Quality deck materials. I need advice

docmirror

Well-known Member
I'm going to rebuild my boat pier and dock. I am using drill stem for the piers and beams, but not sure what to use for the decking material. In the past, the previous owner used plain 2x6 pine boards, and in that environment, they did not hold up well.

I don't want to do this job EVER again. So, I'm looking for advice on what kind of material(not steel or concrete) to use.

Marine plywood? Pressure treated lumber? Redwood(mostly for cosmetics) A plastic or resin based product? It sees a lot of sun, wind, rain, hail, some waves, and submerged once in a while.
 
I know the new boat docks around here use the plastic none skid type bolted to galvanized steel the main posts are 18in pvc plastic post driven into the soil wall thickness is 1in , I just came back from boating good luck just my 2 cents
 
If you want to do it one time only you need to use a product called Azek. I built a deck ar the rear of my house about 6 years ago using Azek
planks, post covers and handrails and it looks as good today as it did 6 years ago. Not cheap but lasts forever. They make product for most
applications. www.azek.com
 
(quoted from post at 15:07:29 05/08/18) If you want to do it one time only you need to use a product called Azek. I built a deck ar the rear of my house about 6 years ago using Azek
planks, post covers and handrails and it looks as good today as it did 6 years ago. Not cheap but lasts forever. They make product for most
applications. www.azek.com

I was just browsing their website. There's a dist about 13 miles from me, and I'm gonna go check it out tomorrow. It shows they also have the right fasteners for water exposure to use with their boards. Prolly gonna cost me a bit more, but I'll never have to fight it again. thx,
 
Marine plywood will separate as soon as the glue deteriorates. The same with composite decking that relies on glue to bond sawdust together, some of those will crumble after five years. My brother messed up his knees when he fell through a composite step on his deck.
 
Is there no way you can consider concrete?

That will be the cheapest and longest lasting.

That's what commercial dock builders use, just poured squares over galvanized corrugated.

They use special concrete that reflects sun, stays cooler than wood. If one gets broken, just replace it.

Keeping wood on a partially submerged dock in a storm is near impossible!
 
Click below.CCA treated wood is an option, not sure how you source it today, and what you need for a seller to authorize it to be sold, or comply with EPA. I will find out eventually as I plan on getting some of this material for farm use, which the link below and or document states its allowed.
CCA

Specifications

Marine Use
 
My wife and I recently took a trip to Gulf Shores AL. There is a lot of water front property there as you can imagine. We walked on piers, walkways to the beach, decks at restaurants, and in all this I noticed it was all treated wood. No plastic anywhere. Of course this is saltwater area. I worked construction for a lot of years and have put down plastic, and treated wood. We have never been called back to a job where wood was used. We have been called back where plastic was used. I replaced the decking on my deck last year. I put down treated wood. I figure if the people down south, live and work on the water all used treated wood, they must know something.
 
Pressure-treated southern yellow pine will hold up as well as anything and is cost-effective. 2 x 6 is pretty much standard for dock decking. If possible, use lumber rated for ground contact.

Marine plywood differs from regular exterior plywood only in that it has no voids. Good for boats but not for decking.
 
I am wondering if this is what is called generation two (improved) Trex. We used 12 thousand dollars worth of Trex 7 years ago on a deck. Been perfect ever where but one place. Sun reflects from a large window and caused it to swag from being supper heated.
 
The framing where it's out of the sun you might use pressure treated, Just buy it a few weeks to a month before you start building so it can dry. Using it dripping wet fresh from the factory you would experience more wood movement than you should. The actual deck a material such as Trex would last longer. Pressure treated would work well for the deck but you would need to regularly need to treat it with a deck finish or it would dry out and crack.
 

Treated wood for decks and walkways on the coast are cost effective to replace after a tropical storm or cane.
Anything else would just be a waste of money.

And the sun is brutal on plastic, no matter what variety.
 
(quoted from post at 17:52:03 05/08/18) I'm going to rebuild my boat pier and dock. I am using drill stem for the piers and beams, but not sure what to use for the decking material. In the past, the previous owner used plain 2x6 pine boards, and in that environment, they did not hold up well.

I don't want to do this job EVER again. So, I'm looking for advice on what kind of material(not steel or concrete) to use.

Marine plywood? Pressure treated lumber? Redwood(mostly for cosmetics) A plastic or resin based product? It sees a lot of sun, wind, rain, hail, some waves, and submerged once in a while.

Where are you located?
Do you have to remove for winter or do you leave it in year round?
I will be using this stuff on my "around the house veranda" next year. Pricing is attractive when you compare long term costs of ownership to wood, composites, full plastics/synthetics, etc.

www.nexaninc.com/

P.S. what is drill stem?
 
Only problem with buying treated lumber ahead of time,it dries out and warps, splits,and cracks while laying around. Yes it's soaking wet when fresh and will move alot as it dries but it is much more difficult to work with all dried out. Splits easy when nailed ,bolted,or screwed. If you use composite decking make sure it can be used on a dock. Some TREX. products are not to be used over water. Lots of folks have issues with composite because it isn't installed correctly.
 
