"Reversible decking boards" Please explain!
AL_z
I'm building some raised decking in the garden so that I can sit out and
see the view over the tall garden wall. The decking boards I bought have
8mm grooves cut in one side. The other side is flat.
I know most people have the grooves uppermost. I presume that is to improve
grip when the boards are wet, is it?
Since I can;t imagine needing to use the decking when it's wet, I'm
wondering if I'd be wiser to fix them with the flat side up. That way,
rainwater can't collect in the grooves and hasten rot. I'm thinking the
boards will dry out quicker if the flat side is uppermost.
What do you all think?
Thanks
Al
Phil L
> I'm building some raised decking in the garden so that I can sit out
> and see the view over the tall garden wall. The decking boards I
> bought have 8mm grooves cut in one side. The other side is flat.
>
> I know most people have the grooves uppermost. I presume that is to
> improve grip when the boards are wet, is it?
>
No, it's to improve grip when the boards have gone green with algae, which
they will do pretty soon after installation, this stays slippery even when
it's a dry day.
> Since I can;t imagine needing to use the decking when it's wet, I'm
> wondering if I'd be wiser to fix them with the flat side up. That way,
> rainwater can't collect in the grooves and hasten rot. I'm thinking
> the boards will dry out quicker if the flat side is uppermost.
>
> What do you all think?
I think you should lay them the correct way - they're tannalised so rot
isn't really your main problem, it's breaking an ankle each time you step
onto them you should be more concerned with
--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008
AL_z
news:Xt9Rn.43148$Of1.16406@hurricane:
> I think you should lay them the correct way - they're tannalised so
> rot isn't really your main problem, it's breaking an ankle each time
> you step onto them you should be more concerned with
I'll take your advice - thanks. I'll run out of ankles to break, pretty
quickly, otherwise. (-;
Al
The Medway Handyman
> AL_z wrote:
>> I'm building some raised decking in the garden so that I can sit out
>> and see the view over the tall garden wall. The decking boards I
>> bought have 8mm grooves cut in one side. The other side is flat.
>>
>> I know most people have the grooves uppermost. I presume that is to
>> improve grip when the boards are wet, is it?
>>
>
> No, it's to improve grip when the boards have gone green with algae,
> which they will do pretty soon after installation, this stays
> slippery even when it's a dry day.
Sorry, this is complete bollox. Deck boards are no more slippery than
slabs. Both suffer from algae.
First deck I built was mine 11 years ago, never been slippery. I must have
built 40 decks at least since - never heard of a single problem.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
The Medway Handyman
> I'm building some raised decking in the garden so that I can sit out
> and see the view over the tall garden wall. The decking boards I
> bought have 8mm grooves cut in one side. The other side is flat.
>
> I know most people have the grooves uppermost. I presume that is to
> improve grip when the boards are wet, is it?
No.
> Since I can;t imagine needing to use the decking when it's wet, I'm
> wondering if I'd be wiser to fix them with the flat side up. That way,
> rainwater can't collect in the grooves and hasten rot. I'm thinking
> the boards will dry out quicker if the flat side is uppermost.
>
> What do you all think?
I've been building decks, over 40 of them, for over 10 years and never, ever
had a problem with then being slippery.
They will become slippery if left to be covered in algae - but so will
slabs - and slabs hurt a lot more if you fall.
I have a theory about most of the deck boards sold by the DIY sheds.
I have many books on decking construction - all published in the USA where
decking originated. All of the decks shown have a smooth flat surface. IMO
the grooves are to keep the boards straight. All the USA books show boards
grooves down.
This is confirmed by experience. A 4.2m deck board 145mm x 28mm will be
incredibly straight, no more than a few mm out over the run.
I reckon the numptys who run the sheds looked at the boards used in the USA
and assumed incorrectly, through lack of experience, that the grooved side
should be up.
This defies common sense, because with a grooved board over 50% of the
surface isn't in contact with the sole of a shoe. With a flat board 100% of
the board is in contact.
The boards I use are grooved on one side but the other side has the surface
machined away to leave non slip ribs. See last picky on
http://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/decking_pictures.htm
Lay them plain side up & treat them with decking oil.
The Medway Handyman
Don't believe the decking luddites :-)
Arfa Daily
"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@no-spam-blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:icdRn.19599$yA.19320@hurricane...
The Wickes ones that I'm currently using, are grooved on both sides - but
one side has a finer pitched groove than the other. Their "how to" sheet
seems to suggest that the 'big' groove side should be up. That is the way I
am laying them. See the photo at the top of their website home page, and the
photos in the sheet
http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/resources/images/gil/15.pdf
although curiously, figure 3 kinda looks like the other way up ...
Arfa
Nightjar
I assumed the different grooves on either side, which I also have on
boards I bought from Focus, were to allow you to choose which you
thought looked best.
