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Deck planning
Plan a Tarimatec deck before you order a board
Five free tools that turn a deck size into a real bill of materials: how many boards, how many metres of joist, how many clips and anchors, how wide the end gaps have to be, and what a colour actually looks like outdoors. Every figure comes from Tarimatec's Manual Tecnico 2023 and the tested product data, and the standard is cited beside each number.
The five planning tools
Board, joist and clip calculator
Enter deck length and width in feet or metres, pick hollow or solid, and set the direction the boards run. Returns 2,500 mm board count, joist linear metres at 350 mm centres, clips at 25 per square metre, anchors at 500 mm, fascia and screws.
Board estimator
The quick one. How many square metres, how many linear metres of board, and how many 2,500 mm boards, with a waste allowance. Same arithmetic as the full calculator, four fields instead of eight.
Expansion gap guide
Composite boards move with temperature. Set the board length and the temperature you will be installing at, and this returns the end gap to leave, with the thermal expansion arithmetic shown and a printable table of every combination.
Edge and stair details
Drawn sections for the details that decide whether a deck looks finished: 180 x 10 mm fascia, hollow board end caps, stair nosings, wall abutments and rooftop edges, with the slip and fire classifications that apply to each.
Colour visualizer
See a Tarimatec colour laid across a real deck scene instead of guessing from a 100 mm chip. Switch scenes, switch colours, and jump straight to the colour page or a paid sample when one holds your attention.
Once the quantities are settled
How Tarimatec installs
The concealed aluminium sub-frame, the hidden clip, ventilation, falls and drainage, and the sequence a crew works in. Read this before you buy anything, because the substructure decides most of the cost.
Deck cost calculator
Once you know the quantities, put a Canadian dollar figure against them. The cost calculator prices the material by collection and profile from the current Canadian tarifa, before taxes, freight and installation.
Order samples
No screen shows a composite surface honestly. Paid sample tiles ship from Vaughan, Ontario in 5 to 10 business days so you can see the colour in your own light, wet and dry, before committing a whole deck to it.
What every tool on this page assumes
| Assumption | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Board section, hollow | 150 x 27 mm | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Board section, solid | 149.2 x 20 mm | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Board length | 2,500 mm, tolerance 10 mm | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Side gap between boards | 5 mm, set by the hidden H clip | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Joist spacing | 350 mm maximum; 250 mm in tropical conditions | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Joist section | Aluminium 30 x 50 mm, EN AW 6005 T6 | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Clip density | 25 clips per square metre, AISI 304L; 316L in saline air | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Fixing screw | DIN 7504P A2, 4.2 x 25 mm | Manual Tecnico 2023 |
| Thermal expansion | 2.81 x 10 to the minus 5 per degree C | UNE 53126 |
| Slip resistance | Class 3 (R11) | UNE-ENV 12633 |
| Fire reaction | Bfl-s1 | UNE-EN 13501-1 |
| Roof covering classification | Broof(t1), hollow profile | UNE-ENV 1187 |
| Board weight | 17.1 kg per square metre hollow; 23.9 kg solid | EPD S-P-07588 |
What these tools deliberately do not do
- They carry no prices. Quantities are the same whoever supplies the boards; money is a separate conversation, and it happens on the cost calculator or in a written quote.
- They are not a structural design. Joist spacing, bearer sizing, pedestal loading and any elevated or rooftop structure need a designer who has seen the site and the loads.
- They do not replace the installation manual. Treat every output as a first-pass take-off to check against the manual and against a site measure before anything is ordered.
- They assume a straight rectangular deck laid in one direction. Cut-outs, mitres, picture framing, herringbone and multi-level decks all raise the board and clip count above what these tools return.
Why the numbers look different from a wood deck
A Tarimatec deck is not a wood deck with different boards on it. The board is a PVC mineral composite of PVC, rice husk and limestone, it sits on an aluminium joist at 350 mm centres rather than a timber joist at 400 or 600 mm, and it is held down by a stainless hidden clip rather than a face screw. That is why the joist count is higher than a builder expects and why there are no visible fasteners to count.
The 350 mm spacing is the single figure people get wrong most often. Timber decking at 400 mm centres feels normal; at 400 mm a Tarimatec board is unsupported past its rating and the deck will feel soft underfoot. The calculators here will not let you set a wider spacing, because Tarimatec's manufacturer warranty, administered in Canada by Zinodeck, assumes the specified substructure.
Have the numbers? Get them priced.
Send us your take-off and we will quote the boards, the aluminium substructure, the clips and the fixings in Canadian dollars, with the lead time stated. Boards are import to order, so plan on 8 to 12 weeks from a confirmed order.
Get a project quote