[686 AR15 G17Fan]

Might not be what you want to hear but only a fool uses PT deck material, go be poor somewhere else. :dunno:

I seem to be repeating myself, BUT please enlighten us all on why PT wood is bad

 

[Haldor]

IPE has been used at my workplace in several areas. It needs to be treated with teak oil a couple times a year. It is a very hard wood and grays rather quickly if not treated. Having seen firsthand how it reacts to Maine winters i would not recommend it anywhere that snow will be present. It just does not hold up to prolonged freezing/wet conditions.

How does is handle intense sunlight? I live in Arizona.

 

[ReaPer105]

It shrank a lot more than I expected and it's dangerous on the deck if I'm wearing my spike heels.

:freak:
If you wear spike heels men will think you know your way around a deck.

 

[Rinspeed]

I seem to be repeating myself, BUT please enlighten us all on why PT wood is bad

Nothing wrong with PT deck boards other than it's expensive and a pain in the ass to refinish every other year. Composite is so much nicer to work with and it doesn't split or crack and you don't get splinters. It also will look good for years with minimal care. Sure it's expensive but it's worth every penny.

 

[10or45]

I've been told by people who know that you should get the decking at a lumber yard. The stuff at the big box stores is 3rd rate and will split after awhile.

Definitely order from lumberyard. It is better quality and they will deliver 10% extra usually also.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

If that's your work, I nominate you a King Deck Builder; I won't even ask how much the deck system was worth, let alone the house when it hit the market.

His deck always gets folks attention.

 

[papershoot]

I demolished and rebuilt my deck with pressure treated two years ago. I used 2x6's for the deck boards and butted them up against each other before screwing them down. They do shrink some as they dry out.
I installed cumaru flooring inside and love it. Cumaru is not recommended for low decks with poor ventilation. An exotic hardwood would have been a major pain to install on a deck, but I did consider it.

 

[orangejeep06]

How does is handle intense sunlight? I live in Arizona.

Our summers are a little over three months of the year so i don’t know but i saw firsthand that snow/ice wreaks havoc with the attachment system used to hold the boards in place. The Ipe decks that were installed up here had no visible screws in the wood but rather were attached from the side/underneath.

 

[selogic]

No spacing on PT wood ever . Decking , fence boards , nothing .

 

[Gonzoso]

Yeah....be careful with spacing the new "wet" crap they sell. It shrank a lot more than I expected and it's dangerous on the deck if I'm wearing my spike heels. Also seems the stuff cups a lot more than it used to, so pay attention to the end grain and lay it "frowning" so the board doesn't end up being a rain gutter.

The stuff that was going out post covid was rough. It was so wet it was almost dripping when I picked it up from the lumber yard. Where it's most noticeable I made two gates which I made some miter cuts in. The gate in the front of my house shrunk rapidly in the sun and warped and developed spaces. The gate on my side porch has been gradually drying and has no such issues. The flight of stairs I did dried up and shrank quite a bit though.

I'm holding off on doing any more PT stuff until next year when this all slows down, or if I do I'll buy it and let it sit a few weeks/months before I use it.

 

[Hef]

If that's your work, I nominate you a King Deck Builder; I won't even ask how much the deck system was worth, let alone the house when it hit the market.

Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. I came up with the design concept, developed it into a working plan, and managed the construction of this project. I built just the first few panels with the carpenters, so it's really their work more than mine. I'll pass along your compliment.

 

[Detectorist]

To reiterate, treated wood needs to be butted against each other due to shrinkage. I'll be 69 next month, so I know about shrinkage.

 

[longhair]

We have a kiln dried pressure treated decking boards here. You must space them or they will buckle.

 

[Lazy R]

I used fast growing south american hardwood for mine. They called this stuff Mangaris; there are several species very similar. It's extremely dense and heavy. It cost me a bit less than Trex would have. I just put some Flood sealer on it every year and it's holding up well. 12 years of Montana winters and going strong.

 

[FoatieFiveACP]

To reiterate, treated wood needs to be butted against each other due to shrinkage. I'll be 69 next month, so I know about shrinkage.

That's right. I re-built my deck 3 years ago. I butted the PT boards up tightly together, and now they are all at a perfect 1/4" or so spacing apart.

I never could understand why people insisted that boards be spaced apart when I did carpentry for a living for a while, long ago.

 

[67ray]

I've done decks and fences with PT. I won't go that way again.



No spaces between boards on the deck, yes there was shrinkage and a lot more than I wanted, like 3/8"-1/2" gaps. And some of the boards had so much space they warped sideways so the 3/8" was not even all around. I used an underside hardware solution and it meant some boards were loose too. When I pulled it all up i think I added 5 boards to bring it all snug again.



The fence was the same deal. Very unsatisfied with it. In that case I left a 1 inch gap but the shrinkage warped the boards at the tops so the pickets weren't even, Argh.



Oh and for either use deck screws not nails. Even the ringed nails could not stand the warping and I had to replace most of them.



Use composite, Ipe sounds great but it is difficult to cut and has to be treated at least once per year. Plus you have to use stainless steel hardware, Not worth it.

 

[Kentak]

The number one advice I'd give to anyone building a deck is to not use wood. At least for the deck surface, use a good quality composite material. The better stuff looks very similar to wood and has none of the headaches.

I rebuilt my original pressure treated wood deck almost 15 years ago using composite. Yes, it costs considerably more but will save many times over in annual maintenance (and time) and premature replacement. No painting or staining needed. The damn thing looks almost as good as when it was built.

It doesn't warp, split, cup, splinter, etc., etc. The only maintenance I do is a springtime pressure washing which takes me less than a day, and that's it for the season.