Decks boards... where to buy? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Decks boards... where to buy?

justride

Well-known member
Need to replace my deck board/floor. 14feet long, Checked out Homedepot, Rona, and Lowes for cedar (around $25.00. yikes!) Any other places to check out?
Live in Streetsvile Mississauga. thanks
 
I prefer HD
you get to sort through them and choose straight ones
Lowes I guess you can to, haven't bought there

is it a price thing you're looking for?
 
Check all the flyers. They do have sales on lumber.

Picked through for all my boards/posts @ Rona in Waterdown for a section of fence I lost in the big windstorms May/17. It probably varies location to location at any of the box stores. As long as you don't scatter it six ways to Sunday I don't think they really care. YRMV.
 
"is it a price thing you're looking for? "
not necessarily. I would choose quality (straight boards, less prone to warping etc) but if I can get the same deck board for $1.00 cheaper. I would save some money since I need at the very least 25 boards with no mistakes. Rona has the exact length I need (14ft) but I dont the quality of the wood. Guess I gonna have to do some leg work. I will keep definitely keep an eye out for sales.
 
I like the Sienna treated decking at HD
looks like cedar, lasts well, isn't toxic

my local HD has 458 in stock, 5/4 x 6 in x 14 ft for $11.68
 
Lumber is going to go outrageous unless you can buy it straight from the guy who mills it.
Cost of transportation, fires out west, labour cost and the cost associated with toxic nasty chemical wood preservatives are doing it.

btw: 8" lumber makes a much nicer deck and the material will be much better quality on average, less warps and rot.
 
I agree with Trials on the lengths
I'd buy 8 footers and 6 footers and stagger them to get your 14 foot
they are gonna be straighter and stay straighter
 
Another vote for brown pressure treated. Most people think it's cedar once it's down anyway. After five years at the old house, a pressure wash to remove the black that seems to accumulate on it and it was back to looking new.

Java, I think trials meant 8 inches, but your comment about 8 feet is also valid (except for the possible waste if he truly needs 14' as you would like to cut a 12 for the 6 footers).
 
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Agreed on the shorter boards...my neighbour who "knows how to build a deck" convinced me to use 16 ft so it looked more uniform. It looked nice, but had to replace a few each year because of warpage until I moved.

Try home hardware, I got a good deal on the lumber there, and apparently because they keep the lumber outside it's already subjected to the elements less likely to develop warps once outside and absorbing moisture. That's what a carpenter told me, could be bs who knows...
 
Just went through this used trex transcend from home hardware 2 dollars a foot 20 foot lengths should be good for 20 plus years. Put a bunch of new sienna boards on last year they already look like crap splinters and warping glad I only did a few.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Yep, I like the wider 8" width boards on the deck, better wood and fewer openings between them.
For deck boards I use the longest I can purchase and transport, assuming thy price is the same by the foot and I think it usually is.
Fewer staggered ends on the joists as possible, that's where they lift the most when they get real old.

... but then I also use 2x8 for fascia boards because there is nothing worse then trying to hang aluminum fascia and an eves trough off of a 1" thick piece of lumber.
 
I like to use deck boards for fascia
hang 2x4's from the outer beam on around 4 ft centres
nothing goes to the ground - makes for good trimming access
and leave a wide gap
looks sharp and is easy to remove/reintall
not a big fan of tin or vinyl
 
Another vote for brown pressure treated. Most people think it's cedar once it's down anyway. After five years at the old house, a pressure wash to remove the black that seems to accumulate on it and it was back to looking new.

Java, I think trials meant 8 inches, but your comment about 8 feet is also valid (except for the possible waste if he truly needs 14' as you would like to cut a 12 for the 6 footers).
Ya, what's with the black 'patina'. I have to pressure wash it every year now - driving me crazy. It was so thick this year we dis some crazy designs on the deck leaving the black in place, pressure washing the rest.
 
Number one important thing when choosing lumber is to make sure the board is not from the centre of the tree. Look at the ends of the board and look at the rings. They are cutting such small trees now that the vast majority of lumber is crap.
 
Number one important thing when choosing lumber is to make sure the board is not from the centre of the tree. Look at the ends of the board and look at the rings. They are cutting such small trees now that the vast majority of lumber is crap.
Is called 'free of heart',
with some woods such as Douglas Fir, free of heart timbers cost a ~20-25% premium.
 
