Thread: Building advice - solid deck flooring.

A few options to look into (been @8 years since I left the timber yards)...
Red tounge or was it green flooring is available for wet areas as an alternative to yellow.
Marine ply wood (15 or 18mm from memory).
Compresed cement sheet(maybe 15mm but heavy) is used on the little modern balconies.
It'll sound odd but tounge and grove flooring has been used too if well sealed.
If painting the area look at the recylce yards for suitable products too.
As an option look at tiling instead of paiting, it may be better for water run off.

I asume this is to remain an open deck area on the second level.
It will only have a flat finish on top but will still neead sealing if exposed.
Drainage from the deck area will have to be looked at if your enclosing the area below.
Condensation in the new rumpus room will need to be addresed too.

Thanks Kyle, all good concerns. I was at bunnings on the way home and they have class 2 A bond ply in 17mm which is what i had in mind and i know this stuff is rot resistant (i have a couple of lengths that were near buried in the garden for over 4years and are still perfect.
Top level is staying open and floor will be sealed and possibly painted with a textured coating, ventilation will be ok as there are 200mm beams supporting deck and it will be easy to add vents.

Have you considered adding a roof to the underside of the joists and then just redoing the decking above it?

This way you can add fall to the "roof" by packing out the joists to acheive the desired fall and you then also get the look of the decking above it.

If the decking is going to be exposed to the elements then I would suggest using a hardwood deck material and refinishing it at least twice a year.

For the "roof" below the joists I would suggest a "trimdeck" styke of roof sheet with at least 2 degrees of fall to ensure water runoff.

If the above idea is not a feasible option then I would suggest using compressed fibre cement sheeting. This would then need "painting" with a rubber waterproofing compound and then you can apply your finished surface to the top of this.

An alternative to the compressed fibre cement is a new product on the market called "Scyon". This is lighter and easier to install than the compressed sheets (important if lugging stuff around).

I know the plywood may seem like a good option price wise but from experience you can not really rely on it in an exposed exterior application without keeping up the maintenance. It is much more prone to rot, cupping and other problems. Marine ply is much better but you still need to keep up the maintenance.

My 2 cents worth.

Try James Hardie "Scyon"
Scyon
A new & Very popular T & G exterior flooring, will take ceramic tiles and all....
Cheers..
If you are in Sydney, I can assist.

sorry..I should mention, I'm in building retail/wholesale products near Hornsby.

Originally Posted by rovers1952

Try James Hardie "Scyon"
Scyon
A new & Very popular T & G exterior flooring, will take ceramic tiles and all....
Cheers..
If you are in Sydney, I can assist.

Mel unfortuantely, i had to go and get some timber this morning and the guy showe me the hardie scyon t&g flooring which looks ideal but at $112 for 2700mm x 600mm sheets i'll need 14 @ a cost of $1568 .
The top deck only gets a little rain when its driving rain and its rarely more than 600mm in the from the ends .