Decking Virgin!

[Jacque]

Hi all

Now that I have your attention I'm hoping you kind experts can assist with my decking problem. Though I've read through many posts I can't find an answer to my specific situation- given the fact that I'm also quite new when it comes to timber problems, I was referred to this site to locate the answers to my questions as well as a plethora of information on the wonderful world of wood in general

I've just moved into a home which is a replica of an early Aussie colonial style house- single level bullnose verandah with lovely decking on all sides. It's truly beautiful sitting and watching the sunsets in the evening and I'm saving heaps on cooling costs due to this gorgeous verandah. However, the west facing side (not surprisingly) timber board ends are in poor shape, in particular on the ends where the moisture and sun have got into the T & G boards and split and warped them quite badly, causing expansion to the boards next to them as well. There's about 15-18 boards all up that need replacing.

Decided to get a quote for sanding and oiling from a timber flooring company who did a great job on our inside boards. When they saw the warped boards, they said no problems- solution is to cut out just the bad sections (about 30cm into the ends) and replace them. When I expressed my concern that this may not look good (but what do I know as a decking virgin?!) they said they'd putty the joins then sand and oil and you'd hardly notice? I have my reservations, hence this post.....

Is he right or is it going to be bleedingly obvious, especially considering one section has about 4 in a row that need doing?

How do I determine what the timber is? If I levered off a board and took it to a timber yard, will they know?

How difficult would it be to replace the entire boards anyway, given that they're T & G and so may be trickier than flat decking boards?

Sorry for all the questions but hoping some of you experts can assist a gal here!!

Cheers,
Jacque

[manoftalent]

Iwould let them do their stuff , it sounds like they know what they are doing ( they would putty the joins and sand)..is an old trade trick and it usually works well...
imagine if you took you car for a panel job, repair or replace panel, then spray car in original colour and colour match as close as possible .....same scenario ...a ten year old car is going to have ten yrs of weathering ...and wont look exactly 100%......when repaired...it'll come mighty close ..and the untrained eye wont know the difference ...so your options are ...repair or replacement ....I would go for the repair option first .....to replace t&g in a large area is expencive and time consuming.....it''ll look great ....but then the rest of the deck wont match either, so you will probably replace all that too .....

[dazzler]

Hi

I take it its a normal outside deck with a bearer near the end, a bearer near the wall and joists that run length ways around the house. You then have a gap between each board ???

If so, you can do this yourself. Forget putty or anything like that, just measure from the end and cut the damaged ones at random lengths dependant on your joist spacings which are prob every 450mm. This way you dont end up with a line of short boards but staggered over the area. Even if you end up replacing every third board back 3 joist lengths the cost will not be unreasonable.

If you choose this option remember that you will need to cut the boards 1/2 way across the joist so that it has support or to make it quicker you can just cut them off flush with the joist edge and then screw a small batten to the joist for support.

No need to sand as the boards should be finished already, just seal with some tung oil.

cheers

[Jacque]

Thanks for the replies so far. The gaps in between the boards are small as they are actually fit together with a tongue and groove situation- boards "click" into one another, hence making removal not that easy...

If they were just straight boards, I'd give it a go myself (replacing) but the T & G part makes it trickier.