Home Repair and Paint Guide

... Spills (especially grease from foods) will cause stains that are difficult to remove if sealer is not applied. Using inferior screws during construction will give you headaches because they tend to break when heat from the sun causes the lumber to flex. Some projects require you to calculate the amount of lumber needed in board feet. For instance, a lumber yard might ask for this figure to provide a price quote, although I haven’t personally had to do this. I usually create a materials list and hand it to the person at the projects counter for a quote. If you need to calculate the board foot requirement when ordering materials, see our post at Lumber Size and Calculating Board Feet. Pressure treated deck lumber should be used for structural parts such as posts, joists, and beams. It’s generally stronger and supports more weight than cedar, redwood, or other woods and will last for many years. Pressure treated lumber is rated by pounds of preservative retained per cubic foot of wood. Higher numbers mean greater protection against fungi and insect attack. Matching the rating to intended use will give adequate performance while helping to reduce overall costs. Pressure treated lumber is tagged with the treating solution and concentration that was used during manufacturing. The three common ratings are as follows: Above ground (.15 or .25). Used for the floor, railing, and other topside trim.  Ground-contact (.40). Posts, beams, or other items that will come into contact with the ground, but will never be buried.  Below-grade (.60). Posts and support items that are buried below grade.  When buying cedar or redwood lumber, select boards cut from heartwood ...

... Definitely not something I want on my house. The way to prevent these types of problems is to get the right product for the intended application. Weather extremes have to be taken into consideration. Does it rain or snow a lot in your area? How much direct sunlight will the deck be exposed to, and are outside temperatures regularly very high in the summer? What about average humidity? Mold? Will large pets be walking or running on the deck? How much traffic will the structure be exposed to? There are a lot of companies that offer composite deck boards and railing. What if you buy one of these products and the manufacturer goes out of business? You can purchase enough excess material to make repairs, but your warranty will be worthless if the company goes belly-up. Composite deck boards are made by mixing wood fibers and plastic. The plastic is the binder, while the wood fiber provides strength. The problem is that there are a lot of different grades of plastic and wood fibers. Also, the ratio of plastic to wood has an impact on strength and longevity. This is an area where you have to do a lot of research and not try to skimp on price. If you start out with something that’s not up to the task, you will be very sorry several years after the project is complete. Some of the past failures of composite decking materials have been traced back to water being present in the wood fibers. This prevents the plastic binder from being completely absorbed into the wood. The best materials contain wood fibers that are extremely dry ...