Composite Decking Installation in Finchley

The Brief

The garden behind a Finchley terraced house dropped sharply away from the back door, leaving the family with a narrow strip of level lawn at the top and a steeper, awkward section beyond it that nobody used. They wanted to reclaim that lower section as an entertaining area without spending the budget on serious civil engineering or complicated retaining walls.

What We Did

The project was completed in just under two weeks across the following stages:

• Survey and design: Measured the slope, set the deck height to match the back door threshold, and confirmed the position of the steps and the perimeter screen with the homeowner.
• Foundations: Set concrete pads at the right depths so each post hit firm ground, accounting for the gradient. Posts were treated and bolted into shoes rather than buried directly in concrete.
• Sub-frame: Built a treated timber sub-frame that compensates for the slope, with joists at 400 mm centres so the composite boards run without bounce.
• Composite boards: Laid premium composite boards with concealed fixings, leaving a clean shadow gap to the perimeter and a deliberate fall for drainage.
• Steps and trim: Installed a wide step run from the upper lawn down to the new deck and finished the perimeter with matching fascia boards.
• Cleanup: Removed all spoil and offcuts, recycled the green waste, and left the deck swept and ready to use.

The Result

A previously unused section of garden is now the family's main outdoor space , flat, low-maintenance, splinter-free, and visually a clean extension of the house rather than an awkward afterthought. The composite boards mean no annual oiling and no rotting underneath like the old timber deck would have done.

Job duration: Just under two weeks, including weather days, with the deck handed over ready to live on.

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