One of the most important parts of designing or redecorating a home is fitting the right decking. The correct decision can ensure your house transforms into a beautiful and cosy place in which to live. However, it can often be difficult to decide on the decking that is right for your home.
Wood is currently the most popular home decking material for various reasons. It enhances the decor of any room, is ecologically friendly and provides warmth and a timeless beauty that increase in value as the years move on. If you decide to fit wood decking, consider each of the three types of wood decking available to you.
Types of wood decking:
1. Solid wood decking.
These are wood planks or blocks (parquet) that are cut from logs and dried in a kiln to a moisture level of between 8% and 12%. They are then machine cut into various lengths, widths and grades and are later processed at the factory with wax or lacquer. Solid wood decking is usually left unfinished for the installer to finish when fitting on site.
2. Engineered decking.
This type of wood decking is a hardwood veneer placed atop a cross plywood base. Engineered decking comes in various thicknesses ranging from 10mm to 21mm. They have several benefits over sturdy wood, including ease of installation.
3. Laminate decking.
This decking is a photograph of a wood grain that is then laminated atop a composite wooden base. It is not real wood; nonetheless it does have many advantages over the other deck types. Laminate deck is durable, not sensitive to moisture and the easiest to install. Photo grain is also so good that you would not easily know it is not real wood.
Whichever decking you choose, it is important to familiarise yourself with the methods used to fit them.
Fitting Methods:
Floating.
Floating is where the decking is not fastened to the sub deck. This method is typically only ever used where a dense sub deck (such as concrete) is already in place. It is recommended to only use adhesive deck fitting foam to fit floating decks. It is never recommended to glue together deckboards and float them.
Mechanical fitting.
This is a widespread method for fitting hardwood decking. It involves using hand tools such as tape measure, carpenter square and hammer to nail or screw the deck onto existing deckboards, sub deck, joints or battens. There are different ways of completing the task with this method, including secret nailing where a nail gun is used to drive nails through the side of the tongue at angles of between 33 degrees and 45 degrees.
Gluing.
This method is suitable for fitting decking on a compacted sub deck. Always ensure that the sub deck is completely dry and free of dirt and solid particles. Install continuous Damp Proof Membrane when using this method to ensure the deck remains dry.
Installation tips.
The key to a successful installation is proper planning, preparation and execution. Assure the relative humidity in the room where the deck is to be installed or even stored is between 50% and 65%. Too much humidity can damage the decking and give poor results.
Also, check that the deck you get is kiln dried to the appropriate moisture content level: ideally 10%. The deck should also have been stored in temperature controlled conditions prior to your collection. This ensures the deck will require little if any acclimatisation before lying.
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