On Sun, 05 May 2013 12:22:21 -0400, George
wrote:

On 5/5/2013 9:50 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Sun, 5 May 2013 07:47:58 -0500, "AngryOldWhiteGuy"
wrote:

I used hand-picked 5\4 x 6 PT pine decking to resurface my deck and I wasn't
too happy with how much the decking shrunk - I guess I should have stacked
it outside to air dry for a while (week or two?)

Several months, perhaps.

before screwing it onto the
deck joists - my mistake, I guess, live and learn. The other problem I saw
was that even though I oriented the wood correctly based on the direction or
the ring pattern visible at the end of the board, I saw a fair amount of
cupping (ends turning up) - maybe that's due to the 5\4 thickness versus the
thickness of a traditional 2 x 6. And, I found that I should have bought
16' lengths versus trying to save a few bucks using shorter lengths and
butting them together - with the shrinkage, there's a fair bit of space
between ends where they butted together - yeah, in the middle of the deck
surface - looks terrible.

Most of the PT we see in these parts is Southern Yellow Pine. It's
strength is that it is somewhat resistant to rot already, and if
fairly stiff. But it cracks, splinters, cups, and twists to beat the
band. It just ain't pretty after a year outside.


Our decking is 5/4" PT southern yellow pine. I bought higher quality
wood for less at a local lumber yard. It is about 7 years old and has
held up really well



LOL, I learned a lot.

As to replacing the decking - composite or plastic decking is out of my
price range - I was going to use 16' 2 x 6s - and I'm trying to decide
between PT pine or cedar - cedar prices out at 2X PT pine.

My objection to cedar [and redwood] for decking is it's softness. If
it is a pool deck that will be mostly trod on with bare feet, then
cedar would be fine. Even a deck off the LR that will get light
use will probably not suffer too much. But if it is an entranceway,
or will enjoy a lot of traffic with shoes and clod hoppers from the
garden-- then I'd pass on those 2.

Will I expreience the same amount of shrinkage with smooth sided cedar
versus PT pine? Would I need to let either of them dry before screwing them
to the joists? Any special type of screw to use with cedar, versus the
DeckScrews I used on the PT pine, if I go with cedar?

Cedar won't shrink as much and is less likely to split. but it will
need annual cleaning, sealing, and occasional sanding.

You might want to look into the composite stuff some more. Last
time I looked it was getting down to the price of good cedar-- and
takes a whole lot less maintenance.

How long will you be there?

And then there's Ipe, or mahogany. . . .

Jim

The problem with MOST pressure treated wood is it is FAR from dry.
I've had it actually spray water out of it when cutting with a
circular say. GUARANTEED to shrink, warp, and split when you nail it
down in the sun.