Decking in Quinns Rocks

Quinns Rocks was a beach camp long before it was a suburb. Boatshed and campsite permits date from the 1930s, the caravan park opened in 1946, holiday homes followed in the 1950s, and the townsite was declared in 1962, the oldest suburb this site covers. Old Quinns still looks the part: rolling hills and roads, power on wooden poles, few footpaths and individual houses from the 1960s and 1970s with designs of their own. Norfolk Estate, laid out in the early 1990s, is the other half, with underground power, cul-de-sacs and modern bungalows. The deck work follows that split.

Bringing back an Old Quinns deck

A 1960s or 1970s house in Old Quinns has had fifty years of salt air, and any deck on it has probably been patched more than once. The contractor starts with the frame. Where the bearers and joists are sound, the soft and split boards come out, the rest is sanded and oiled, and every nail and galvanised screw is replaced with stainless steel. A frame that has rotted through or been eaten gets replaced rather than patched, and you hear that before the quote. Our deck repairs and restoration page covers how the frame check is done.

Decks on the rolling blocks

The hills that give Old Quinns its character also give it sloping lots. A deck that is level with the back door can be well over 500 mm at its outer edge, and in the City of Wanneroo decking over 500 mm is treated like a balcony, with a 7.5 m setback to side and rear boundaries unless a reduced setback is approved. On a tight older block that usually means a stepped deck, with a lower level toward the fence, a privacy screen on the neighbour’s side and a balustrade where the fall reaches 1 m. Whatever the height, all decking requires a building permit, regardless of height or floor area, so every Quinns Rocks deck goes through the City first.

Composite for Norfolk Estate bungalows

The early 1990s bungalows in Norfolk Estate are at the age where the original deck, if there was one, is due for replacement, and a paved patio is often ready to become a deck. Most owners here choose composite: no oiling, no splinters, hidden stainless clips and a colour that holds in the afternoon sun off Quinns Beach. Hardwood in merbau or spotted gum is the alternative for anyone who wants real timber and will oil it when the colour fades.

Built for the salt

Quinns Rocks faces Quinns Beach and salt air reaches the whole suburb. Stainless fixings throughout, a frame kept clear of the sand with air underneath, and boards that handle a sea mist are the standard here, on the oldest house and the newest.