Decking material and finishing products
ethan_TFGStudio
| Posted in Green Building Techniques on
After a whole lot of head scratching, and looking at MSDS of pressure treated, and thinking about acetylated pine, and contemplating getting Kebony or Accoya wood sent over from Europe… I’m down to just building a deck with 2×6 untreated pine planks and living with whatever imperfections come from time… am I out of my mind? What natural(ish) … ie not going to kill me, my contractor, or neariby flora or fauna … finishing products can help my 2×6 pine deck board stay nice for as long as possible? Am I overlooking another simple, locally sources, relatively inexpensive deck material that isn’t made of plastic or aluminum?
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Replies
Most of the “pine” you will get form a lumber yard is farm grown will be rotten and be unsafe in less than 5 years.
Consider finding a local saw mill ask for lumber from a black locust tree.
This web site may be helpful.
http://www.woodfinder.com/
Walta
Linseed oil, tung oil, a mixture of both. Applied annually. Seems pretty not horrible, unless you hate the smell of linseed/canola oil like I do.
I hear mixing in a stain will help with UV resistance to slow down silvering. But could be an old persons tale.
I'm about to do this for exterior decking and fencing next week.
Thanks Walter - we are definitely considering Black Locust... I think if we screw it down we can make it work...
This suggestion seems too obvious... but why not cedar?
Siberian Larch is typically priced between Cedar and Pressure treated, rot and bug resistant and much harder than Cedar.
The newer “green” pressure treated wood is much less nasty than the old kind since they switched treating agents. The treatment chemicals are still nasty though, but their purpose is to kill stuff after all. I’d use the pressure treated lumber for the framing for safety. I’d not put any of the treated lumber underground since some of the treatment will leach into the ground over time.
For the deck surface, cedar is a good natural choice that’s been used for this for a long time. I’ve seen some bamboo-derived products too that look nice, but I’ve never used them so I can’t comment as to how they hold up over time. There is also a product called “fiber grate” that is a fiberglass resin and is used for industrial stuff. It’s available in lots of extruded structural and decking sections but it’s not cheap and it’s not decorative. You could use it for the structure if you want something lasting that won’t leach any chemicals into the ground.
Bill
I would consider VG fir, as it is hard and if kept up, will last a long while. Anywhere that stays wet[like the drip line, or corners against the wall] will tend to rot. Keep after it.
If you have lots of time, go select your fir, as dark as possible, as vertical as possible and as tightly grained as possible. I had some fir back steps that the only rot was where the ballisters touched the steps, 18 years old.
I would also ponder if using fir or even cedar, using something as toxic as you can tolerate on the underside where the wood touches the supporting beams. A small amount of preservative can add many years to the decks life
Anything that isn't Mahogany/Ipe/ whatever is going to need fairly constant attention. That clear waterproofing is good only for draining your wallet. Some kind of stain that keeps the sun off and the water from soaking in.
Western red cedar. As long as you have good air flow under the deck it will still be in good shape 15 years from now.
If you want to seal/color it, use high VOC content oil stains (after you acid wash). If high VOC oil offends you, then just leave the cedar alone. Don't waste your time with any other type of sealer. Just let it weather naturally.
Another vote for black locust. Don’t know where you are located, but this supplier is excellent-http://www.ablacklocustconnection.com/
You may wish to visit sites which have had kebony installed for awhile. I found installs in LI Jones Beach energy center, a UCLA campus and Long Island City. I'm interested in low maintenance. In most areas the silver gray was attractive but there were areas in the shade which had mildew stains (within 5 years) and other areas with high traffic with splintering and cracking, (> 5 yrs). I heard from Kebony the pine they used has changed over time. I am still deliberating and hoping for a long lasting ,very low maintenance option which can be used for fencing and decking in a marine environment. My property has a mix of sun, shade and salt so consistency in the aesthetic is important to me. Open to suggestions.
YOu should start a new thread. Bots dig up old threads, and people ignore them
If you are dead set against pressure treated wood and operating on a budget, why not use cedar? You can get it completely untreated and let it weather naturally.
Pick a naturally rot resistant wood that is available in your area like red cedar, black locust, juniper, cypress, or yellow cedar. Treat it with swedish pine tar which has worked well in marine environments for a long time: https://solventfreepaint.com/pine-tar.htm
Or just let it go grey.