Browse Forums Outdoor Living 1 Aug 09, 2010 12:06 am Hi there we are in the middle of deciding what to do about our courtyard.... for those who have already built decking do you find you have had problems in regards to buckling and maintenance or has it been smooth sailing?????? Have had lots of mixed opinions... Any images or pros and cons would be sooo appreciated.. Building a new home.. paranoid about colour selections.. - Slab Poured December 2009 - painted, tiled,plumbing installed,shower installed,kitchen installed... Next stage for painting touch up, portico and gate, carpets!... so excited! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 2Aug 09, 2010 12:23 am Hi, I've not got any decking myself, but a mate of mine had some that was constructed using treated pine. I think he may have secured it with a nail gun. He didn't really do much in the way of maintenance, and in a couple of years, it looked pretty terrible. The boards warped and cupped and pulled away from the underlying frame. It always looked pretty shabby and didn't get used all that much in the end. He ended up ripping it all out and putting in some fake lawn. Now the only maintenance he has is a monthly vacuum While I know this is a poor example, it is worth bearing in mind that if you are going to do it, make sure it's done properly and maintened well. I think if that is all looked after, then your deck will provide you with years of enjoyment. Best of luck. Chris Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 3Aug 09, 2010 12:30 am Thank you Chris. That definitely gives me good insight. I would rather make the right decision then make the wrong one and have to go through what you friend did and rip it up Cheers Building a new home.. paranoid about colour selections.. - Slab Poured December 2009 - painted, tiled,plumbing installed,shower installed,kitchen installed... Next stage for painting touch up, portico and gate, carpets!... so excited! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 4Aug 09, 2010 12:36 am I don't mean to put you off decking with my story. I was merely suggesting that in order for it to be worthwhile, it needs to be done right, and maintained. Best of luck with whatever you choose. Chris Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 5Aug 09, 2010 8:09 am I believe your choice of wood that you pick is quite critical. From the limited information I know, I don't think that treated pine is appropriate for a deck unless you want something cheap and that will not last you long. Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 6Aug 09, 2010 10:40 am I have decking both front and back. The front is an entrance way made with treated pine and as mentioned before if not done properly will warp. For me, being an entrance was no real big deal as i was not entertaining out the front. It needs re-staining once a year, mabe twice if your lucky, no biggie. As for the back i went merbu. Best thing since sliced bread. hasnt warped at all strong as buggerey and very very good. We put it on a hardwood frame which wasnt really needed, that and the guys were ** because they struggled putting the nails in. A few points to think about for decking: Use everything galvanised..you dont want rusting...nails should be the ones with the twist thread (i think thats what they're called) as they are driven into the wood the twist and wont budge. Think about putting a picture frame around the boarder, looks great. Pre-drill all holes to be nailed....wont split the wood that way. One last point, if you can, get long lenghts of wood. Looks much much better if there are limited to no joins in your deck. Good luck, and imho decks are a winner Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 7Aug 09, 2010 3:20 pm Thank you so much,I will forward this to my brother. do you have any pictures? Building a new home.. paranoid about colour selections.. - Slab Poured December 2009 - painted, tiled,plumbing installed,shower installed,kitchen installed... Next stage for painting touch up, portico and gate, carpets!... so excited! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 8Aug 09, 2010 8:44 pm Treated pine will not rot but will probably warp the most, it splits a fair bit too. Merbau and Ironbark I have found to be brilliant, as long as they are installed correctly. Spotted gum not bad either, a bit more prone to warping and cupping in thicker sizes though. Planned Landscape Constructions http://www.plannedlandscape.com.au Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9907611509 Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 9Aug 14, 2010 5:05 pm Thank you, whats the main thing to remember about installation? Building a new home.. paranoid about colour selections.. - Slab Poured December 2009 - painted, tiled,plumbing installed,shower installed,kitchen installed... Next stage for painting touch up, portico and gate, carpets!... so excited! