On 6/3/10 5:07 PM, Jay Pique wrote:
Yeah, I never understood that.
I guess I can see it for composite, but not treated.
Pressure treated lumber has something like 30% moisture content.
Those things shrink at least 1/4". Even Cedar is going shrink some.

I use a pry bar to squeeze treated decking boards together as tight as I
can, so when they shrink, there's a small gap... as you described. I see
so many decks with 1/2"+ gaps in the decking. I immediately think, "yep,
they used a spacer to set a gap."

I think that depends on how wet your wood is when you install it.
I've seen decks that were installed like that and they still have no
space between the boards so now water just pools up and you get green
mildew all over it in a hurry. Unless it was dead sopping I'd use
some sort of spacer.

JP

I've seen dried out green wood at the home stores, but I would never by
it because it's always twisted. It probably varies with region, but
around here, the green stuff weighs 2-3 times that of dry lumber.
That's all moisture... 70-80% of which will dry out.

I've seen that there are newer techniques for treating lumber that don't
involve pumping it full of liquid. I think that's better for all of us.


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