A bit more progress

We have had a couple of days of dry weather which has enabled me to get on with the decking, I have decided that the octagonal end section will be stepped up from the other decking to give it more prominence.

The first job was to construct the framing which I did on a level piece of ground outside of my garage.

What I hadn't bargained on was how big and unwieldy it would be when it was finished, at one point I considered rolling it like a giant wheel down to the bottom of my field but decided that it would have all probably fallen to pieces by the time I got it there, so i Improvised some supports on a wheelbarrow and managed after about 20 minutes to get it in place.

  

It wasn't easy being on my own to either get it down there and put it into position but it all ended up well.
Here is a link to my Youtube video of it.

Once I got it in position and held with a couple of temporary cramps I could start screwing it to the existing  decking and then make a start on putting in the supports.
Standing on top of it gives a really lovely view over the stream and the trees around it and I can already imagine myself relaxing there with a glass or two of wine on a warm summer evening

Making a start

I have had enough of cutting trees and clearing undergrowth for a while so have made start on the decking area at the top of the slope down to the stream.

Although the structure was pretty stable I have added cross braces in both directions to make sure there is no movement. The bases at the bottom of the posts are made of heavy duty plastic and are in two pieces with a screwed insert allowing adjustment of height.

I have now decided to modify the decking, originally I had it in mind to encircle the group of trees directly in front of the end but I now realise this will probably make it all to large. In addition I would have to attach the decking to the trees. I noticed in heavy winds there is some movement in the trees which would have put a strain on the decking structure.

I am going to extend the end with an octagonal section and stop it just short of the trees. After coming up with this idea I had a look online to see if there was anything similar and came up with a couple of photos nearly exactly what I have in mind.

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