Shepherds Carpentry
Forum Replies Created
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Hi again
Firstly for best results, I would recommend waiting for quite a bit more than a week after installation before oiling, In Israel I used to wait at least 4-6 weeks before sanding and oiling my decks.
My reasoning being that freshly installed decking still has a high natural oil content and its mill glazed surface. Applying oil to the deck at such an early stage makes the wood look great but as oils dont mix very well the effect is largely cosmetic and short lived. Leaving the deck for some time to climatise however allows those natural oils within the wood to dry out and drain from the surface making the deck more ready to accept a coat of oil and actually nourish the wood.
As for coating all sides you’re quite right, it can’t be done after installation. If oiling all surfaces is specified then you’ll have to coat it before or during installation(Exterpark can be supplied pre coated with oil). In practice though you needn’t do so, I’d say its far more important to ensure proper ventilation to the underside of the deck keeping the timber dry to prevent damage from damp. Let the oil on the upper surfaces protect the timber and prevent damage from the sun.
Spax for us over here for 90% of our work, the other 10% are usually another screw called UFO which has the advantage of coming in different colours and its alleged ‘flexibility’
Hi Paul
I know a type of plastic clip available over here(parketdeck I think they’re called) where the installer uses Sikaflex above and beneath the plastic clip he says to stop the boards rattling in time. I don’t know however if that’s his own preference or if its a recommendation from the clip manufacturer.
Personally I don’t use glue in such a way but always have a bottle of waterproof polyurethane to hand for where it is needed, like plugs and railings etc. Applying glue beneath each board seems a little ‘extra’ to me and I’d rather have faith in the clip and its screw to do their job without a backup.
You’re client needs to consider the fact that for invisible installation he’ll want thinner boards and the extra costs that this entails paying for the clips and your extra work in covering the same deck area with those thinner boards.
good luck with the client
Iain
Maybe a thorough treatment against mould is in order?
From google I pulled up two links here and here that could point to the problem being a type of white mould
The first link talks about the problem on a popular composite deck surface but the second appears to talk about it on wooden surfaces including the construction underneath. Â
Have the seen the underneath of the deck lately? Could there be a problem with ventilation underneath the deck or a nearby waste water source for the spores to take hold from?
Good luck solving it in any case and please keep us posted
Hi there Fahed
In my experience so far in Israel Ipe doesn’t need any extra treatments other than a good sand and oil some weeks after installation for best results. Nor have we fitted pre-treated boards as far as I’m aware theres no need for special pre-treatment. For the substructure I recommend wood in 90% of cases, exceptions being where your base will stand in water(like around swimming pools) or places where you havent the height to use normal material.
We fit both KD and AD ipe from deck to deck depending on the source/budget, both are fine to work with in our climate but I would recommend as you want to use a hidden fixing system to source and fit narrower boards, 14cm ipe can release itself from the clips over time through shrinkage and movement, keep in mind the less material in the board the less it can shrink.
Best of luck
Iain