Pressure treated lumber is cost effective. Dont use the 5/4 board it will rot/splinter/curl quickly. Use a 2x board of whatever width you like. The composite boards are typically thin and require closer spacing on the joist so they dont feel springy.
 
"P.S. what is drill stem?"

Drill stem is used heavy wall pipe, usually about 4" diameter.

It is coupled together for drilling gas/oil wells.

Commonly used for dock and break water pilings, driven into the ground.
 
(quoted from post at 07:45:15 05/09/18) "P.S. what is drill stem?"

Drill stem is used heavy wall pipe, usually about 4" diameter.

It is coupled together for drilling gas/oil wells.

Commonly used for dock and break water pilings, driven into the ground.

Thanks for the answer. I was thinking it was well pipe of some sort, but was imagining little 1-1/2 or 2".

Might be common elsewhere but not in Florida or Michigan, LOL.
 
(quoted from post at 19:39:47 05/08/18)
(quoted from post at 17:52:03 05/08/18) I'm going to rebuild my boat pier and dock. I am using drill stem for the piers and beams, but not sure what to use for the decking material. In the past, the previous owner used plain 2x6 pine boards, and in that environment, they did not hold up well.

I don't want to do this job EVER again. So, I'm looking for advice on what kind of material(not steel or concrete) to use.

Marine plywood? Pressure treated lumber? Redwood(mostly for cosmetics) A plastic or resin based product? It sees a lot of sun, wind, rain, hail, some waves, and submerged once in a while.

Where are you located?
Do you have to remove for winter or do you leave it in year round?
I will be using this stuff on my "around the house veranda" next year. Pricing is attractive when you compare long term costs of ownership to wood, composites, full plastics/synthetics, etc.

www.nexaninc.com/

P.S. what is drill stem?

I'm in central south TX. I'm on a lake with the deck in the southern exposure to sun, and fresh water. Drill stem is pipe, in two general sizes. 2-7/8", 2-3/8" are common, but there are others. We use it all over TX for construction when it can't be used for drilling anymore.

I went down and looked at and priced a couple of the Trex, and Azur composite products. Then I found some CCA treated and the conditions for use(supposedly I qualify if I state the wood will be used adjacent to brackish water, which I can so state), then I looked at standard pressure treated light Hem-Fir.

The composite stuff will be basically 3x the price of treated lumber, and a bit over 2x the price of the CCA. Also getting the CCA means a round trip of 260 miles to the dist to pick up.

The bottom line seems to be that I could put down pressure treated, and then put it down two more times again and outlive the composites. The other thing is that the composites can't be cantilevered more than 1/2" or voids the warranty which means I'll need another 2 framing joists under my pier. This means quite a bit more work, and money. From left to right on the 4' walkway pier I would have; unsupported outer joist, pipe frame joist, pipe frame joist, unsupported outer joist. So I get my min 16" centers and no cantilever.

Given this, I think I'll be better off with the CCA treated wood. I'm going to give the dist another call and get a firm price for the whole thing, including adding a color agent. This seems like the best compromise as it will go down with the current pipe frame and joist I have(just new CCA joist wood in 2x6).

Thx for all the advice.
 
Well, new problem. I've decided to go with the CCA, but - no one has it in stock, and the only order quantity they will do is called a 'unit'. Which is 120 boards, either 12 or 16' length. This is about triple what I'm going to need.

Sigh...
 
I agree pressure treated yellow pine lasts about the longest--the treatment retention has to be on the high end--I always used 1.0 for CCA --2 x6 or 8 is usually the standard decking, and always lay the decking down with the sapwood up
 
Also used for fences, corrals, car ports, clothes line posts. Most places in Texas you can see drill stem if you drive 5 minutes in any direction. It's about like duct tape here, used for many, many things.
 
Yes some of the treated wood does split and warp during the drying process but it's better it do that before you build with it. You buy more than you need and use the bad boards for shorter pieces where the warp doesn't affect the project as much and where split you cut off the bad wood and throw it away.

As far as the wood splitting when screwing it down, I've never had that happen.

The reason a composite is better is because people are too lazy to periodically oil wood. They put up a deck and use a deck finish and ten years later when it looks bad they wonder why.
 
As I am sure you know, given your profession, the standard homeowner grade was .40 CCA, was a blue tag. I have handled .60 CCA which was a red tag, 12" x 12' timbers. It goes up from there for the applications that need it. I used to haul trailer loads from the plant in Athens NY and Holbrook over in Albany, which was a much smaller pressure treatment plant, they always had all kinds of other lumber there, always fun to look around.

I have some of their CCA PT 6 x6 timbers from the 70's when this material was first available and a few are still intact after all the years outside. In '06 I started a pole barn that has not been finished, used these as the poles. CCA will last, just don't burn it, the ash is highly concentrated toxic/poison.
 
yes-home owner grade is quite low. Being on the south shore of LOng Island there were quite a few lumber yards dealing in Marine grade retentions.WE used CCA sheathing for bulkheads at 2.5 retention, along with pilings. But was not as good as the old creosote preservative. Creosote was banned quite a few years ago and in recent years CCA has been banned--I think nowadays CZA is used but most contractors have gone to plastic bulkheading. My daughter (me) recently built a deck and we used composite decking. so far so good but time will tell
 

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