Decking - can I lay over existing patio?

antilles

Hi, looking to install wooden decking in back garden. There's a very old flagged patio already down. It's pretty flat though - would it be best to remove this before putting decking down? Or just deck straight over it?

Aylesbury_Duck

How are you supporting the decking? "Floating" on the patio itself or with its own legs going into ground properly? If the latter, then consider a membrane to pin over the patio to suppress weed growth.

Make sure there aren't any drain covers under there. I built decking over an old patio and discovered a drain cover buried under the slabs. I removed the slabs over it and put a removable section of decking in just in case I needed access to the drain.

antilles

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

How are you supporting the decking? "Floating" on the patio itself or with its own legs going into ground properly? If the latter, then consider a membrane to pin over the patio to suppress weed growth.

Make sure there aren't any drain covers under there. I built decking over an old patio and discovered a drain cover buried under the slabs. I removed the slabs over it and put a removable section of decking in just in case I needed access to the drain.

I was thinking of 'floating' on the existing patio - it's very old but the flags are solid and well laid, and not moving at all. Will look into a membrane as there's already week growth through the cracks in the grouting. There is a sewer manhole on the patio - so I was planning to (as you have done) so have a removable section to allow access.

I'm assuming that as long as the patio is solid then I can just lay over it.

thebigstillmeister

I did exactly that,. we had bi-fold doors added out the back of the lounge, there was an existing semi circle block type patio which had probably been there 20+ years, it was rock solid,

I removed the front of the circle as it protruded too much and cemented in some concrete blocks, The wooden frame lay on the patio and then out and rested on the blocks and its really solid,

We did have a drain cover that was in the edge of the patio, i just build a box section around it, if we ever need to access it I can just remove a couple of the decking boards.

I also covered the whole thing in thick heavy duty weed netting and not had any issues so far

antilles

Thanks for the replies so far, very helpful.
After doing a bit more research elsewhere as well, seems like it's OK to go over the patio as long as the height of the decking doesn't go over the DPC line (in fact building regs apparently say it needs to be 150mm below the DPC). In my case the patio has been laid really low down and there's a hell of a step onto it - so it will actually work quite well going straight over it - even with the joists and decking in place it will be still under 150mm below the DPC.

I'll use the weedscreen as suggested, thanks! Also a few discussions suggested wrapping a DPC under the joists to prevent water seeping into them (as they are touching the patio).

trailingspouse

We did exactly the opposite!! Removed wooden decking and replaced it with a flagged patio!!!
The decking was only about 10 years old when we bought the house, but already falling apart. It was slippery when wet and extremely slippery when icy. And it desperately needed re-oiling, which is a major faff. And because of gaps between the boards, the garden furniture was difficult to place without a leg falling down a gap! Oh, and there were weeds growing up through it.
We replaced it with a patio in sandstone, which works well with the stone-built house. Apart from an occasional sweep, it needs no maintenance.

thebigstillmeister

We were worried about the decking being slippery aswell, especially as it would be used alot to go out the back of the house and we have a 4 year old,

We have a raised section of wooden decking down the side of our house which has our hot tub on it, can get slippery in the winter,

So for this decking we went with the composite decking from Wickes, looks amazing not slippery at all even when icy, no maintenance required and 25 year guarantee,

It's also very easy to work with as each plank is perfectly straight not like the ones I used for the other decking,

Alot more expensive but well worth it,

DigForVictory

Sounds like you should leave the patio as is, get the decking on over a robust anti-weed membrane, and let someone else discover any previously interred remains.

kentishchap

Another vote for composite decking, great stuff!