During the most beautiful summer days, living as much as possible on your terrace is an incomparable pleasure. To allow yourself this, have your terrace built, preferably in wood, because it is a natural, ecological and aesthetic material. Here is a small price guide to prepare your budget.
There is so much interest in having a wooden deck. The first advantage is related to aesthetics. This structure offers a noble and warm character to your property. It is also a guarantee of comfort. It is much more pleasant to walk barefoot on a wooden floor rather than concrete or tile. But beware of the claws of your pets which could get caught between the slabs or the wooden slats.
Another advantage:the wooden deck is suitable for all budgets thanks to the countless species available on the market and offered at very varied prices. These essences allow you to enjoy more colors and effects. Depending on the wood, it is possible to obtain, for example, visible or more discreet veins. Finally, if you need to dismantle it, the wooden terrace will give you less trouble than a tiled or concrete terrace.
Some of the major expense items associated with building a wood deck include support and decking. The support constitutes the structure on which the decking is fixed. The most common is the support on studs. Concrete pads accommodate joists on which the wooden slats are placed. Before erecting the structure, the ground must be covered with a geotextile film to prevent the development of plants. A budget of 15 to 40 euros per m² is to be expected if you choose this option. If this one does not please you, you can orient your choice on a support on stilts. The latter is raised and adapts to uneven ground. It will take around 2500 euros to benefit from this structure. This price includes the staircase, the posts, the balustrade and the railing, in place of the decking.
Once the support has been chosen, it is time to select the type of wood for the boards, which plays a decisive role in the final cost of the work. Nothing to worry about on your budget if you bet on basic European wood slats. They are affordable, but beware of their fragile appearance. The price per m² ranges from 15 to 20 euros but can go up a little more to 40 to 50 euros for Douglas pine, for example deemed to be rot-proof.
More expensive than European wood, exotic wood is a real must that should be chosen carefully by checking that it has one of the 4 existing certifications in the world:FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes),SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative),CSA (Canadian Standards Association). Jatoba, Ipé, Maçaranduba and other species have the advantage of being rot-proof and resistant to mould, all without treatment. On the other hand, their cost varies between 100 to 200 euros per m².
Composite wood is a good compromise, between exotic wood which is expensive and low-end European wood which is not very resistant. This material is made of wood or natural fibers and plastic resin. It is obviously less natural, but its ease of maintenance and its very reasonable cost (between 25 and 100 euros per m²) make it attractive.
