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Constructing Your Decking Area: How Many Boards Do You Need?
Looking to construct your own decking area, but unsure on where to start, we can help.
You’ve decided to install decking in your garden, mapped out your area and are just about to start looking for supplies when it hits you: ‘How many decking boards do I need?’ Sound familiar? Don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for.
We’ve put together this helpful guide to help you figure out what you need for your deck board projects as well as where to find everything.
How Many Decking Boards Will I Need?
This bit will involve some maths, but bear with us, it’s not as daunting as it sounds. To work out how many boards you require you need the following numbers:
- Total square meterage of your deck (multiply the length by the width of the deck area)
- Length of the boards you’ll use
- Width of the boards you’ll use
The equation goes like this:
Board length x board width = individual board area in m²
Deck area in m² ÷ board area in m² = number of boards you’ll need for your deck.
So, for example, if you wanted to build a deck in your garden that was 3 m x 3 m that would be a square meterage of 9 m². If you were looking at boards like our pressure-treated redwood options in 3 m lengths and 125 mm width, each board would be 0.375 m². That would mean you’d need 24 boards to build your deck – easy.
We’d always recommend buying a few more boards than you think you’ll need to account for cutting errors or general mistakes or miscalculations.
What Materials Do You Need?
Now your worries about ‘how many decking boards do I need?’ have been put to rest, let’s look at what other materials go into a deck.
Before you can build your decking, you’ll need a selection of other supplies too, including:
- Weed stop membrane to place under your decking
- Any decorative features you’d like to add
- Timber for balustrades
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and you may not even need everything on here, but it’s important to make sure you’ve got all the required materials to hand before you start building to avoid frustrations or hold-ups.
Tools
You’ve gathered all your deck board project materials, great! Now what? You can’t screw a deck together with nothing but your fingers and a dream; you need tools.
From screwdrivers and handsaws to top of the line power tools, we stock everything you’ll need to turn your materials into a stunning new deck. For this project, you’ll likely need most or all of the below:
- Spirit level
- Measuring tape
- Drill and bits
- Screwdrivers
- Saw (either an appropriate handsaw, jigsaw or circular saw) Saw (either an appropriate handsaw, jigsaw or circular saw)
- Hammer
- Impact driver
What you need for your specific project will vary, so consider each step of your build and what tools you’ll need to complete it.
Getting Your Supplies
Thankfully, this is the easiest bit of all. At Timber Yard Direct, we stock everything you need to take your deck from a mismatch pile of timber to the pride of your garden.
Browse our selection of deck materials and tools here. If you’re still stuck on exactly what you need, don’t worry. Just reach out to our expert team with your designs and they’ll be more than happy to get you on the right track or drop into our Coventry HQ to chat in-person.
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