Decking type and supplier

[deansewell]

Can anybody provide any tips on decking material. The pros / cons of soft vs hardwood, sizes (width, depth) fixing techniques, treatments, etc...

I know that softwood needs to be HC4 treated, but anything else that I need to look out for?

I will probably go for plain (not grooved) and 100 widths (I prefere the look. Any tips on good quality materials / suppliers? I only have an area of 10m sq, and can spend up to £20 / m sq. Any recommendations greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Dean

 

[megawatt]

Hardwood will generally last longer though with modern treatment techniques the difference is not such a factor ... Softwood is cheaper and building/fixing techniques are identical.

Checkout your local timber suppliers for the best deals/quality.

Go for the thickest 100mm boards and, unless you have a dislike for grooved boards, I'd suggest them as plain can get pretty slippy in our climate ... Grooved boards also hide the screws/nails well ... I'd suggest you fix them with stainless steel bugle headed screws but this is personal preference and others will prefer annular ring nails ... Make sure you go for good quality galvanised though if you use nails.

 

[PE]

We chose 90 wide reeded Tatajuba hard wood deck recently and it looks great down. Like you preferred the narrow boards for aesthetic purposes

This was roughly in the £20 a metre range I believe.

Others we looked at were Balau and Ipe but both were more expensive (Ipe is lovely if you can stretch budget by 50% or more)

Hardwood benefit for us is the supposed less maintenance and in my opinion it looks much classier with the deep colours and grain showing through. We have oiled with a tinted oil for UV protection, once and I will do once more later in year and then I am hoping not to have to do for at least 18mths or more
We'll see!

Make sure you get it from a reputable timber merchant otherwise you may not get decent or certified hardwood