Wooden deck building

Explained step by step

Wooden deck buildingExplained step by stepWooden boards as a floor covering for patios andoutdoor areas are now a popular trend.

Instead of having cold tiles and grey concrete slabs,a superbly designed and stylish wooden deck to-gether with wood’s warm colouring will invite yououtside to enjoy the first rays of the sun in earlyspring.

Care should be taken when planning the projectand only top-quality components should be use.

This will not only ensure a professional, workman-like and visually spotless result, but also the greatestpossible pleasure you derive from this oasis of tran-quillity and relaxation. It is for this reason that wolf-craft has developed a completely new system forwooden deck building, which not only satisfies allstructural requirements of modern wood construc-tion, but will also make the laying as easy as the pa-nelling of ceilings or walls. At long last, everydo-it-yourselfer is now in a position to build hisdream patio within a reasonable time, in an un-complicated way and with an absolutely precise fi-nish. The design of all system components willensure a long service life for your new woodendeck, so that you can enjoy it for many decades tocome. Not only does the system take the wood’s na-tural properties into account, such as the swellingand shrinking of the wooden boards, it will also en-sure that the wooden components are sufficientlyventilated to protect them against rotting and fun-gal decay in the long term. This practical guide willtell you everything you need to know about how tolay the new wolfcraft wooden deck system. It hasnever been easier to make your dream of an ele-gant wooden deck come true.

wolfcraft GmbH

Content Page

Overview of the laying systems 3

Base and substructure 4

Joining system for 5 - 8concealed screwing

Traditional non-concealed 9 - 11screwed connections

All products at a glance 12

Hint 13

© 2010 by wolfcraft GmbHWolff-Straße, 56746 KempenichService Hotline: 0 180-5 32 94 68

All rights reserved. The booklet is protected bycopyright. Each utilisation other than in those caseswhich are regulated by law must be approved bythe author in writing.by the author in writing.

Exclusion of liability:The described methods, techniques, suggestionsand recommendations have been carefully compi-led and tried by the author. No guarantee can begiven, however. Any liability of the author or wolf-craft for personal injury, property damage or pecu-niary damage is excluded.

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Overview over the laying systems

Choose the visual appearance you prefer - two systems for a perfect wooden deck:

No visible screws will dis-turb the perfect, superblydesigned appearance ofyour wooden deck. The bo-ards will be fastened safelyand perfectly concealedwith the help of the wolf-craft deck board joiners.

wolfcraft offers equipmentand accessories to enthusi-asts who prefer the tradi-tional ship deck appearancethat will ensure a perfect,uniform screwing patternand structural wood protec-tion at the same time.

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Non-concealed screwing

Concealed screwing

Base and substructure

Preparing the Base:First of all, dig out the soil some 40 cm deep and fillthe hole with coarse gravel up to a height of 35 cm.Level the surface and compact the base, ideally witha compactor. Fill the remaining 5 cm with finegravel and level it with a straight edge (make surethere is a slight pitch of 1-2 cm per meter away fromthe building!).

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The rubber support pads will act as structural woodprotection and extend the patio’s useful life whilstdampen the impact sound and improve the walkingcomfort.

In order to facilitate smooth working with the dril-ling templates take care that the joists are alignedparallel to each other and at an angle of 90º in thedirection of laying or with the boards

Building the substructure:Place the floor joists at a distance of 40 - 50 cm atmost onto concrete slabs (sized at least 30 x 30 cm),in order to achieve an optimal load distribution(give due regard to the instructions of the boardmanufacturer). Do not forget to place the wolfcraftsupport pads between the boards and the joists soas to protect the substructure against water log-ging. Not only will the pads prevent the wood frompremature rotting, they will also dampen the im-pact sound and improve the walking comfort con-siderably.

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The system has been designed in such a way that always two deck board joiners are arranged next to eachother on the joists (for better view the second board has been removed in the picture).

Joining system for the concealed screwingThe perfect, professional laying pattern without unsightly, visible screws!

The deck board joiner should be screwedto the back of the board, so that thescrews do not show on the surface. Theboard can then be fastened to the joistwith two screws at the rear protrudingend of the joiner.

