Lesson Summary

Timber decks can be very durable, low maintenance, and age gracefully. They also can be very expensive money pits that fail prematurely. Timber is just like steel and concrete, there are things that you do at your peril. All of the pitfalls are known and easy to remove from your drawings by careful detailing.

The course, designed to be completed within an hour and a half, aims to equip designers with the knowledge to create long-lasting and visually appealing timber decks. Participants will learn to avoid the "usual suspects" the bedevil much external timber design. I have broken the course into six smaller units:

• Introduction and the necessary resources
• Need for specialised grades and construction practices
• Protecting your joist from fastener damage
• Fastener type and joist layout for full-length decking
• Joist layout for decking with joins, and
• Interaction of the posts bearers, joists and handrail posts plus case histories

There is a basic test as you proceed through the lessons but for your compliance requirements, it would be better to download the assessment in lesson 1 and retain that for your records.