Decking in Ireland - don't do it

broker2008

The snow and the rain has been a disaster for my decking and in particular this year. Eventhough only installled 2 years ago and maintained, the boards are showing serious wear and tear and the start of wood rotting. Wish I had listened to my father who said that this would happen. ...

Discodog

I can think of six people who have decks & they are all in the same situation. You forgot to add that they are so slippery that they become impossible to walk on.

Prenderb

Sorry to hear about that - What sort of timber did you use? Was it treated? Is it just the deck, or has the frame deteriorated? My 4 year old deck is still going strong....

If the frame's still ok, you could just replace the decking boards (with treated/more suitable timber)

magicbastarder

my father has decking down about five years, and i don't think he's any problem with rot.

the benefit of rot in decking would be a softer landing when you slip on it. it's lethal.

goat2

there was another thread about this last year and i had made the point that decking is only enjoyed for the few weeks of the year, and is never worth the cost in the first place, but worse still is the hard work in maintenance and keeping it from rotting in our damp climate also the price of those tins of preservative is rediculious, the amount time and money spent in the upkeep is what i was looking at, where as i have a fine patio made of cement with the brick imprint or effect surrounded by a nice slow growing hedge that you only trim back once a year taking you maybe 15 minuits to trim and another 15 minuits twice a year to give the patio a good wash, it is lovely, private, sheltered with a table and chairs like a room outside i love it, i see my neighbours with these wooden patios and they are all finding the same as you, also mine would have cost a quarter of what yours cost and no need of buying any treatments at all

finnegan2010

Hmm this is interesting. I put a deck down in 2003 i treated it with a standard stain in 03,
I am so lazy i never touched it again....thats about 8 years down.
Only maintenance i ever did was a sweep with a house brush to clean up leaves
No rotting ... Yes its greyed a bit yes some splittin on the spindles but all in all it looks ok... Hmmm No rotting at all.
I cant be arsed cleaning it up so will replace it when i have a few bob i think if i can get a good deal

Sofiztikated

As someone said to me there not too long ago, we spend an age and a fortune in Ireland getting prepared for the 3 days sunshine that we get, and next to no preperation for the 3 months of winter.

goat2

has anyone used their fine decking for a barbie lately.

paddy147

God I love composite decking for so many reasons.:D

looksee

I have wooden decking because my patio doors are about 3 foot higher than the garden, so the decking acts as a kind of balcony/stairs. Its been in since 03 and has been treated twice, last time about 4 years ago. It is ready for a clean up and there is one small bit of a handrail that has gone a bit rotten, other than that it is solid and fine.

Prenderb

goat2 wrote: »

has anyone used their fine decking for a barbie lately.

Just finished one this evening. Mmmmmmmm.

slowburner

broker2008 wrote: »

The snow and the rain has been a disaster for my decking and in particular this year. Eventhough only installled 2 years ago and maintained, the boards are showing serious wear and tear and the start of wood rotting. Wish I had listened to my father who said that this would happen. ...

Only two years old and beginning to rot? There is definitely something wrong here.
Pressure treated decking timber should last at least 15 - 20 years, even without maintenance, if it was installed properly. Naturally, the amount of wear and tear would depend on the usage.
I suspect that the timber in your deck is a softwood which was not pressure treated.
It is nothing to do with the snow or the winter - think of all those decks in Canada which withstand similar winters.
It is possible that the timbers were just given a coat of preservative, rather than being pressure treated. Another possibility, is that the cut ends were not treated which would allow the ingress of water and the agents of decay.

slowburner

magicbastarder wrote: »

my father has decking down about five years, and i don't think he's any problem with rot.

the benefit of rot in decking would be a softer landing when you slip on it. it's lethal.

There was a thread somewhere recently (diy forum possibly) about the slippiness of decking timber. By which I mean those green boards with the grooves.
The slippiness is the product of two factors: the timbers are planed to a smooth finish and the oily residue in the treatment causes aquaplaning when the timber is wet.
For anyone considering a new deck, I would recommend using pressure treated sawn not planed timber - the stuff used for fences. There might be the odd splinter for a while until the deck wears in, but it won't be slippy.
There are "cures" for slippy decks: chicken wire stapled on, sand mixed with a little yacht varnish, sand applied and rolled into the wood etc.
the best trick is to scrub the whole lot with a deck brush (yes, that's what they are for) and washing up liquid.
A deck shouldn't be slippy - 'Mutiny on the Bounty' would have been pretty funny if the Bounty's deck had been made with the stuff that get put into contemporary garden decks

looksee

I posted earlier saying that I had had decking installed in '03, which had not had a great deal of attention and it was fine. I have not found it slippy either, though it does face south east so it dries out pretty well.

Today I went looking for a bit more decking timber as we are intending to put a small addition onto it, and I was astonished at the variation in quality. Some of it was so rough looking I would not have bought it - I don't mean splintery, I mean the quality of the timber looked poor, it was also quite thin. I also saw some with the grooves cut in a kind of wave pattern rather than the straight sided cuts on the stuff I have, I would imagine the curvy grooves would be slippery.

I did eventually find the stuff I was looking for which is a 6" plank as against the four and a half inch which most of the other was. It also had square-cut grooves, €10.50 for 16foot length. I don't know how this compares with the others but I think the rule is, buy the best quality as you are paying for the construction and its a waste to construct with cheap timber.

gary29428

I would'nt recommend washing up liquid to clean a dec, use oxygen bleach. It's a good product that you mix up with warm water, pour over your deck and leave for 10mins. In this time it will lift most of the dirt making removal much easier. The main reason most decks become slippy is a build up of algae on the boards. This happens on decks that don't get much sun. While we are on the subject what have people used to treat there decks, I was looking this stuff
http://www.stoptherot.ie/Surfapore_W,_Wood_Protector_1Ltr/56/
not sure if it's gimicky but talks the talk.

kayner

im thinking of getting a deck but when i see all the negative stuff im thinking forget about it ..

_Brian

Composite decking is the answer.

looksee

I posted in this thread in 2011 saying that I had had decking since 2003. Well the same decking is still there, still good and been treated about 3 times in the 13 years. Not showing any signs of deterioration.

Edit - correction, I did get some of the top rail replaced about 5 years ago. That was all.

Hocus Focus

Build it a decent height from the ground with open-work siding that will allow air to circulate underneath, and also incorporate a slight fall into the construction, so that the rainwater will run off. When you have cut the planks to size, stand them upright in shallow tins of wood preservative for a couple of days for each end to soak it up. Apply teak oil every spring, so that water will bead and run off.