# decking on a slope



## shootermac (Jun 12, 2007)

Hi all
At the moment I'm decking an area at the back of my house. 

The ground slopes upwards away from the house.

There is a concrete area running around the house.

I started digging down from the concrete into the garden, with the idea of laying the decking over that area and out into the garden.

The problem is I am now 3 feet below the garden level (furthest from the house).
My concern is what to do now, I am worried about:
1) drainage
2)what to do about the 3 foot walls of earth (furthest from the house)

Thanks in advance for any answers.


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## Jeekinz (Jan 29, 2007)

Can you take some pictures? It may help everyone a little better.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

What do you mean by decking? Are you going to build a wood deck over the slab or are you planning to install pavers.

Put in drainage at the toe of the slope to carry the surface water away.

Build a retaining wall using segmental retaining wall units to hold back the 3' of soil.


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## shootermac (Jun 12, 2007)

*thanks for the reply guys*

I kinda figured I need support for the earth banks. I'm irish so I can expect a fair amount of rain, Belfast (Northern Ireland) was under 4 foot
of water today hehe. I live in Dublin so I don't think it'll be as bad here.

I'll take a pic tomorrow when it's a bit brighter.
I'm not much of a DIYer; so I appreciate all the help.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Pictures would definitely help.

When you think about the retaining wall, check out Roadstone or Cement Roadstone. Their American company (Oldcastle) is the largest manufacturer of concrete products in the U.S. and manufactures many different type of architectural segmental retaining wall units. I would assume they are licensed to produce some of those in Ireland.

One of the reasons for the name "Oldcastle" is the beautiful old castle that houses the headquarters. - Beautiful place. (near Dublin if I remember correctly).


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## shootermac (Jun 12, 2007)

*thanks for the reply here's the pic*

Sorry about the crap drawing, damn camera was outa batteries, but I think you'll get the jist of it.
Yep never heard of segmented retaining wall units before so thank for the advice there.


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## Jeekinz (Jan 29, 2007)

You will definately need a retaining wall. A cheaper approach would be some 6x6 pressure treated lumber. Every so often use a 4' sction perpendicular to the wall, and bury it in the slope. This will tie in the wall to the slope. You will also need to constrict some sort of drain directly behind the wall. Usually a french drain with 3/4 stone on top.


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## shootermac (Jun 12, 2007)

thanks that sounds like a plan, anyone know about drainage for the decking area? (It currently forms a bowl) They recommend a waterproof layer under the decking but I don't think it's the way to go for this.


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## Jeekinz (Jan 29, 2007)

You're basically building a small deck off the concrete step, right? The deck will need to be raised off of the soil. Brfore you build the deck, grade the earth slightly away from the house. How far is it from the step to the wall?

You can lay down landscapers cloth under the deck to keep weeds from growing.


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## shootermac (Jun 12, 2007)

Sweet thank you, landscaper's cloth is what I'm looking for. 
Thank you all very much for the advice, I think I can go ahead now and build the wall + french drain, after that the decking should be easy.
Yep the decking will start at the house and go out over the excavated area, to the wall, thinking I may also need steps up to the garden from there, probably gonna use wooden deck steps for that.
I can send my 1 year old crawling on it soon.
Great advise. Keep up the good work.


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