Deck boards delivered 35% split ends

[crappy]

Hi folks,

I've just had 55m2 of decking delivered. I bought 5.2m boards as my deck us 5m wide.

On moving the boards to the frame I've been checking the boards. Around 30-40% of them have splits at the end, some small, some way to long. Some have massive knots fallen out or edges badly plained.

I'm using smooth side up so can't do with any appearance issues.

Is this a sign of really bad timber merchant and I should get a refund / source from elsewhere or us this to be expected?

Having spoken to merchant about the first two damaged ones I found he was more than happy to replace them.

Thanks,

 

[AronSearle]

define small splits and 'way to long',?

What do you mean by badly plained edges?

Lose or unsound knots are not allowed for any decent joinery grade of timber.

 

[Burnerman]

Always best to choose your timber at the yard, or closely inspect at delivery......some unscrupulous people will tend to offload their crap on to you (sometimes hiding it in the middle of the bundle )
Some pics could help!
John

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Aye, Johns got in there with how to avoid this classic, when I'm choosing decking boards I reject about 75% of it and always have a sympathetic thought for those who end up with the leftovers for whatever reason. End up having to take most of their stock off the shelf just to sift through it! Not that that helps you, anyway just how bad are we talking, when was it delivered? Post some pics.

Fence panels are another, Christ some of them are falling apart or are an inch or so out of square. Infact the same with any timber really.

 

[crappy]

Thanks chaps.

Apologies, I replied from phone but post seems to have gone missing...

So I've moved most of the pile and it seems the worst were on top.
The ones with the long cracks in, cracks or splits, I'll reject and send back. I cannot use them at all.

The planks are 5.4 IIRC and I need them to be 5.17 so there's not much I can sacrifice.

The knots which have popped out I might be able to use them in pieces. They too might split down the ends and get sent back through...

As I said, the 'yard is ok with returning the stuff. They have already swapped some out. They have to come and deliver more wood anyway so it's not a huge headache.

My curiosity was more along the "Is this a sign that I'm simply screwing trouble down to my frame". If 12 planks are bad out of 60, maybe not?

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• crappy
• 29 May 2015
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• 29 May 2015
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• 29 May 2015
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• 29 May 2015
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• 29 May 2015
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[AronSearle]

Some of those knots should have caused the boards to be rejected.

As a general rule, splits through the thickness can be the width of the board in length. Some people will say this is too generous, but for cheap softwood decking it is an appropriate baseline. If you want better, this is were you have to pick them yourself as others suggest (or pay for a better product).

The splits are mostly caused by the timber drying, so won't develop significantly more in service, though surface fissures might (splits not through the thickness).

Make sure you thoroughly treat all cut ends.