I’m happy. The deck boards have been replaced.
Much better!
I don’t know when they’ll stain it. We’re getting into rainy season. The instructions say to let the boards age 45 days before staining. The builder says that isn’t necessary. If we were to let it sit for 45 days, that would be about the end of November and with the weather, it may be much longer.
That’s between Vince and the builder. I’m happy they changed out those boards and from now on, I’m staying inside til this is all over!
Rebecca says
.Sometimes my husband takes a quote from “Rumpole of the Bailey” and calls me “She who must be obeyed.” Hah! As if! (Don’t let Vince see this unless you like that name.)
Nelle Coursey says
I don’t blame you for staying inside! i would too!
Heather Sedlacek says
Whoever built our deck (was here when we bought the house) lined up ALL the seams. So every 8 feet there is a seam going all the way across the deck. It definitely catches the eye!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I wondered if I would have disliked it less if ALL the seams had been lined up instead of just those two sets of three . . except it was four sets of three because it was both ends of the boards. All’s well that ends well and I’m happy they fixed it.
Elle says
I’m with you Judy, it would have made me crazy. It’s much improved for minimal effort!
Julie Thomas says
You were right to make them change it. I was taught that you always stagger the seams. They should have known that. It look much nicer now.
Nancy H. says
The boards look better. They were taking a short cut. What I would have been upset about is how close the boards are together. It does not look like they allowed enough space between the boards for debris to fall through. Our daughter had a deck like that and because of a big fir tree in their yard the debris lodged in the cracks. My husband would help my daughter clean the debris out a couple of times a year. We just replaced the deck this last spring. Nearly every board was rotten because of the build up of stuff the water was unable to run through and would sit between the boards. And of course the sides of the boards are not stained so you have raw wood in between the boards. When we did the deck this last spring we stained every board on all sides before we installed it. When we had to cut a board we slapped stain on the fresh cut before screwing it in place. Some might think it is overkill. But we want it to last longer than we do. We are getting to old to build decks. It was so much easier when we were in our 30’s to do that kind of work. Now in our 70’s we don’t move as well or as easily.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Nowadays, the wood is so wet that it shrinks when it dries and if the normal gaps are left, they’re too wide when it dries. The builder showed us pictures and opted to have him not leave spaces. By this time next year, there will be nice spaces between the boards.
We’ve noticed that in just a week, the boards have shrunk some.
The deck we replaced was 17 years old and there was plenty of space between the boards and it was in awful shape. If debris does get caught in the cracks, Vince can pressure wash it but he plans on adding new finish at least in a year and then paying close attention to when it needs additional finish.
We won’t be re-doing this one. It will outlast us.