Uneven Hardwood bearers

[GMC]

Just looking for a second opinion (or twelve)

I took delivery of my new hardwood bearers yesterday - I unpacked them and without hesitation I installed them

And from a distance they look great... but up close there are some variations in each board - variations are up to 15mm that is a "dip" of 15mm of one bearer to the next - the bearers are at 400 centers

I was going to take them down and plane them to a uniform level

A mate of mine says I am crazy and that once the decking goes on I wont even notice.

Is he right, or have I been given some crap timber and need to do some more work

And comments are appreciated

GMC

[addo]

I take it you installed all the bows upwards?

"Back in the day" it was pretty common to plane, notch or pack materials; now we are either expecting perfect off the truck (like Hyspan) or not so concerned... 15mm is too much; get the difference around 6mm or so and you can probably live with it.

Regards, Adam.

[les88]

They need to be fitted to the bearers. as Addo said bows up and using long straight edge across the joists you will see what needs to be done. I used to cut with a chisel so that the high ones were lowered and if they were too low roll up some aluminum dampcourse flatten it with the hammer and place it under the joist.
les

[GMC]

I take it you installed all the bows upwards?

"Back in the day" it was pretty common to plane, notch or pack materials; now we are either expecting perfect off the truck (like Hyspan) or not so concerned... 15mm is too much; get the difference around 6mm or so and you can probably live with it.

Regards, Adam.

Thanks for the reply - yes bows are up so I can deal with this... makes it a bit slower though

They need to be fitted to the bearers. as Addo said bows up and using long straight edge across the joists you will see what needs to be done. I used to cut with a chisel so that the high ones were lowered and if they were too low roll up some aluminum dampcourse flatten it with the hammer and place it under the joist.
les

Yes I have one low one... both ways ??? so I'll give the dampcourse a go - thanks for the hint

Thanks again guys - this puts my mind at ease

On to decking!!

GMC