I met Peter Lloyd from Deck-Max at the Sydney Home Show. He had invented an innovative way to lay timber decking so that there were no nails in the surface and that the decking resisted “cupping”. Cupping is a defect when timber is exposed to weather on one side and not another.

Any timber decking defect or protruding nail is likely to become a trip hazard. So this Deck-Max product will ultimately make the deck a safer place. The system works by combining a common biscuit joint system with a patented biscuit design.

We will report on how it goes in practice when we start to lay the decking.

We have progressed a lot over the last few weeks. There are a heap of new photos that I have posted up to the gallery.

Check out the way we got the concrete into place before it went off in the hot and windy weather in week 7.

See why we were so down in week 9 when the extent of the LVL damage became apparent.

But look at those distant views in the background of the photos posted in week 11. Aahh paradise.