Five things to consider when building a terrace

Take these five things into consideration before you start building your terrace

We spend time on our terrace eating, enjoying outdoors and partying. The terrace is ideal for both home and summer cottage, and it is easy to build. The terrace to be built as part of the house does not usually require a building permit, but before building it is worth checking it with your municipality’s building inspector.

Building a terrace yourself may be a great idea, but sometimes it means also that you are saving in a wrong place. We put together the five most important things to consider if you plan to build a terrace without professional help.

  1. Carefully choose the wood material

The weather conditions in Finland are difficult for all surfaces that are constantly outdoors. For your terrace, choose a wood grade that is intended for outdoor use. Coatings do not solve the problem, so pay attention to the wood material. The terrace boards we recommend can be found at a professional lumber store.

  1. Own or rented equipment?

If you do not have proper tools and the terrace is your only construction project, it is not necessarily worth buying all the construction tools. Most of the tools can be rented from a professional rental company. The most important tools for building a terrace are a hammer, saw, abrasive paper and a cordless drill.

  1. Choosing the fasteners

Stainless steel screws are used as installation and fastening accessories for terrace building. For installation you may also need, for example, post and beam shoes and angle brackets. Fix Master wood screws are ideal for building a terrace.

  1. Start with a plan

If you don’t know how to or don’t want to prepare a terrace plan yourself, Kestopuuteollisuus offers comprehensive instructions for building a basic terrace.

  1. Observe the weather

Building a terrace is much more comfortable in fair weather than in rain. Plan your construction schedule so that when you start work, the weather is favourable.