Decking Choices
There are two types of decking, natural which consist of wood, stone, and metal and man made which mainly consist of plastic and composites which are a mixture of wood flour or pulp and plastic resin. Since I don’t do stone or metal, I’ll keep the discussion to wood and man made decking.
First I’ll discuss wood which I’ll divide into to types, domestic and imported. In the USA we have several species of wood which is good to use for decking. The most well known species are redwood, cedar, pine, and fir and cypress. All of these are imported hardwoods from South America but less expensive and easier to work with. Redwood is one of my favorite woods to use for decking because of its beauty and its resistance to decay and insects. Like any wood though, it will rot given the right condition and termites will eat the sapwood. Redwood is the most expensive of the domestic woods used for decking except in parts of California where it grows. There are several grades of redwood and some include sapwood. For decking stick with the grades that contain no sapwood as those will decay much faster than the heart wood. If you can afford it and if its available in your area go with CHR (clear heart redwood) which is all heart wood with no knots. Next choice is 13 heart redwood which is also all heart wood but will have some small knots up to about the size of a dime. The most popular grade for decking is construction heart redwood, it’s all heart wood but does have lots of know and is the most readily available grade at a more affordable price.
Cypress is a great choice for decking but is mainly available in the southern states. Blond in color with smaller knots than most cedar or redwood cypress will make a great looking deck. With its light color it will take colored stains better than most domestic decking woods. Like redwood, it is more expensive than the other boards made of decking are 5/4 x 6 boards so plan on using a minimum of 16″ centers on your joist. Imo cypress is the most resistant to decay of all our domestic decking choices.
Cedar is by far the most popular decking in my area. There are lots of sup-species of cedar with the most well known and used being western red cedar. Western red cedar is nice and colorful, light in weight and easy to work with hence its popularity. It’s also known for being resistant to decay and insects. I have found this claim to be false as I have seen many decks here that were rotted in as few as eight years and have seen many a deck infested with termites. When using cedar it is important to keep your deck well ventilates (like any deck) and keep the leaves off the deck. If using cedar for post be sure to use a post base that has a standoff plate. I recommend that you do not use cedar for low to the ground decks, especially if you do not have good drainage under the deck.
Treated yellow pine is widely used for decking along with the frame. Imo, its best to use treated pine for framing materials only and not the decking. It’s a poor choice for decking because of its instability and because its prone to get large cracks which in turn an turn into large splinters. Low to the ground decks are decks built in marsh like areas are the only places I see it being useful as decking.
Fir, mainly douglas fir is used for decking in the northwestern states. It’s also treated with preservations for framing material in that area. It does have a nice color is pretty stable, which makes it useable for decking. However, it is prone to checking more so than cedar or redwood and can have heavy thick sap seep out of the boards. Doug fir boards do come in some very long lengths so if you have a deck that’s going to be very high off the ground it’s a good choice for post. Imported hardwoods are gaining popularity as a great choice for decking. Ipe is the most well known of the imported hardwoods but certainly not the only good one, it is imo the best of the best. Ipe is now available in most areas and if not it can be ordered from several online sources. Ipe is super hard wood dark brown in (similar to walnut) and is very resistant to decay and bugs. When using a hardwood decking you’ll need good carbide saw blades and drill bits along with plenty of patience. I highly recommend face screwing ipe as opposed to using a hidden fastener system. You can plan on spending more at first, but in the long run it may be the most economical choice. The reason I say this is because an ipe deck will last at least twice as long as cedar, redwood or treated pine deck.
Other South America hardwoods used for decking are garape, cumaru, massaranduba, mahogany and tigerwood. Cumaru is the most like ipe in appearance and hardness, but is not as stable. Garapa is a nice blond colored wood which turns amber in color when exposed to sunlight. It is not as hard as ipe but is still very hard and durable. Garapa is more plentiful in the South American forest, so its cost is quite a bit less than ipe. With cost about the same as redwood it makes a great choice for decking.
Man made boards are becoming very popular for decking now. Most of this is because of these companies marketing their product as “maintenance free” or “low maintenance”. Its not because they look better than wood because they don’t and its not because they are heap just the opposite. If you are considering using a composite for your deck please take the time to research the product and company that makes it. I’ve seen all to often that folks bought a deck using a composite for the decking, spending a small fortune only to be disappointed. Either they found out that their “low maintenance” deck was far from that or worse yet the boards are literally falling apart. Mold has been the biggest problem with these products. If you do get mold on your deck go to the place you bought the decking and get a product specifically made for cleaning.
Tigerwood is a very colorful wood, amber colors with dark streaks thru it, much like the color of a tiger. With cost close to the same as garapa it makes another great choice for decking for those who like the colors. Massaranduba and mahogany are both darker colored hardwoods with reddish hues. Mahogany has a nice straight grain but is known to check more so than the other hardwoods so its best to apply a stain/sealer right away after installation. Like ipe I recommend face screwing with stainless steel trimhead screws. Head coat make some screws with powder coated heads that I like to use with hardwood decking. Screw placement should be 1/2″ to no more than 3/4″ from the outside edge of the boards. Its also a good idea to use construction adhesive on top of your joist when installation hardwood decking.
Mold off decks… Do not use bleach to clean the mold spots as this will only cause it to come back worse. When doing your research be sure to check out the company’s history of paying out claims. Many of these composite companies have folded up shop leaving their customers with worthless warranties. Buy only from a strong company with a good track record or you could be one of those folks holding a warranty that’s only worth as much as the paper its written on.
Since there are so many companies making composite I cant give a review of them all, besides I haven’t used all of them anyway. I will write a monthly blog reviewing each product that I have used.