Decking Installation: DIY or Hire a Professional?
When stuck between trying to decide whether to build it yourself or entrust a professional installer with the task, our blog breaks down the considerations of both possibilities, comparing cost, time, skills, and so on, to help you choose the best option.
What is DIY Decking Installation?
A DIY installation is exactly what you would expect it to be, a project that you shoulder on your own without any kind of fitting assistance from external contractors.
Ground-level designs are the simplest to build for someone who is a proficient DIYer, with raised platforms being trickier to achieve.
Required implements to effectively fit the boards will include a drill, circular saw, a hammer, joists, tape measure, spirit level, screwdriver etc.
To begin, compress any loose soil in the desired location with a heavy roller or thumper, then put down some weed control fabric, lay down slabs, create a box frame, place the joists inside the frame, nailing them in position – do you want us to go on?
If that sounds too much like hard work or beyond your capabilities, we’re here to organise it on your behalf.
Pros and Cons of DIY Decking Installation
Some of us have the competency to install it ourselves, which has its benefits and a number of drawbacks. Learn what they are and see if it persuades you to go down the road of DIY or otherwise.
Pros
- Your finances may not stretch to hiring outside assistance from an installer and a DIY approach will save you money on the appointment of one.
- Every time you look at and experience your decked creation, there will be an immense feeling of pride and personal satisfaction, knowing that it’s all your work.
- There’s the flexibility of being able to craft whatever design you like without it being dictated by anyone else.
Cons
- You’ve no other choice but to invest lots of your time in the installation and when you’re well into it, there’s no going back, not unless you want a half-finished product.
- Abundant skills are needed in order to execute such projects.
- Without the aforementioned skills, it increases the potential of errors being made, which could be difficult or expensive to rectify.
What is a Professional Decking Installation?
An expert guide is invaluable for decking installations and that’s what a professional company will supply to you. They’ll ensure that planning, design and fitting all goes off without a hitch.
The materials used by them will be right for the job and of outstanding quality, their designers should be proficient at translating your ideas into parallel concepts, and the equipment they harness will be suitable for the task at hand.
Once you come to an agreement to commence the project, shortly afterwards you will receive an installation timeline telling you when the work will start and finish.
If they discover they need to adjust this schedule, you can expect to be quickly notified as transparency is an essential trait of a dependable installer.
Trust them to also tell you of the different rules and regulations that need adhering to.
Pros and Cons of Professional Decking Installation
There are lots of upsides to hiring a professional installer, as well as a couple of downsides. Contemplating in which direction to go will become clearer once you’re aware of the advantages and disadvantages.
Pros
- Professionals are called such for a reason, a group of people deeply embedded in their profession who have fulfilled hundreds of installations, yours being just one of countless examples.
- The time efficiency of a professional installation company is a big tick as you don’t want to be kept waiting long to begin enjoying your new outdoor living space.
- Your goal is to have a quality installation and that’s what professionals deliver, taking pride in what they do and going all out to give you a first-class solution.
Cons
- Employing their expertise will attract a fee, money you’d obviously save if you know how to do decking yourself.
- Finding a reliable professional in some areas can be easier said than done, no matter how hard you research.
Factors to Consider Before Deciding
Lakeland Verandahs is a quick worker and can have projects concluded in no time. Emulating our speediness will be tough going if you’re a relative novice, which isn’t much good if you only have limited time after work or at weekends to get it finished.
Trained installers have a vast understanding of what a project must entail and how to accomplish it, along with acquired skills that come with years of experience under their belt.
You really need to have worked in this field or at least had prolonged mentoring from someone who has to be able to carry out projects to the excellent standard that we’re renowned for.
These competencies are called for to a great degree when a job is especially delicate, worth noting if you would like an unconventional shape or layout.
Budget Considerations
What you’re willing to pay will be a major factor in whether it’s decking DIY or the professionals route that you go down. DIY is the cheaper of the two in most cases, but paying for a reliable professional to project manage is worth the money when they do it well.
