Australian outdoor journal
Custom Decking
The Australian journal of outdoor timber
Independent writing on timber, structure and the way Australian households use a deck.
Before the first post goes in
Sun, slope, bushfire, salt and the neighbour’s window. Planning a custom deck so it earns its keep in the climate you actually live in.
When a deck is exempt, when New South Wales uses CDC or a DA, when Victoria wants a building permit, how Queensland treats accepted development, and why heritage, flood and bushfire overlays change the path. Not legal advice.
A raised deck invents new sightlines. Overlooking, screens, fence height, and the dividing fences acts in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland — in general terms — plus the conversation you have before the first post.
A slope is a plan, not a problem to bury. Cut and fill versus poles, split levels as outdoor rooms, retaining, stairs you can live on, and drainage that leaves the downhill neighbour dry.
A BAL is not a mood and a timber sample is not a system. AS 3959 from BAL-LOW to Flame Zone, ember traps, combustible decking, stairs, and when the lot needs an assessor.
Salt does not care what the brochure promised. Stainless grades, wind classification, merbau versus spotted gum at the beach, glass that etches, and a wash-down interval you will actually keep.
Melbourne decks fail on aspect, shade and a wet winter more often than on timber. North light, deciduous trees, frost, brick-veneer floor heights and the months you will actually sit outside.