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Hardwood decking will lend a natural elegance to any outdoor living area. Left to go a soft grey or finished to enhance its natural beauty, hardwood decking will integrate your home with the natural environment. The use of hardwood decking gives a smooth flow from inside to out when matching hardwood flooring with decking.
Features & Uses of Hardwood Decking
Hardwood decking is not only useful for your outside area as a floor surface, but you can also use it for other features such as:
- Screening
- Fencing
- Gates
- Seats
Sizes & Lengths Available
Coffs Harbour Hardwoods decking comes in the following widths & thickness:
- 65×19 Pencil Round
- 85×19 Pencil Round
- 135×22 Pencil Round
Lengths are random and range from 1.8 up to 6m.
Grading
Grades Available are Standard & Better and Utility grade
Standard & Better- Is graded to AS2796 (medium Feature). This grade shows a minimal amount of features and gives you that modern clean look and feel.
Utility- This grade allows a high level of natural features, including gum veins, insect markings, surface checks and small knots and other natural imperfections. It will often be supplied with shorter length material.
Timber in Bushfire Prone Areas
More information can be found in this Bushfire Bulletin PDF
Kiln Dried or Seasoned
Kiln drying is a standard industry practice used to make timber more stable by changing its dimension properties by removing moisture from within the timber. When using kiln dried timber outside you should consider the moisture content of the timber and whether or not the timber will be susceptible to moisture gain (most likely).
Once your timber starts to gain moisture from external elements such as rain or hosing you will now notice that your timber will start to swell. This is why spacing is important when fixing down your deck.
Air drying timber (seasoning) will do the same as kiln drying timber, just over a longer period of time. The timber will lose moisture and after it gets below fibre saturation point (20%) it will start to stabilise eventually equalising to the surrounding environment. Upon installation with seasoned hardwood you should leave a minimum 3mm gap for expansion.
Maintence & Care For Your Deck
After the installation of your deck it is important to take care of your deck and keep it preserved for many years to come, it’s a valuable asset and should be kept beautiful. Your deck if not covered will be exposed to the harsh elements. After time if you don’t seal your deck the surfaces are constantly exposed to the damaging effects of rain and sun, which can cause cracking, fading, splitting, cupping, and warping. People spend a lot of money on a deck only to watch all that money go down the gurgler by not spending that little bit extra to ensure a longer lifespan.
If you spend that little bit extra to start with, it’ll cheaper in the long run, require far less work and give you more pleasure by keeping your deck beautiful for much longer periods.
We would recommend that after installing your deck that you leave it for a few weeks before using a pressure washer to clean off your deck using an oxalic acid based deck cleaner and a stiff brush, this will allow the pours of the timber to open up and let the sealer get right into the timber. Allow 24 hours to dry out in the warmer months and a week during the colder months, then apply your decking oil/sealer, 3 coats initially (1 per week) is recommended and then once every 6-12 months thereafter.
