Decking in Yanchep

Yanchep began as a plan for a city. Alan Bond’s Yanchep Sun City was launched in 1970 and the first houses went up in 1972, starting with 127 lots on the beachfront. The satellite city never quite arrived, and for decades Yanchep stayed a small coastal town beside its national park. Then the urban growth plans caught up with it, and the suburb now holds two kinds of home: the original 1970s and 1980s beach houses near the water, and new estate homes filling in behind. Decking in Yanchep serves both.

Bringing back a Sun City deck

The beach houses of the original town were built for the view and the breeze, and many carry decks that have had fifty years of salt air. The frames are often better than they look, because sand drains and treated timber holds up, but the boards and every fixing will be tired. The contractor checks the frame, replaces the split and soft boards, sands and oils what remains, and swaps every screw and hanger for stainless steel. Where the frame has rotted or been eaten, the honest answer is a new deck, and you will hear it before anything is quoted.

First decks in the estates

Behind the old town the new estates are compact lots with an alfresco under the main roof and a lawn behind it. A low deck level with the alfresco slab takes the outdoor area past the roofline, in composite for no upkeep or hardwood for warmth. Every deck in the City of Wanneroo needs a building permit, so that is built into the process from the start.

Limestone country

This is the part of the corridor where the ground changes. Yanchep sits on Tamala Limestone, the same rock the caves in the national park are cut through, and it comes close to the surface in places. A footing that would go straight into sand in Joondalup may need core drilling here. The contractor finds out with the first hole and prices it after the site visit, which is why we do not publish a rate.

Bushfire and BAL

Parts of the far north sit near bushland and the national park. We do not say whether Yanchep is or is not bushfire prone; that is what the DFES map is for, and it runs through suburbs. If your lot is inside a mapped area, the deck is designed to the BAL level of your assessment under AS 3959: listed bushfire-resisting timbers such as merbau or spotted gum at the lower levels, non-combustible materials as the level rises, and the detailing of gaps, supports and the space under the deck to match. Our BAL-rated decking page explains the levels.

Salt air from the Indian Ocean

Yanchep faces west onto the Indian Ocean, and the whole suburb is within reach of the sea breeze. Fixings are stainless steel, frames are detailed to dry, and composite is the usual board near the water, with oiled hardwood as the alternative for owners who want timber.