All of our decking timbers are tough and naturally durable, meaning that they will last well outside without any chemical treatment or coatings, although a quality coating such as Osmo Decking Oil will prolong the life of the deck boards.
You should expect around 15 years of service from your deck, but its lifespan will very much depend on how it is installed and maintained. Permanent dampness between boards and joists, wet greenery left on the deck and poor quality fixings will all
cause the deck to fail prematurely.
Timber decking most commonly fails around the fixing points because the area between the deck boards and joists remains damp. Additionally the decking screws puncture the treated layer of the softwood joists. See fixing advice below for ways to avoid these problems.
The most common complaint about timber decking is that it gets slippery when wet. This unfortunately is a consequence of our damp and mild climate, which encourages mould growth. Couple that with a bit of green litter and decking can become dangerously slippery. To avoid this problem we recommend that you clean your wooden deck with Osmo Wood Reviver Power Gel once or twice a year, as needed. Avoid power washing your deck because doing so will damage the surface of the wood.
Because we machine all of our decking in-house we can offer a choice of profiles in all species.
Smooth decking boards are the most popular but we also offer a choice of grooved and reeded decking profiles.
Our standard deck board profiles are designed to be fixed directly through the face with deck screws. Always use stainless steel screws to avoid corrosion and staining. Trim-head screws with either a square drive or a hex drive work well and look good. The screw length should be approximately 2.5X the thickness of the deck boards.
To alleviate dampness between deck board and joist we recommend that you install Sihga KompeFix®. This clever but simple product sits on top of the joist creating a ventilated gap. This is especially important for Brimstone decking.
Supporting structures are most commonly constructed from 50mm green tantalised joists and posts. Space your joists at approximately 400mm centres for 21mm deck boards. Aluminium rails offer a longer lasting option but they are significantly more expensive and consequently tend to only be used on commercial projects. Leave a minimum of 6mm expansion gap between Brimstone deck boards and 8mm between oak and larch deck boards.