Colin Bignell
Arfa Daily
"Nightjar <"cpb"@" <"insertmysurnamehere> wrote in message
news:QradnTa_tOvtDYrR...@giganews.com...
Well I sorta thought that too, Colin, but this discussion pops up from time
to time, and I've never really seen a definitive answer to it ...
Arfa
The Medway Handyman
Watching a Tommy Walsh prog last night where he was laying an oak floor. He
pointed out the groves on the reverse & said they were to prevent the boards
cupping. I also recall buying some French pine floor boards from Wickes
which had groves underneath, pesumably for the same reason.
Arfa Daily
"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@no-spam-blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:KlxSn.78317$oi7.71263@hurricane...
Ah - ha! Sooooo ..... which would be the anti-cupping grooves? The big
equally spaced 'ugly' ones that everybody always puts 'up', or the shallower
ones that are arranged in pretty patterns and actually look nicer, but that
everyone puts 'down' in case they look a fool for putting them 'up' ...
The Wickes "how to" leaflet suggests big side up, as they tell you to
position the fixing screws in the grooves, and the small ones would not be
wide enough to accommodate the screw head. Mind you, the way those twin
thread screws bite when being driven with a decent power driver, the head
will pull below the surface, anyway !
Arfa
See ? Lots of good answers, but I'm still confused ... d :-| }
Arfa
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
<davi...@no-spam-blueyonder.co.uk> saying something like:
>>>> This defies common sense, because with a grooved board over 50% of
>>>> the surface isn't in contact with the sole of a shoe. With a flat
>>>> board 100% of the board is in contact.
Fuck knows who wrote that.
If the grooved side is up the contact pressure is greatly increased.
Flat side would be great in the dry, but a grooved side would be better
in the wet.
Adam Aglionby
> >> messagenews:icdRn.19599$yA.19320@hurricane...
thinking about it, sanding floors here, 120 year old tenement with
pine floors, very flat on reverse, is after 120 years is cupping ,
which looks attractive on old floors, nothing worse than old oak
flooring in setting thats been sanded totally flat.
Cheers
Adam
Nightjar
AIUI anti-cupping grooves need to be on the heartwood side. Of the two
decking boards I've ever bought (for a step oustide the shed I'm
building today) one has them on the heartwood side and the othet has
them on the sapwood side.
I suspect the main reason for the grooves is that, when the boards get
wet, the water will run into the grooves, allowing the walking surface
to dry out faster. GC has also pointed out that, when the walking
surface is still wet, walking on a grooved surface increases the contact
pressure and hence the grip you get.
I also think that a large expanse of timber will probably look better if
the planks are grooved.
Colin Bignell
Arfa Daily
"Nightjar <"cpb"@" <"insertmysurnamehere> wrote in message
news:h4mdnWS0TY2qhYbR...@giganews.com...
And so, when both sides are grooved, in different depths and patterns, which
is right side up ... ?
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza ........ :-))
Arfa
jgharston
> The boards I use are grooved on one side but the other side has the surface
> machined away to leave non slip ribs. See last picky onhttp://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/decking_pictures.htm
>
c:\DOCUME~1\COMPAQ~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\FrontPageTempDir
\2008_06070007_small.JPG
JGH
Andy Burns
Or the one with "classic" handyman focussing?
The Medway Handyman
The deck boards I buy are identical to the 'Winchester' ones here
http://www.qualitydecking.co.uk/grooved_decking_boards.php and I lay them
the way they are shown.
Very non slip!
The Medway Handyman
How would I know? Thats web speak!
Andy Burns
> jgharston wrote:
>
>> Is that the one at
>> c:\DOCUME~1\COMPAQ~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\FrontPageTempDir
>> \2008_06070007_small.JPG
>
> How would I know? Thats web speak!
What he was subtly saying is that photo is broken, all the other images
have been uploaded to the web server and the filename adjusted to point
to the uploaded file on the server, but that one file only exists on
your PC, so it probably looks OK to you when you view that page, but we
don't see that particular image ...
Mathew Newton
You can see it (the large version anyway) at http://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/2008_06070007.JPG
However.. I suspect Dave was actually wanting us to look at the second-
to-last photo!
Mathew
Arfa Daily
<snip>
> The deck boards I buy are identical to the 'Winchester' ones here
> http://www.qualitydecking.co.uk/grooved_decking_boards.php and I lay them
> the way they are shown.
>
> Very non slip!
>
>
> --
> Dave - The Medway Handyman
> www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
>
>
Ha ! Righty-ho then. That one link seems to answer the question once and for
all. Any board type, be it smooth one side and ribbed the other, or ribbed
differently either side, can be laid any way up you like, based purely on
your preference for appearance and grip profile.
Cheers Dave !
Arfa
bennet...@gmail.com
rubyc...@gmail.com
This link explains all
http://deckingnetwork.com/page/decking-profiles