Who has built a deck lately

Tarp2 · August 8th, 2003, 10:41 AM

I'm staining my new deck with -Behrs' oil based wood sealer and finish-.
I built the deck last year, and it went thru a winter and spring like a champ. I have enjoyed it so far, but (we) decided to stain it so it would not weather to that gray color.

We did a portion of it about 2 weeks ago. When I walk on that part, it seems to have more tack to it.

I like the feel of the wood without the stain, but I am out voted.

Am I the only one?

Knothead · August 8th, 2003, 11:43 AM

Yes, Tarp, you're outvoted.

Seriously though, what do you mean by 'more tacky'...as in 'sticky'?

A proper exterior coating like you describe has more oil in it (likely Linseed) than an interior varnish. The more oil, the longer it tales to dry.

Maybe the weather conditions are retarding the drying time of it?

MTAtech · August 8th, 2003, 01:13 PM

I built mine with TREX and NEVER need to stain or power wash it.

mad1 · August 8th, 2003, 01:59 PM

MTAtech,
Is there a cost comparison between the wood stainded deck and the Trex deck? I have seen the trex stuff, looks pretty good.

MTAtech · August 8th, 2003, 02:39 PM

Trex, when I built the deck a few years ago, was more expensive than cedar. However, the cost is off-set by lower maintenance costs. In addition, one can't get splinters from it.

The cost may be lower now because of competition from similar products that were not available then. Also, it is more available now. The Home Depot sells something like Trex that looked very nice.

DaveLewis · August 8th, 2003, 02:52 PM

I just finished a small (10X10) deck with the plastic/wood material made by Weyerhauser. Its fading a little in the very intense Oklahoma sun but I expected that to happen so I'm not upset. The cost for the deck material was just about twice that of wood. You still have to use wood joists. The manufacturer recommends that joists be placed on 12" centers where you might get away with 16" if you use wood decking. Also they recommend that you use stainless steel screws to screw down the deck boards. The cost is definitely a factor but in our intense climate a wood deck needs constant maintenance so I thought that it was worth it.

MTAtech · August 8th, 2003, 03:05 PM

I agree with DaveLewis. The fading is normal. It will fade from brown to grey - the same color as wood. Screws should be set just under the surface to avoid foot burns.

The material is less load bearing than wood and is flexible but I set mine diagonal on 16" pressure treated joists and had no problems.

I also used 8'x8' supports and hurricane clips (glavanized metal strips that screw into the supports horizontally - thus, preventing wind from lifting the decking against the screws.)

Tarp2 · August 9th, 2003, 10:56 AM

Knothead,
yes I mean sticky. We did coat the deck two weeks ago, but you are right, it has been nothing but rain since. I will give it some time. It is raining right now.
As for the other stuff, trex, I considered it, but it was more money than I wanted to pay. I got a good price on Pressure treated pine. Maybe that was short sighted, ah well.