I want to deck a bit of patio but the main drain cover is in the middle of it.....

[padboz]

impossible?

could you make a hatch?

Do what pixelherder suggests. You just need to be able to access it if necessary (and I've only ever opened mine once in six years

Have you thought seriously about decking - we rented a house last year whilst waiting for our house to complete that had decking - it was awful when wet, children had numerous grazes and bashes by the end of the rental and we were only there for 9 weeks!

Also read an article in one of the property sections relatively recently (Times or Telegraph...can't remember which) of things that reduce the value of your property and decking was there I am afraid to say.

Don't want to pour cold water on your plans but just so you know

Well theres a main drain and a man hole cover that serves the whole street so I think it might look a bit odd with two hatches - its only a tiny space - about the size of a double bed. The main reason for it is to hide the damn things in my back garden.

its just that they are so ugly - I cant think what else I can do to hide them. Plus theres a massive drop thats dangerous to the kids if they ever managed to open them.

Decking is so slippery and dangerous most of the time. Frost, rain and snow make it a nightmare. Can't wait to get rid of ours. It's dangerous. I wouldn't put decking up.

cripes - that sounds more dangerous than the man hole covers!

might have to start another thread - but has anyone got any other ideas?

How about having patio or blocks laid instead? We had this done in our last house and there was a manhole cover thingie which blended in with the York Stone.

....does this make sense?

Large pot/tub with flowers/bush placed over the manhole?

We are thinking of putting a conservatory over ours!

My decking is fine - grooved decking that is properly maintained is NOT slippy, I have had it five years with two young kids and no one has ever slipped

If you use screws instead of nails then you can easily lift a couple of decking boards if you need to access the drain

i want decking. Am having taste anxiety now though... What do you have to do to maintain it MP? Is it a faff? Cos I'm lazy.

No I powerwash it once a year and paint decking preservative on it which repells water - maybe a morning a year?

I doubt very much that decking decreases house value unless you have a million pound victoria terrace - personally I prefer decking to patios, which I think are rather 1970s ... and are harder on little heads!

We had that and the carpenters left a piece that could be unscrewed and it wasn't v noticeable at all.

This weekend I built a retaining wall with a tunnel underneath in the shape of a castle from decking

I'm so MANLY

Go, MP! (do you wanna build my deck?)

Our decking is treated twice yearly after powerwashing. It's still slippy. But it's up to you. It can look nice, I think. But it's a lot of maintenance.

you need GROOVED decking

The house we rented had grooved decking....still was really slippy following summer showers....

who wants to prance around in the garden in the rain anyway

we've never had ecking but our neighbours did in our old house. very large area big enough to ride bikes on and.......................................................................................the noise was horrendous! drumming and rumbling at every hour of the day. looked nice, not sure how slippy but very noisey!

following summer showers not during...I was indoors staring at our summer

i agree with mp, we had decking at our old house, grooved stuff. loved it, never slipped on it once, doesn't really need any more maintenance than a paved patio

oh crap. Now I have to make a decision....

Can't someone bolshy tell me what I MUST do?