Being clear in your head about exactly what you want is imperative and that takes rigorous planning from the outset. Whilst doing this, it could identify problems that lie ahead and need to be addressed and accounted for in the budget.
Thorough strategising also prevents you from overbuying and overspending on deckboards and only purchasing the specific number needed, less of a concern if you have a professional guiding you.
Projects like these can precipitate added expenditure on occasion, particularly when attempted solo, so it’s wise to be mindful of this when organising a budget. Staying strict to your budget will stop you spending more than you want to or more than you can afford.
Finding a Trusted Decking Installer
There’s a wealth of deck installers in the UK (a search on Google will confirm this), which complicates the decision of knowing which of them to choose.
Narrowing them down involves research and that means scrutinising their websites, uncovering how much customers rate what they do in reviews, and checking if they hold accreditations verifying the skill and experience they claim to have.
Has someone living near you already had their garden upgraded in this way? Go round and ask who did it for them and whether they would recommend you appoint the same decking professional. Over the years, we’ve gained so much custom from people passing on referrals to friends and family members – knowing that a company has done a fantastic job for someone you’re close to is so reassuring.
Meeting an installer for an informal discussion can also give you a good gauge of knowing if they are to be trusted and will offer quality and value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you install decking yourself?
We would only advocate installing a deck without professional assistance if you have total belief in your skills and prior experience of successfully constructing the product. You must also have the required tools to take on the project, of which you need several, and be completely up-to-speed with current safety guidelines. The last thing you want is to make any costly mistakes or do anything that contravenes the rules.
Think of the time you’d save by leaving it to an expert decking professional, someone who regularly undertakes projects of all shapes and sizes, can do it quickly, and knows everything there is to know about decks.
Watching a few YouTube tutorials won’t put you anywhere close enough to matching the expertise of a professional outfit like Lakeland Verandahs, a company associated with delivering supreme quality.
What does professional decking installation involve?
Ahead of the fitting process, a first-class installer will produce design concepts formed from the information you feed to them and provide insight into layout options, colours etc.
Given permission, they will visit your home to inspect the garden space that you have and analyse its terrain so that they can account for any challenges it presents and prepare, tailoring the design accordingly.
Setting up a sound foundation, following clearance of the relevant area and a levelling of the bottom, is hugely important in creating a stable platform that lasts.
Once that’s done, the laying and securing of the boards can proceed, ahead of any railing or steps being integrated.
Can I build my own deck with no experience?
Decking DIY may be a tempting proposition if you want to fit it on the cheap, but there’s a danger of things going horribly wrong if you’ve never done it before and fail to do some research.
High-quality deckboards are needed and they must be laid correctly, you have to get the size right and not end up going too big or too small, seal properly, and produce a well-built base as the foundation.
You’re setting yourself up for failure and an expensive fix if any of these essentials are missed out or poorly executed and will have little option but to do what you should have done in the first place and hire a professional to remedy things.
So, the simple answer is that zero or minimal experience in building decks would encourage us to strongly advise against sorting it on your own and implore you to call in the experts.
When to call in the professionals?
It’s easy to be frightened off by the prospect of paying for a professional to preside over the project, but for the money you pay, you’re more assured of a fault-free installation.
They can effortlessly handle complex assignments involving intricate design and challenges that might leave you bemused.
Professionals also have access to tools that are inaccessible to DIYers, implements that may be of no use to you for anything else anyway, and that you don’t know how to operate like they do.
Read as many books and watch as many videos as you like about how to do decking yourself, but they’ll unlikely get you close to being as skilled as a professional installer.
For an enduring design that embraces all the technicalities involved in achieving a top-grade solution, recruit a professional fitter with a good reputation.
Read what's going on at Lakeland Verandahs
Our blog is essential reading if you want to know about our latest product releases, current industry crazes, and gather some great recommendations