Fasten the deck board joiner with four screws underneath the board. It will automatically adjust for thewood’s swelling and shrinking behaviour within its range of motion and thus prevent the formation ofcracks and the screws from getting torn out.

Concealed screwing

Fastening the first row of boards with concealed screws

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In order to lay the first row of boards, cut off thejoiner at one of the rear marks or notches, depen-ding on the width of the board (see arrow).

Then shift the joiner on the floor board into such aposition that a borehole just remains visible at theedge of the board. Following that, the joiner cannow be fastened to the floor board with fourscrews.

You can now put the board with the shortened joi-ners flush to the wall of the house, thus leaving agap of 1 cm between the wall and the edge of theboard. This is enough space to fix the floor boardto the joist using one screw for the rear boreholeand two screws in the front section.

Concealed screwing

Laying boards systematically is child’s play

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Positioning the joiners with the drill and screwgauge is child’s play: Just put the joiner into thegauge from beneath.

Hint: You may have to pre-drill boreholes in hardwood so as to prevent the wood from cracking orthe screws from breaking off. Please make sure thatthe floor board cannot slide away while being scre-wed to the joiners. The joiners will now protrudefrom both edges of the board. Once all joiners havebeen fastened, the board can be turned upsidedown again.

The joiner end projecting to the front can now bepushed under the previous floor board which willarrest the board automatically at its front edge,while it will still have to be fixed at its rear edgewith two screws. The joiners will also act as spacersbetween floor board and supporting joist and pre-vent water logging, which otherwise would unne-cessarily accelerate the rotting of the wood.

Put the back of the floor board upside down againstthe previous board and align it flush towards thefront end. Place the drill gauge onto it and align itrectangularly to the floor board. The drill gauge canbe placed immediately next to the previous joinerwith the help of the two stops (arrows in Fig. 1), eit-her on the left or on the right-hand side

Concealed screwing

The last deck board: fixed immaculately with concealed screws

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In order to obtain a uniformlaying pattern, you should put

a spacer between the floor bo-ards every 80 - 100 cm, choosing

a distance of either 6 or 8 mm bet-ween the floor boards. Following that, even slightlybent floor boards can be easily joined together withthe wolfcraft installation clamp...

... and fixed safely with the first-class stainless steelscrews supplied. The special installation clampcomes with two additional clamping jaws, so that itcan be used as practical one-hand clamp at anytime.

The angular special joiner will also make it possibleto fix the last deck board with concealed screws,thus giving your patio a clean and professional fi-nish.

Just put the last floor board (upside down again!)flush onto the previous floor board and mark theouter edge of the previous joiner with an angle onthe last floor board. Align the joiner with this lineand fix it with four screws.

Then turn the board over again and push the joi-ners under the previous floor board, as before. Andfinally, fasten the joiner with two screws to thefront edge of the joist.

Concealed screwing

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The system range for non-concealed screwed connectioswolfcraft also offers you a system range of conventional, non-concealed screwed connections for deck bo-ards which will be installed from the upper side of the board. While easily installed, the system guaranteesa perfect and uniform screw pattern.Here are the advantages:

• all screws are flush in true alignment• all screws maintain the same distance

to the edge of the board

The „Vision” screw starter with countersink will fitdirectly into the chuck of the drilling guide. The pi-voted depth stop will not only prevent the drillingguide from getting damaged, it will also produceabsolutely uniform countersunk boreholes for thescrews. The depth of the counter bore can be preci-sely set with the hexagon key supplied. The top-quality 4 mm HSS drill used for this job will ensureexcellent results and a long service life, even in ex-tremely hard wood.

The „Vision” magnetic bit holder is also equippedwith a pivoted and adjustable depth stop, to pre-vent the screws from getting screwed in too far intothe counter bore.

The core of the system is the deck board drillingguide, which allows you to align and position theboreholes for the screws exactly and uniformly onthe upper side of the deck boards. The drillingguide can be adjusted to any board width rangingbetween 100 and 150 mm by simply turning two ad-justing knobs (1) without any further tools. This willmake it possible to set the precise distance of thetwo boreholes to the edge of the deck board.

