Friday, 30 Jul 2010
You are here:
The Best Tips For Installing Wooden Decking
Written by Joanna Harris   
Monday, 08 February 2010 09:38
Adding a deck to your home is a rewarding job. Not only can a deck increase the value of your home but it can increase your enjoyment of it. Think of summers spent sipping lemonade and catching the sun, and early winter mornings, wrapped up in blankets and drinking your favourite coffee, watching the sun rise.
by JoannaHarris


Adding a deck to your home is a rewarding job. Not only can a deck increase the value of your home but it can increase your enjoyment of it. Think of summers spent sipping lemonade and catching the sun, and early winter mornings, wrapped up in blankets and drinking your favourite coffee, watching the sun rise.

The deck can be built by yourself and money can hence be saved on the installation and staining. The following lists the best guidelines to help you through it.

Remember before you build your deck to be sure that you're not blocking access to any important fuses, electrical wiring or plumbing. If your deck needs to go where these elements are present you'll need to build the deck so that it grants access to these areas with ease. Also be sure not to block in an air conditioning unit or any utility meters.

When you're building your deck consider beforehand how you want to utilize your new space. Make sure that you're making enough room for everything you have in mind, without creating too much of a surplus. Often our ideas may seem quite large in theory but in fact turn out to be too small to accommodate the deck chairs, tables and grills we wanted to be able to set out on them.

Quick suggestions for building the deck

Always nail a thinner board to a thicker board.

When nailing boards together, do so at an angle. This will bind the boards together with greater strength.

Only nails which have been treated beforehand have to be sued to make them more durable. Else, they will rust and break much sooner.

For maximum strength, spiraled nails should be used.

When butting two lengths of boards together, stagger the nails so that they don't become entangled.

Wear gloves to keep your hands protected.

It is not necessary that all boards will have square ends. They should be checked before laying.

Blunt the tips of nails with a hammer to ensure that you don't splinter dry wood when nailing them together. Blunt nails will drill into wood, whereas sharp nails tend to splinter wood.

Keep in mind, that after you are through it, everyone will be looking at it. Hence, it is all the more important to do measured work and being careful. Boards should lay flush against each other and the end result is level.

The manufacturer's instructions should be followed when staining your boards for best results. When stained, the wood should not be wet and should be clean as well.

About the Author: