is involved we'll often use aluminium instead. On a job at Mollymook we ran aluminium screens vertically so the owners could see out towards the ocean while the neighbours couldn't see in.
We'll talk you through the options properly. What lasts, what needs oiling and how often, and what costs a bit more at the start and a lot less over ten years.
What it Costs
We won't put a number on this page, because a ground level deck off a back door and an elevated deck with a pergola and a steel beam are not the same job.
What moves the number:
Size, and how high off the ground it sits. A deck that needs a substantial subfloor costs more than one close to the ground.
The timber you choose
Whether there's a pergola or roof over it
Screening
Whether the house is being opened up to meet it
Access to the site, and what the ground is like once we start digging footings
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Common Questions
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Yes. Decks aren't a summer only job, and building in the cooler months usually means you're not waiting on the diary when everyone else wants one in November.
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Got a yard you look at more than you sit in?