If your buying 2x8 or 2x6 you'll have a very hard time buying "not heartwood" , they cut 2x10 and 2x8 from the center , 2x6 and 2x4 from the sides, then resaw for 1x4, 1x3. It all comes out of the one log using an optimizer saw.
We don't cut coastal cedar anymore, its all interior BC wood which is less dense and hense cedar does not last like it did 30yrs ago. Oregon and Washington cedar is too valuable for decking, most goes to siding product.
Very few decking companies will surface a deck with 2x8 it cups too much and is prone to cracking, 2x6 also cups but as a percentage less, so its favoured. When you install boards look at the end grain, they cup in reverse of the grain rings so put the crown up and the water doesnt pool on the board.
The treated lumber like HD sienna is pretty nice and they are starting with #2btr SPF , (but its all spruce) and the treating process is much better. There are some lumberyards carrying Yellowwood , which is southern yellow pine decking. Im not a fan , its a fast growing weed tree and the quality contorl is pretty varied.
Trex is a great option , however its very expensive, But consider its there for the next 50? yrs , a treated or cedar deck would have been replaced 2 and maybe 3 times in that period. And its great for resale value. Trex is hard to get this summer, they underestimated the market this yr. if a distributor orders a truckload now he will see it in October. Decks in October..
The deck board business is seasonal, dealers get inventory in early spring and dont want to carry it over the winter so selection is never better in the fall.
Lastly dont pressure wash a deck! the black mold spores and mildew that grow on the surface get blown down into the cracks where the sun UV wont kill them and bloom even harder, your just making it worse. Get a stiff brush and some deck cleaner solution and work hard.
 
There is/was a copper based deck restore that works pretty good for cleaning green PT, but it's expensive and doesn't go very far, the stuff you buy in powder form and dilute is the one to look for, otherwise you are paying big bucks for packaged water.
 
If your buying 2x8 or 2x6 you'll have a very hard time buying "not heartwood" , they cut 2x10 and 2x8 from the center , 2x6 and 2x4 from the sides, then resaw for 1x4, 1x3. It all comes out of the one log using an optimizer saw.
We don't cut coastal cedar anymore, its all interior BC wood which is less dense and hense cedar does not last like it did 30yrs ago. Oregon and Washington cedar is too valuable for decking, most goes to siding product.
Very few decking companies will surface a deck with 2x8 it cups too much and is prone to cracking, 2x6 also cups but as a percentage less, so its favoured. When you install boards look at the end grain, they cup in reverse of the grain rings so put the crown up and the water doesnt pool on the board.
The treated lumber like HD sienna is pretty nice and they are starting with #2btr SPF , (but its all spruce) and the treating process is much better. There are some lumberyards carrying Yellowwood , which is southern yellow pine decking. Im not a fan , its a fast growing weed tree and the quality contorl is pretty varied.
Trex is a great option , however its very expensive, But consider its there for the next 50? yrs , a treated or cedar deck would have been replaced 2 and maybe 3 times in that period. And its great for resale value. Trex is hard to get this summer, they underestimated the market this yr. if a distributor orders a truckload now he will see it in October. Decks in October..
The deck board business is seasonal, dealers get inventory in early spring and dont want to carry it over the winter so selection is never better in the fall.
Lastly dont pressure wash a deck! the black mold spores and mildew that grow on the surface get blown down into the cracks where the sun UV wont kill them and bloom even harder, your just making it worse. Get a stiff brush and some deck cleaner solution and work hard.

There’re a pressure washer attachment that is a scrubbing brush with rotating arms. That always works well on my deck. Crappy tire sells it.
 
For the people putting down trex and hoping for 50 years, what is you framing made of? I imagine lifting he trex to replace the frame in 20 years will end up with the trex in the bin as well.

For the OP, while the top is off the deck, I would put joist protection tape on. It wont cost much and should minimize the most common source of rot.
 
There are two trex systems , one you use pressure treated. The Trex boards are edge grooved and use a stainless clip / screw fastener . If you follow modern construction ( not modern production subdivision) and flash the connectrions where joists meet headers you've averted 90% of the rot, now use mechanical hangers not end nailed joists and your the rest of the way there. You can effectivily dismantel a trex deck never touching the surface of the boards.
The other framing system Trex has are galvanized steel joists, essentially a u channel , 2x8,2x10. They will be there for about 50yrs also. Yes its as expensive as it sounds.

90% of the deck claims i inspected where bad construction practise , not bad material.
 

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