The usage of decking has increased on a par with the popularity of roof top spaces within the UK's cities, as developers, the public and businesses alike look to their roof spaces as communal and recreational areas. But the implementation of both paving and decking within such zones is not always practical, with much of the challenge down to constructing surfaces with limited ehight constructional depth and the need to retain a ventilated void beneath the surface.

But developers and landscape architects should not be deterred. Dedicated decking support and paving support pedestals make installing patio and decking areas extremely practical and cost effective too. Also referred to as decking support pads and paving support slabs, pedestals are height adjustable, high load bearing fixtures that allow for paving and decking to be installed across uneven, hard roof top areas. With the ability to elevate paving and decking from as little as 12mm to in excess of a full metreventilation and drainage is provided, roof gradients can be overcome and services ducting can also be easily spanned.

A pedestal system coming to the attention of landscape architects and developers is the Raaft range of paving and deck support pedestals. A division of Kinley Systems, Raaft has been supplying its leading range of Terrafina wood-polymer non-slip composite decking to the landscape industry for a number of years. Due to the product's engineered design, effortless installation and hard-wearing nature, it has proved itself invaluable time and time again to balcony and roof garden designs. Thanks to the new SpiraPave and VersiJack decking support and paving support pedestals, installing composite decking and paving within these roof-top environments has now become much more easily attainable.

SpiraPave is a twist-action decking and paving support pedestal system. Competitively priced, SpiraPave elevates paving and decking in 1mm increments from as little as 12mm, resulting in extremely level installations. The pedestals are also very durable, manufactured using a recycled polypropylene that can withstand weights up to 20KN. And with a versatile range of accessories, SpiraPave can be used for paving or decking bearers and joists.
Available as a standalone system, but also compatible with SpiraPave, VersiJack is Raaft'sscrew-action adjustable pedestal and can elevate decking and paving to over one full metre.

So today, the question is not €can we install non-slip composite decking or paving within our balcony or roof garden designs€, it's €how do we install them€. And the answer is simple: using Raaft's Spirapave and VersiJack paving and decking support pedestals.