Decking replacement

[harrycatcat1]

I have been contracted to work for free to replace some wooden decking at my daughters. Approximately 105 lengths of 145mm x 3m.

I've priced it up at just over £1000 just for the wooden decking. Screws extra. I presume you just use decking screws?

They are mainly 3m lengths, is it a case of just lifting the old up and replacing the length of decking with new screws? What haven't I bargained for? Any tips?

[Spr1985]

No offence intended, but by the sounds of things you haven’t bargained for the support structure beneath the pretty surface being rotten. 
 

also have a look at black jack- it’s a paint on product for preserving the life of the support structure underneath the decking itself. It prevents water impregnating the timbers and causing rot to set in 

[harrycatcat1]

7 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

No offence intended, but by the sounds of things you haven’t bargained for the support structure beneath the pretty surface being rotten. 

Oh yes I have 😉 when my foot went through the rotten decking a month ago the cross members were in good condition 👍

I will check out the "black jack" 👍 it's a long time back since I had 4 black Jack's for 1d 😉

[ditchman]

37 minutes ago, harrycatcat1 said:

I have been contracted to work for free to replace some wooden decking at my daughters. Approximately 105 lengths of 145mm x 3m.

I've priced it up at just over £1000 just for the wooden decking. Screws extra. I presume you just use decking screws?

They are mainly 3m lengths, is it a case of just lifting the old up and replacing the length of decking with new screws? What haven't I bargained for? Any tips?

just out of interest did you price up the decking with wood or the moulded weather proof planking ?

[Ultrastu]

The key to  decking is maximising  airflow underneath  it .don't be too tempted  to close off the sides low low or install the beck boards too close together .I usually use a minimum  6 mm packer between the boards and will happily go up to 8 or 9 mm gaps . This allows water to fall off the sides . 

[harrycatcat1]

25 minutes ago, ditchman said:

just out of interest did you price up the decking with wood or the moulded weather proof planking ?

It is wood I heard a lot of bad reviews of plastic Chinese decking.

23 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

The key to  decking is maximising  airflow underneath  it .don't be too tempted  to close off the sides low low or install the beck boards too close together .I usually use a minimum  6 mm packer between the boards and will happily go up to 8 or 9 mm gaps . This allows water to fall off the sides . 

That was what I wanted to hear, this old decking is all butted up and I think that it's not helped it's longevity. Thanks for that 👍

[harrycatcat1]

31 minutes ago, ditchman said:

just out of interest did you price up the decking with wood or the moulded weather proof planking ?

Sorry read it again, "weather proof planking" ? No not looked at that.

[Spr1985]

1 hour ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Oh yes I have 😉 when my foot went through the rotten decking a month ago the cross members were in good condition 👍

I will check out the "black jack" 👍 it's a long time back since I had 4 black Jack's for 1d 😉

I’m to young for the 1d but I can recall them being penny sweets along side fruit salads😛.  
I’ve put a fair bit of decking down over the last few years and every job we’ve black jacked* (unless it was composite) and it’s worth the effort despite being a messy job. 

* bitumen paint 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Spr1985
Clarification *

[harrycatcat1]

3 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

I’m to young for the 1d but I can recall them being penny sweets along side fruit salads😛.  
I’ve put a fair bit of decking down over the last few years and every job we’ve black jacked* (unless it was composite) and it’s worth the effort despite being a messy job. 

* bitumen paint 

😉😉👍👍👍👍 what's the best screws and where from?

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

just out of interest did you price up the decking with wood or the moulded weather proof planking ?

I used something very similar on the top half of my gable end , these boards came from Germany and were in high demand during the lock down when many people had free time to work on there houses .

These were tongue and grove and the board covered about 7/8 inches and they came in about 5 mtr lengths , once you got the bottom bead level the first board sit on the bead and you nail the tongue to the upright battens with stainless steel pins , the next board marry into the one below and then you carry on to the top , dead easy to cut and the main advantage is they are maintenance free , still look as good as the first day they were fitted and come in many colours  .

[ditchman]

1 minute ago, marsh man said:

I used something very similar on the top half of my gable end , these boards came from Germany and were in high demand during the lock down when many people had free time to work on there houses .

These were tongue and grove and the board covered about 7/8 inches and they came in about 5 mtr lengths , once you got the bottom bead level the first board sit on the bead and you nail the tongue to the upright battens with stainless steel pins , the next board marry into the one below and then you carry on to the top , dead easy to cut and the main advantage is they are maintenance free , still look as good as the first day they were fitted and come in many colours  .

the decking boards are called what i think is "composite"...is that correct ?

[harrycatcat1]

1 minute ago, ditchman said:

the decking boards are called what i think is "composite"...is that correct ?

Mmmmmmm there seems to be a lot of Chinese stuff about and they reckon it's substandard so I thought I'd stick with wooden 👍

[Ultrastu]

Only use decking screws. Green or brown  65 mm should be fine for green  timber  decking boards .

The green paint on the screw is designed not to rust out when it rains .

Normal gold screws will rust as the coating isn't designed for tantalise timber when it gets wet  .

[JKD]

Best plan of action is to remove all the old decking boards first. While doing this you will find that some screws come out ok, some will round off and some will sheer off/snap. Lots will be rusty, as will some in the framework.