The distance bar is an absolute must for laying theboards in a workmanlike fashion, since it preventswater logging between joists and deck boards,which would accelerate the rotting of the entirewooden deck. The bars can be extended by positio-ning them together or shortening as required.

Non-concealed screwing

The system guarantees: Simple handling, a perfect appearance of the screw pattern as well as the professional and accurate laying of the boards

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First of all, screw the distance bars to the joists andtake care that the bars are alternately attached tothe left and to the right joist edge.

Mark both drilling and screwing positions with twolines on the upper side of the deck board and takecare that the borehole is not positioned in a grooveof the board.

Put the drilling guide onto the deck board and ad-just the rear drilling bush with the help of the notchon the side, so that it hits exactly the relevant mar-king line.

If necessary, the distance bars can be extended bypositioning them together at their ends or they canbe shortened as required. The deck boards them-selves will later be screwed to the centre of the joist,so as to prevent the joist from tilting.

Non-concealed screwing

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Adjust the front drilling bush with the help of thesetting notch on the side in the same way, so that ithits the second marking line. You can now place thedeck board in its correct position onto the suppor-ting joists.

Once all boreholes have been drilled into the deckboard, screw the board with the magnetic bit hol-der to the centre of the supporting girders. Slightlybent deck boards can be straightened with the in-stallation clamp without any problems.

Insert a spacer between thedeck boards every 80 cm and

choose a distance of either 6 or8 mm between them. Align the

drilling guide to the marked row ofscrews and spot-drill the two boreholes for the timebeing.

Having spot-drilled the boreholes, put the drillingguide aside and finish drilling the boreholes. Thecountersinks for the screw heads are done in thesame way. The depth of the countersink can be setprecisely with the screw starter with countersinkand depth stop.

Non-concealed screwing

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Your shopping list

Art.- Article QuantityNo. name required:

6987 000 20 support pads

6985 000 1 installation clampfor wooden deck building

6986 000 10 spacers

6971 000 1 starter kit incl. drill and screw gauge50 deck board joiners, incl. 300 stainless steel screws TX 20, 1 magnetic bit holder incl. stainless steel bit TX 20

6972 000 1 expansion kit20 deck board joiners, incl. 120 stainless steel screws TX 20

6973 000 10 joiners for the first / last boardiincl. 120 stainless steelscrews TX 20

6960 000 1 wooden deck drilling kit:drilling guide + screw starter with countersinkand depth stop

6962 000 20 distance bars, incl. 60 stainless steel screws TX 20

6961 000 1 magnetic bit holder, incl. stainless steel bit TX 25

Concealed screwing

Conventional screwing from above

Substructure

Aligning the deck boards

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Tip

Take from the table how many joiners youneed for one running meter of joists based onthe board width you have selected. Then workout the total number of joiners required.

How you find out the number of joiners required for your wooden deck

145 mm 6,7 x135 mm 6,9 x125 mm 7,7 x115 mm 8,3 x

Working example:

Size of the wooden deck: 2,5 x 3 Meter

Width of the deck boards: 145 mm

Number of joists: 7 x 2.5 m = 17.5 m

Number of joiners: 6.7 per running meter (see table) x 17.5 m of girders= 118 joiners (rounded up)

You also require 7 special joiners (Art. No. 6973000 – see page 8) for the lastboard at the front edge of the patio. These 7 items can be deducted from thetotal number of joiners as established above:

118 -7 = 111 joiners

Hence, you require a total of 111 joiners(Art. No. 6971000 / 6972000))7 joiners for the last board(Art. No. 6973000)

3 m

7 girders

2,5m

Concealed screwing

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Notes

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Notes

D wolfcraft® GmbHWolff-Straße 1D-56746 Kempenich

Service Hotline: 01 80 - 5 32 94 68Fax 00 49 (0) 26 55 51 180e-mail: customerservice@wolfcraft.com

Technical supportFax 00 49 (0) 26 55 50 20 80e-mail: technical.Service@wolfcraft.com

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