Shelley Craft’s Latest Outdoor Decking Project

When it comes to outdoor decking projects, Shelley Craft is no stranger to what is involved. With a long history of hosting some of Australia’s most popular DIY Television shows, from The Great Outdoors to Domestic Blitz and more recently The Block, Shelley knew what she was in for when it came to building her house and ensuring it achieved a great outdoor space that all Australian’s love!

When it came to Shelley’s outdoor room, she wanted to create the ultimate indoor-outdoor living space, given Byron Bay has an enviable climate they wanted to create an all-year-round outdoor entertaining area. The focus was to create an indoor-outdoor flow from the kitchen and living areas to the pool and garden with a mix of an internal courtyard and internal garden.

Initially, Shelley wanted sandstone to cover both the indoor-outdoor areas, but due to the block size, this didn’t allow enough fall for optimal runoff. With Outdure’s QwickBuild system it enabled Shelley to create that important flow – a level, flush-finish with no ‘step down’ between the interior floor and outdoor deck, plus it also allowed the drainage to be placed underneath the decking, making it the perfect solution. The choice of hardwood has created a warmer more relaxed resort feel than sandstone would have achieved. “I also love the fact that QwickBuild can support a variety of surfaces, while we chose hardwood, knowing that I could add artificial turf to the outdoor decking system has given me new ideas!”

We asked Shelley what is the most important thing when is comes to creating your outdoor space? “Keep it practical for your family, while everyone would love to include a fire pit, pizza oven, cubby space for animals, veggie patch etc you can’t have everything. So select what works for your family and space and what you have time to manage.”

When it comes to practical – Outdure’s QwickBuild Exterior Flooring System has many practical benefits for both homeowners, DIY’ers, Builders & Installers.

1. First off, QwickBuild can be used for all types of new or renovation outdoor deck or tile projects due to its innovative patented design. It can be built over any substrate (concrete, existing pavers, natural ground or membrane). Which means it can be easily used as a structural solution for a standard outdoor backyard deck, to rooftops and small balconies, that can be seen here on The Block.

2. Given the QwickBuild framework is aluminium, it is lightweight with minimal waste and it is termite-proof, durable (so is low maintenance just like Shelley likes it!), which is a double bonus, because:

a. QwickBuild is extremely easy and fast to install, we also provide you with easy-to-follow plans and instructions. Perfect not only for builders and installers but also any DIYers out there. We have been told by many of our installer network that building a QwickBuild frame can be half the time and require half the labour than a standard timber decking frame.

b. Which brings us to the second benefit – with architectural trends of low height decks (to achieve that valuable indoor-outdoor flow) you need an alternative to a timber sub-frame. With Australian harsh weather and decks often built over the moist ground, they are prone to rot over time. With QwickBuild, we can guarantee it doesn’t rot or buckle in the hot sun, so your frame will be perfectly straight from the time it is built and form many years to come

3. While Shelley chose hardwood as her surface, Qwickbuild is so versatile you can actually choose the any surface and look you want. Select from:

a. Our ResortDeck range one of the most natural looking recycled composite decking boards available on the market. The boards come with our UltraShield capped Technology, so are splinter free, termite-proof and fade and mould resistant. So require very little maintenance with no need for future staining or oiling.
b. If tiles or pavers are more the look you are after, then our deck framing system can be laid quickly and easily with our structural exterior tile ranges. They come with a high non-slip rating, no grouting is required and they are extremely easy to clean and maintain
c. If would like a bit of green into your outdoor decking project, our UltraPlush Turf can also be laid on QwickBuild aluminium turf baseboards. Made from soft, strong fibres that are easy to care for and best of all doesn’t need any mowing!
d. If natural hardwood timber is the look you are trying to achieve, like Shelley has for her outdoor deck. QwickBuild has a specially designed profile to make it easy to top fix any hardwood decking.

Some must haves for Shelley was low maintenance for her outdoor space, while Shelley loves plants, with her busy schedule gardening isn’t something she has time for, so as a solution she opted for garden beds with plants that don’t drop too many leaves. A BBQ was a must for entertaining and cooking, along with the indoor-outdoor flow that we could achieve with QwickBuild. Ultimately Shelley’s advice is “your outdoor space is your sanctuary, so make sure it brings more joy than headaches!”

So, like Shelley said, “it’s back to outdoor living”, we believe that your perfect outdoor living space should be easy to create and be designed from products that last. So, if you are looking at creating and building a beautiful, durable and low maintenance outdoor space whether you are a DIYer, Builder or Installer we would love to help you. Contact us today with your next project, our team of specialist are here to help and will support you with full plans and easy to follow installation instructions.