Once all the boards are off you can start to repair the framework 😀

You will find rusted screws here also 🤭

Depending on how long you want/expect the new boards to last will determine  what type of boards and how much you pay for them, same with the screws. You will need circa 1800+ (buy 2000) screws for that amount of boards. Normal 65mm decking screws (green protective coating,,,, will still rust) will be fine for 25mm thick boards. Thicker boards, longer screws. Online fixings outlets are your best option.

A container or two of clear wood preservative is another option for helping the whole thing last longer.

Finally,,,, you will no doubt sometimes be screwing into existing screw holes,,,, again, longer screws might help.

Edit to add,,,, The 5mm spacings (normal recommendation) is mainly to allow for the expansion/contraction of the boards.

Good luck 😉

Edited October 18, 2022 by JKD

[harrycatcat1]

13 minutes ago, JKD said:

Best plan of action is to remove all the old decking boards first. While doing this you will find that some screws come out ok, some will round off and some will sheer off/snap. Lots will be rusty, as will some in the framework.

Once all the boards are off you can start to repair the framework 😀

You will find rusted screws here also 🤭

Depending on how long you want/expect the new boards to last will determine  what type of boards and how much you pay for them, same with the screws. You will need circa 1800+ (buy 2000) screws for that amount of boards. Normal 65mm decking screws (green protective coating,,,, will still rust) will be fine for 25mm thick boards. Thicker boards, longer screws. Online fixings outlets are your best option.

A container or two of clear wood preservative is another option for helping the whole thing last longer.

Finally,,,, you will no doubt sometimes be screwing into existing screw holes,,,, again, longer screws might help.

Edit to add,,,, The 5mm spacings (normal recommendation) is mainly to allow for the expansion/contraction of the boards.

Good luck 😉

Thanks 👍 

15 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Only use decking screws. Green or brown  65 mm should be fine for green  timber  decking boards .

The green paint on the screw is designed not to rust out when it rains .

Normal gold screws will rust as the coating isn't designed for tantalise timber when it gets wet  .

Thanks 👍 

These ok?

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/timbadeck-pz-countersunk-decking-screws-4-5-x-65mm-500-pack/73014?kpid=73014&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnbmaBhD-ARIsAGTPcfV2oyDkS_DPRZI2DU-BpToKvVWWHpSyEA0GbUvrFUyKgYonri7BCoMaAtXhEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[JKD]

1 minute ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Thanks 👍 

Thanks 👍

No problem 👍 I do quite a lot of decking replacements as insurance claims. They are one of the worst things to do,,,, IMHO 🤨🤣

[harrycatcat1]

3 minutes ago, JKD said:

No problem 👍 I do quite a lot of decking replacements as insurance claims. They are one of the worst things to do,,,, IMHO 🤨🤣

Thanks for cheering me up 😉🤣 

[Spr1985]

1 hour ago, harrycatcat1 said:

😉😉👍👍👍👍 what's the best screws and where from?

As someone else has said the green decking screws are the standard go to, the reasons already covered. We use a lot of these :- SPAX Wirox T-STAR Plus Decking Screw 4.5 x 60mm a quick Google will give you various suppliers although far from being cheap compared to the more readily available standard greens screws

[harrycatcat1]

11 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

As someone else has said the green decking screws are the standard go to, the reasons already covered. We use a lot of these :- SPAX Wirox T-STAR Plus Decking Screw 4.5 x 60mm a quick Google will give you various suppliers although far from being cheap compared to the more readily available standard greens screws

Thanks 👍 

[harrycatcat1]

14 hours ago, JKD said:

No problem 👍 I do quite a lot of decking replacements as insurance claims. They are one of the worst things to do,,,, IMHO 🤨🤣

You are not joking 🙃 😐 

[JKD]

Yup,,,, welcome to my world 🤣

I know it's not funny, but the jobs I get sent to "will only take a couple of hours",,,, yeah right !!!

The spacings on that untreated timber frame look rather wide !? 🤣

Like I said,,,, GOOD LUCK !!!

[harrycatcat1]

14 minutes ago, JKD said:

Yup,,,, welcome to my world 🤣

I know it's not funny, but the jobs I get sent to "will only take a couple of hours",,,, yeah right !!!

The spacings on that untreated timber frame look rather wide !? 🤣

Like I said,,,, GOOD LUCK !!!

Out of curiosity how wide should the spacings be please ? Not that I'm going to change them as they have been ok for 10 years or so. To be honest to say they are not treated they seem in good condition 🤔

[JKD]

TBH they don't look too bad, just not enough of them. You could get away with 600mm centres for the joists, but I'd personally go for 400mm, just my choice with decking frames etc. If possible, I always use Timberlock hexhead fixings for the framework.

6 hours ago, harrycatcat1 said:

Out of curiosity how wide should the spacings be please ? Not that I'm going to change them as they have been ok for 10 years or so. To be honest to say they are not treated they seem in good condition 🤔

 

[harrycatcat1]

50 minutes ago, JKD said:

TBH they don't look too bad, just not enough of them. You could get away with 600mm centres for the joists, but I'd personally go for 400mm, just my choice with decking frames etc. If possible, I always use Timberlock hexhead fixings for the framework.

 

Thank you 👍

[JKD]

Just now, harrycatcat1 said:

Thank you 👍

Glad to help 🤗 I've said before that if you, or I, were closer I'd gladly pop round to give a helping hand 😉