There are even more factors to be considered in more unusual circumstances where perhaps there isn’t enough ventilation under the deck or it is being installed in a really harsh environment like a rooftop with direct sun all day long. A week on the job site stacked and covered and even possibly leaving the shipping banding in place to restrain the boards while they settle would be the minimum wait period. But really this applies to any species of decking. I specifically mention Ipe in the heading above because this species is so dense that it can be more effected by dramatic climate changes How much sun will the deck see on an average day? All of these factors will force a significant change in the moisture content of the decking and the boards will need to move around a bit and get that change out of their system before you start screwing them down and forcing them to lay flat and still. How far did the decking travel from your supplier to the job site? What are the conditions at the job site? Ideally a deck should have plenty of ventilation underneath but that isn’t always possible. Once the boards are in equilibrium the finish will help to keep them very stable as the spikes in moisture and temperature that happen during the day and converse at night will even out. Then you also need to account for all of the other factors listed here and probably wait even more time for those factors to equalize. Moreover a finish will add moisture to a board so you need to consider how long ago the board was finished and give that injection of moisture some time to equalize. It will slow down the movement of moisture in and out of a board (which causes the movement) but never can you stop it. Finish does not seal the wood and prevent it from moving. Deck Sealing and Stainingĭid you buy the decking already finished or will you be applying the finish before installing? One of the biggest misnomers of the wood finish world is “sealer” or “sealant”. Again, following the rules of gap spacing is essential because the boards you install now will swell up quite a bit in the summer months. Maybe let it sit for a day on the job site, stacked and covered before starting to install it. You can start working almost immediately after receiving the decking. With very little moisture in the air and the wood to begin with moving it from the lumber yard to the job site won’t see a great deal of change in the conditions. Plus the cooler it is the less moisture is in the air so the wood is shrunken. The sun may heat up a decking board in the afternoon but with ambient temperatures low there is much effect. Wood moves year around but in the winter months it is pretty stable. With clips its better to stack and cover the lumber near the deck site and let it sit for 1-2 weeks so that most of the movement that will occur does so before the boards are laid down. So if you are face screwing then you can pretty much get right to work and assuming you follow proper gap spacing your boards will behave. There is a screw running through the clip and into the lower tongue of the grooved edge but this is just no substitute for a screw or 2 driven through the entire board and restraining the board from cupping. Screwing it down means your boards are going to move a lot less because they are physically restrained. Is your deck face screwed or using a clip system. Installing Deck Boards: Hidden Fasteners or Face Screwed You have to look closer and apply our understanding of wood science that we have been building by reading this blog. Trying to apply a universal answer to a problem with so many variables is what gets people in trouble. If pressed for an answer to “how long should my decking acclimate?” I can answer with a solid “it depends”. The maddening thing is you will rarely get the same answer twice when it comes to how long that particular lumber should sit around getting in touch with its feelings. You just bought some decking or flooring (or really any lumber) and one of the first things you hear is that it needs time to acclimate to its new surroundings before installing deck boards.
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