Smoothly decking

[CaptainJack88]

Hi all,

Looking to replaster out rotting decking as whoever did it for the preview owners thought it'd be a good idea to built it on mud..

We really like the smooth decking, however can't afford IPA or similar. Instead, I'm looking at the reversible Scandinavian redwood and using the smooth side.

Has anyone had any experience of using the smooth side of softwood? We'd like to stain it so it's similar to stained hardwood.

I know all above it being slippy, but wood is not slippy when wet, it's the alge on it that is. With it being smooth, it's much easier to keep clean, and has no grooves for the water to sit and form alge.

 

[hansPulesh]

I would be careful. I have a lot of decking in my garden and when it rains, its very slippery, even with the grooves. I'd be seriously careful of using the smooth side.

 

[CaptainJack88]

I would be careful. I have a lot of decking in my garden and when it rains, its very slippery, even with the grooves. I'd be seriously careful of using the smooth side.

It's slippy because of the algea. Our old decking was slippy as hell, I jet washed it and it's fine when wet now, despite being rotten, hence needing to be replaced.
Also, smooth means the water runs off easily or can be brushed off

 

[hansPulesh]

^^^ no, slippery because of the water on the deck. There's no algae on it at all, and the water runs off as there is a gradient but there is still a thin layer of water on top of the deck which makes it very slippery when it rains.

You could try a test patch to see how your deck would react to water and see how it goes?

 

[CaptainJack88]

^^^ no, slippery because of the water on the deck. There's no algae on it at all, and the water runs off as there is a gradient but there is still a thin layer of water on top of the deck which makes it very slippery when it rains.

You could try a test patch to see how your deck would react to water and see how it goes?

It's been raining all night, when I went out this morning it wasn't slippy at all.

Going back 15-20 years when I used to work in a pub, they had smooth decking too. It was never an issue being slippy in the wet, however we did brush it off after the rain had been, and kept up with regular treatments.

As I posted in one of the other threads, I've never had an issue with any decking being slippy purely due to water, so long as it is maintained properly.

 

[hansPulesh]

^^^^ Fair enough, I found it to get slippery, but I guess it's down to the brand/wood and I guess your deck is better in the rain.

 

[r896neo]

I totally agree with evostance, its algae and grime that make it slippy. Even when its not visually green there is still algae growing.

Personally i find the smooth side of decking much better because its much easier to keep clean. The grooved side is a maintenance headache. As is all decking to be honest.

Burn it and put in a patio.

As a caveat though i have never walked on a softwood smooth side deck which has been painted/stained? So dont know if that would have any bearing on the slippery-ness