Home renovation trends reveal that adding a deck to increase entertaining space and add value is now one of the nation’s popular renovation additions.
Owners of a residence in Mitchelton, Brisbane in Queensland engaged engineer Matt Stevenson and a local builder in September 2005 to add a two storey entertainment deck to their home.
The project involved designing a six metre deck tough enough to withstand exposure to weather conditions while providing a safe environment for entertaining and for children to play in.
While the project was originally designed to use C-section purlins, the specifications were changed to utilise the advantages offered by LiteSteel Technologies’ s LiteSteel beam (LSB) products.
The builder choose to use LSB because of its inherent properties such as torsional rigidity, longer spans, enhanced usability and reduced depth of member.
LSB can be up to 25% less in beam depth, enabling design benefits. With its straightness, higher strength to weight ratio and less deflection than timber and C-section purlins, the builder felt that using LSB would provide his customer with a superior final result.
Only LSB could provide the 6 metre span required (at 9 kg/m) while being light enough to eliminate the need for an on-site crane, which may have proved difficult on this residential site in suburban Brisbane.
With no sharp edges, and flat surfaces which do not collect water and provide shelter for insects, LSB would also deliver a child-friendly deck.
The project engineer used the easy-reference LSB design manuals to discover that LSB would structurally outperform C-section purlins for the project.
The engineer and builder were impressed with the LSB product manuals, comparison tables and design software, which made designing the deck simple and fast.
Over 400 m of LSB was used in the project including joists of 200 × 60 × 2.5 at the rate 400 c/c (53 kg) and bearers of 300 × 75 × 2.5.
With no welded connections, the need for off-site fabrication was eliminated. The LSB joists and bearers were simply bolted together with the joists running above the bearers, blocked over the supports with a receiving channel as shown.
With less excavation for posts involved and no bridging required, cost savings in labour and materials were achieved.
With the ability to be cut, nailed, screwed and drilled on-site using professional power tools, LSB offered on-site flexibility – which is important in an environment where time literally is money.
A standard professional hand-held circular saw fitted with a ferrous metal cutting blade makes cutting LSB on-site as easy as cutting timber.
Similarly, using a professional hand-held power drill, site workers can easily drill through structural steel beams, making it easy to attach brackets, bolts and other components.
Cutting service holes into LSB on-site is simple using a standard power pack drill fitted with a carbide tipped hole cutter.
This can be done after the beams have been installed so services can be passed through exactly where they need to be – an advantage not available with Hot Rolled Steel structural beams.
Using a pneumatic nail gun, workers are able to nail flooring (up to 22 mm thick) directly to LSB. Previously, connecting steel sections to other parts of a building structure was only possible through welding.
However, connecting LSB is convenient and efficient – readily available galvanised steel brackets, such as Pryda brackets for structural timber, can be used.
Alternatively, if required, LSB is easy to weld using Manual Metal, Gas Metal or Flux Cored Arc Welding.
The LSB sections arrived on-site pre-primed and ready for painting once installed. The environmentally-friendly EnviroKote water-based primer paint protective coating system applied to LSB during manufacturing provides more durability, scratch resistance and up to twice the level of corrosion protection of traditional steel tube primers.
The advantages of using LSB as joists and bearers in outdoor decks can be easily applied to similar residential construction applications, including balconies, roof purlins in car ports, garage beams, house extension lintels, parameter beams, hanging/strutting beams, floor joists and floor/roof bearers.
Over the life of the deck, LSB’s weather resistance will translate into minimal ongoing maintenance for the home’s owners, and peace of mind with no termite issues sometimes associated with timber decks.
With its good structural performance over purlins in longer spans, LSB proved to be the perfect choice for developing this attractive yet safe and durable deck.