Many of us homeowners always try to make something additional in or around our home to make it more beautiful and to increase its value of the same. For some that is a part of their routine while others tend to tinker around the home to waste some time, to utilize their skills, practice their DIY knowledge and for many other reasons.
When it comes to projects homeowners can take on by themselves, especially if they are on a tight budget, there are so many things they can do. One of those things that are getting more and more famous and desirable is making your veranda. At first look, it seems a bit difficult to do but when you dissect it thoroughly you will see that it can easily be done with some little know-how, some basic tools for the job and some strong will.
This article here today will be your guide on how to build your veranda on a budget that will make you feel like a hero, that will make your friends awe at your job and will make your parties awesome. For anything else, we forget and you happen to need on this DIY project feel free to visit this website and see how they can help you.
1. Surface Preparation
For a project like this, you need your surface prepared the best way possible. You don’t want anything sitting on the ground to be crooked and to have weeds and tall and ugly grass growing out of your veranda later on. Prepare the ground by levelling it to be as smooth and straight as possible, draw out the outlines of your veranda and then treat the grass and land below to avoid roots and grass growing from beneath later on. Also, put down some cloth, the ticker the better, and have it be fixed well to avoid movement until you finish other steps.
2. Structure
The most important thing in building anything is that your structure is firm and tight. What you can do and what is the best thing to do and use is 2x8s because they are the same height as any other step and they will feel all-natural because all other steps are around 8 inches in height. It will be a good, firm tight base that will not have you make any tripping accidents. Another good thing about using 2x8s is that you can make multiple platforms on top of each other, stacked to the height you prefer and build something a bit more elaborate and complex if your budget allows it. For essentials and the lowest cost, we will stick to just one layer, this base and work from there.
3. Fasteners and spacing
Whenever building something there are a couple of rules you will need to follow and one of those rules is using the right fasteners or fastening system, and the second thing is you need the right spacing that can take the load of the veranda and the guests on it. Depending on the types of boards you choose, the ideal spacing should be set at 16 inches apart on the centre, but depending on the composites as well you can go on 12 inches. To keep the cost low and to not overcomplicate on the tools, when fastening your structure boards use a nail and hammer instead of a pneumatic nailer or drills. Another thing you need is a measuring tape and for a little bit of ease and speed, you can have all your wood pre-cut to square so you don’t need to trouble yourself with sawing and cutting in straight lines.
4. Levelling and Squaring
When you nail or screw your wood and your structure in you need to do a check-up and see if everything is level and in the right position. For this job, you need a level that is a bit longer than the regular one for a better readout. If there are any corners or places that are sticking up or sinking in down then what you do is take some scrap wood planks and set them below your structure where needed to level everything out. This type of veranda is ground level one and simple which is why you are doing your levelling this way. If you were building a floating one then you would do these steps before with digging holes for blocks and levelling those around. The last thing to do is take measures from corner to corner and if they are the same your veranda structure is square.
5. Decking
Now you need decking on the structure and you need it to be pressure-treated lumber for the best durability and longevity. The job here is pretty simple and all you do is screw the decking into the structure below and do it in steps and slowly so you do not screw anything in crooked or too much apart.
6. Think about preservation
When your neat little veranda is done, and when you are all satisfied with the result you will need some sort of protection for all that beautiful wood you just used. If you choose pressure-treated wood leave everything alone and over time, when needed, pressure wash. It is that simple, and you will enjoy it for around 20 years maybe more, easily. If you want something different and to add some colour to your veranda you can opt for oil-based products for that instead of water-based ones. The oil-based stains, colours and finishes will last a lot longer and protect your wood a lot better than water-based ones, meaning that you will not be sanding and replacing boards every few years and doing all this job over and over again.
In the end, all we have to say is we wish you luck in your project. we wish you a good time and a lot of fun building your veranda, and before you begin anything we want to remind you that your city probably has a code regarding building structures of this sort, so we strongly advise you to check those codes and check with your local authorities what you can do, how big can it be and if there are any particular rules or regulations you must comply with.
