Preparation Plato®WOOD terrace planking can be constructed on ground or on pavement. It is of importance that the foundation is flat. Ground can be digged (ca. 10 cm deep) to the planking in the ground. Put a bottom layer of (dark) root cloth on the ground to prevent growth of weeds. Root cloth is not necessary when the planking is placed on pavement.
The under construction Put an under construction on the root cloth or pavement consisting several Plato®WOOD beams (40x66 mm or 66x66 mm). Each beam must be placed on several tiles or clinkers and must be free from the ground. Do not put the tiles/clinkers too far from each other (ca. 50 cm) to prevent bending of the beams. The heart-to-heart distance of the beams should be maximal 500 mm. Add a gravel layer between the beams to put the root cloth out of sight and to obtain a firm placement of the beams. In this case it should be useful to stabilize the beams by nailing a board at the beginning and end the beams. The stabilizing boards can be removed after the first Plato®WOOD planks are fastened. It is not necessary to apply tiles/clinkers when the planking is placed on pavement.
Assembling of the planking Put the Plato®WOOD planks (27x140 mm) at right angles to or under an angle on the under construction layer. Put the individual planks not against each other but use a distance of ca. 1-1,5 cm to allow sufficient ventilation. Apply a distance of 1-1.5 cm between the cross section ends of two boards. Preferably, seal the cross section ends with an appropriate compound. Preferably, the crossing of a plank should be 5 cm (with a maximum of 10 cm). The planks must be fastened with sinked stainless steel particle board screws ∅ 5 x 60 mm (A2- or A4-quality). Pre-drilling the boards and beams (∅ 5 mm) is recommended and if possible the screws should be sinked in the groove of the plank. The Plato®WOOD terrace planking boards should be fastened on the under construction beams in the outer two grooves, i.e. with two screws per fastening place.
Maintenance The surface of Plato®WOOD terrace planking shall be weathered (grey) on a natural way due to the influence of sun light, rain and wind. In dark and moist conditions formation of alga on the wood surface is possible. This can be removed with special cleaning compounds and/or with a high pressure squirt.
