Installing a new Trex deck at Bonnie’s house

Supported by Trex

The other day we showed you Bonnie’s barren backyard and talked about our plans out here and today we’re so excited to show you the progress that’s already been made.

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Progress in Bonnie’s yard

We mentioned in our last post that we decided to build an open deck using Trex to create a seamless indoor-outdoor transition from Bonnie’s dining area.

You can build a Trex deck yourself — it uses a special fastener and clip design called Trex Hideaway Secret Fixing System — but Bonnie’s backyard was sloping and needed a proper substructure to be built so we brought a carpenter on board to help.

Here you can see the construction of the deck underway.

How to build a deck

If you’re feeling inspired to build a deck, here’s what you need to do.

1. Plan your deck

Consider the size of your outdoor space and how you want to use it. Do you want to create various zones, such as a fire pit area, outdoor kitchen and veggie patch?

Map out your space and decide how much space you want to dedicate to each zone. It may not be possible to fit everything from your wish list so we suggest prioritising the zones. It’s better to complete 1 or 2 areas well than try to squeeze everything in for the sake of it!

Your outdoor deck needs to be large enough to fit your outdoor furniture and have a minimum of 1 meter clearance around so that people can walk around the furniture. We decided 3m x 5.4m would be large enough to fit the furniture we want comfortably.

2. Choose the decking materials

We selected ‘Island Mist’ from the ‘Transcend collection’ because it complements our colour scheme. We suggest getting samples to see which colour suits best. For example, there are 8 colours available in the Trex range. You may want a colour that complements by picking up the undertones of your outdoor paint (as we did) or contrasts by sitting on the opposite side of the colour wheel. Whichever colour scheme you go for, there’s plenty of choice on the market when it comes to decking materials.

3. Purchase your decking materials

This step is pretty self explanatory but with recent timber shortages it’s worth doing this early. We ordered our decking materials from our local Trex merchant.

4. Install your decking (and railing if needed)

The deck comes with a Trex installation guide and has been designed so you can DIY it but we enlisted the help of a carpenter.

Next week we’ll share the finished deck with you, including a video so you can really get a good look at this stunning new addition to Bonnie’s home!

Follow more of Bonnie’s home reno