MegaSack DRAW - 6pm Christmas Eve - LIVE on our YouTube Channel
Hello
So, due to my trusting someone else to tell me how many boards I need and what spacing to use ... I now find they were wrong!
Choices are -
to use 7mm spacing and have a 10mm shortage at far end. Seems a big gap and I’m unsure whether timber will swell or shrink?
To use 3mm gap and hope to somehow get another single length of 3.6m deck board to my house - seems a small gap?
Ta, (I hate decking now, I really hate it)
Not a carpenter, but I did build a deck. Put the boards down at 3mm gap. They shrank at least 4mm over 2 weeks in the sun, and the chair legs were going to get stuck in the gaps. Took the boards back up and closed up the gaps to 3mm again. They have been fine since.
It depends how seasoned the boards are to start with. Mine were (it turns out) quite unseasoned so they shrank a lot. Your boards may be different. Sorry, that's the best I can offer.
7mm is a tad big tbh, I use 4mm tile spacers.
I love doing decking, but I just get on with it, yours is in sagrada familia territory build-wise!
The timber has been sat in the garage for about 2 months so probably fairly dry ish?
And yes, Spanish cathedral it won’t be.
You should be glad I’ve not posted every time I’ve had a query 🙂🤔
The mobile filth pond has arrived so I need to get on with it
What width are grooves? Replicate that.
10mm isn't anything to worry about, once it's full of leaves etc... unless you're going to post bike pictures and reveal your shame!
Next question - I’ve lugged all my timber from the garage to the garden and have laid one board.
If it starts raining do I need to hoik it all back into the dry or leave it and hope it dries evenly tomorrow?
Why can’t wood be more like metal or ummm IT?
Grooves appear 7mm at their widest..
I'd use the narrowest dimension (5mm?)
But that's just my opinion - lay some down and see which gap appeals.
Have you got packers? Itll be an arse measuring the gap each time.
go smaller rather than bigger. I used decking screws as the spacers, which was what my (pro joiner) neighbour suggested.
They have shrunk a bit over the years but not hugely. They're now just the perfect size for a valve cap (presta, the gaps aren't scraeder big!) to fall through. As I just found out.
7mm (gaps) now will be 3mm in the winter.
Sooo confused - so will they expand or shrink in the LONG term?! 🤔
Sooo confused – so will they expand or shrink in the LONG term?!
That depends.
Do you mean the gaps or the boards?
Both! They'll contract when its dry (wider gap) and expand when wet (narrower gap) - dont overthink it, get em slapped down!
I did ours with a 5mm gap that currently measures 6 - 7
I'll check again in November.
They swell/shrink a lot , make your own master spacers from an offcut of something one for each end of the board , 7mm is too much for boards that are not sun dried - the gap will open up , depending on how you feel just choose 4 or 5 mm , once you get going its quickly done.
The boards should be straight but you can "adjust" clamp/lever them if there is a bit of bend, they stay straight once screwed down.
I had a 4mm gap, but with composite boards.
Another tip I did was to measure out the with of,say, every 5th board, and chalk line that on teh timbers you're laying on.
So if the boards are 100mm wide, and the gap is 4mm, measure out (104*5) 520mm from the wall/start, and carry on measuring out every 520mm before laying a decking.Then screw a board in to THAT line first. That way, you know you that every 5 boards you'll be 'on target', as losing a few mm in teh gap here and there is easy, and if you just 'go by the last board' each time, but the final one you could be way off....
DrP
They shrink in summer, swell in winter. I use a metal bracket for spacing, approx 2mm.
and hope to somehow get another single length of 3.6m deck board to my house
Am I the only one worried that the OP seems to only have ordered exactly the right amount of deck boards with no spares?
Best hope none are split or warped.
Do you mean the gaps or the boards?
I know it's Perchy but still deserves some recognition I think
I wish I had opened this thread, I’ve got a deck to build. I was just going to whack in some 4mm tile spacers and hope for the best. I’m also laying them “upside down” to hide the grooves.
I’m also laying them “upside down” to hide the grooves.
a year round ice-rink? sounds fun
I laid mine tight, wish I'd left a couple of mm. Been ok, just takes time to drain sometimes.
Yellow Michelin tyre levers are around 3mm gap. I used those.
The only decks I've seen that are slippy are ones that haven't been treated properly, neglected, or built under trees. Grooves make no difference IME.
I've 2 decks in the garden, soon to be 3 when I do the French door landing too, no issues.
a year round ice-rink? sounds fun
The grooves collect water and grime meaning you need to clean more often. The grooves are more likely to splinter.
OP, use something like this...
You have your spacer and it aids airflow between the joists and the deck meaning you're decking should last a good few years longer.
Grooves make no difference IME
Horses for courses. It reminds me of the huge plough the Forestry commission use when they plant a new forest. In SE England, they plant the trees in the grooves so that the young trees get whatever rainwater is about. In Scotland, they plant on the ridges to avoid the roots rotting through overwatering.
I'm not planting trees on my decking though, so that's really irrelevant. 🙂
My decks are in a north facing garden, in the west of scotland, so I'm pretty au fait with how it works.
Soo.... I’ve begun stuffing them down with what I estimate is a 3mm gap (a nails width).
However, what I’ve noticed is that none of the boards seem to be straight - if I butt up one end against my nail I have a 3/4 inch gap the other end? Is that normal? They’re 3.7M lengths so I suppose that’s not a crazy amount over the length?!
Very normal.
Get yourself a clamp that'll cover two boards width and pull the pissed wood straight.
Just put a few nail spacers down the length of the board, bend it straight and screw it down fast.
^^ yep, that’s what I’ve been doing but has resulted in ahem a few stick nails
:-S