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 10Aug 14, 2010 5:07 pm we're building a deck at the moment with merbau, of course it costs more but better as it looks great, doesnt warp etc. there was a treated pine deck in the unit we lived in while building which sucked Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 11Aug 14, 2010 5:28 pm angie_tak Thank you, whats the main thing to remember about installation? Make sure you use F7 timber for your framework, which is the exterior grade treated pine. Space your joists at 450mm centres so you can nail/screw your deck at intervals which will stop any bounce or warping with your deck. Deck spacing is personal preference, we usually use a nail as a spacer (3mm), or a wooden ruler (4mm). Just make sure you check your parallel with your laying every few boards and straighten any warped lengths, measure back from your starting point to determine the parallel. Use the twist shank deck nails and pre-drill your merbau or it splits, or you can also use stainless screws. Planned Landscape Constructions http://www.plannedlandscape.com.au Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9907611509 Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 12Aug 14, 2010 11:24 pm Planned LScape ...pre-drill your merbau or it splits, or you can also use stainless screws. Do Batu boards split if not pre-drilled? When would you choose nails over screws? What are the pro's and cons of nails vs screws? I would have thought screws provide a stronger bond to the underlying frame. Thanks, Chris Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 13Aug 15, 2010 4:54 pm Batu is very similar to Merbau and is a hard and durable timber. Pre-drilling would be worthwhile as if you are nailing, the wood is very hard to drive a nail through, they bend quite easily into hard timber. In terms of nails vs screws, probably personal preference really. Screws would be a bit more stronger obviously, but the twist shank nails also last years. You will need a special bit to screws in the screws, the stainless square insert head ones look nice. Pretty pricey though. Planned Landscape Constructions http://www.plannedlandscape.com.au Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9907611509 Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 14Aug 15, 2010 7:33 pm thank you everyone... many thanks on the tips planned Lscape... its good to get some insight Building a new home.. paranoid about colour selections.. - Slab Poured December 2009 - painted, tiled,plumbing installed,shower installed,kitchen installed... Next stage for painting touch up, portico and gate, carpets!... so excited! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 15Aug 15, 2010 8:39 pm cmooring Planned LScape ...pre-drill your merbau or it splits, or you can also use stainless screws. What are the pro's and cons of nails vs screws? I would have thought screws provide a stronger bond to the underlying frame. Thanks, Chris I say definitely use screws, preferably stainless if it wont stretch a budget. You can then lift boards as required, which is a good thing if its close to the house and you want to do an annual termite inspection. When pre-drilling hardwood, I recommend using a SmartBit (#10 flat for 10g stainless screws). It allows for a perfect countersink hole every time and makes the process much easier. Only about $35. The only drawback with stainless is they are quite soft so either lightly oil the thread as our putting them in or use an impact drill. I put down 500 last weekend and didnt snap one or round the head by using an impact drill. Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 16Aug 15, 2010 10:15 pm Sierra You can then lift boards as required, which is a good thing if its close to the house and you want to do an annual termite inspection. Great point! I am not using the boards for decking, but for a LONG bench that I will be putting in at some point. I will just wait until the rain eases up a bit Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 17Aug 23, 2010 3:53 am cmooring Sierra You can then lift boards as required, which is a good thing if its close to the house and you want to do an annual termite inspection. Great point! I am not using the boards for decking, but for a LONG bench that I will be putting in at some point. I will just wait until the rain eases up a bit Me too I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Decking pro's and cons pplleeaaassee 18Aug 24, 2010 9:32 am We had Batu decking at our old house and it was fantastic. Over 22 years, it held up beautifully - we stained it maybe half a dozen times (less often than we should have ), and never had a problem with it. This time we've used Spotted Gum, which looks beautiful, but as Rod pointed out, it tends to warp and cup more. You have to choose your boards very carefully. The main reason we went with that timber was price and availability at the time. Definitely pre-drill all holes with hardwood or there'll be tears.... No staining this time, we're using a clear decking treatment instead. It needs re-applying every 12 months, but that's a piece of cake with a lambswool pad on a long-handled applicator. And it cleans up in water. Looks much better than a stain. Just finished and pre-oiling: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It's not warped, that's the wide-angle lens: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ After an application of Ultra Deck: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ AFAIK, flashing is a minimum standard. Out of curiosity is your window glass stamped with AS requirements in any of the corners of each pane? Im almost certan if theyre… 2 6286 4 14468 Hi, as per the subject. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best value decking oil (Bunning is close to where I live) for a treated pine deck? Thanks 0 10976 |