Choosing Wood For Decking
Have you decided that you would like to build a deck? Do you realize that a lot of time will be spent planning just how it is going to look? A few of the things you will have to devote your time to are designs, sizing, style and foundations. If you are planning to use wood for your deck, then that is a major item you are going to have to think about. Your choice of wood is certainly going to affect how well your deck is going to come together. When you think about having a wood deck, the type of wood that you are going to use will definitely affect its longevity. When you choose wood for your deck, it will give you a hint as to whether or not it will be short-lived.
Western red cedar is probably the most common wood you will run across for building a deck. The kind of wood you will start with will be a reddish brown in color and then, as the wood ages, it will turn to a lovely silvery gray. This type of wood splinters quite easily, but it will do well no matter what season you are in. It will also take a stain relatively well. One of the characteristics of Western red cedar is that it is a natural insect repellant. This wood makes an attractive looking deck and one that you will enjoy for many years. You may consider giving this wood a little more strength by using an extra-strong sealant on it.
Another type of wood that you may like to build your deck with is redwood. It behaves a lot like red cedar because redwood will turn from reddish brown to silver gray. However, there is one negative to this type of wood. If it remains untreated and left to the element of nature, the wood will blacken over time. However this wood resists rot pretty well. If you plan on treating the redwood with a sealer, you will find that this wood will be around for a reasonable length of time.
A South American hardwood is Ip, but you may know of this wood either as Pau Lope and Ironwood. This wood is highly resistant to rot and to bugs and is also extremely difficult to burn. Therefore, you will feel relieved when you do any barbecuing on it. You should make extra special that your Ip wood has been harvested responsibly because in some cases, harvesting any wood from South American forests is very controversial.
When you want a great wood that will resist insects and rot, consider Philippine mahogany. It is a very tough, tight-grained hardwood and you’ll discover that there are many ways to treat it. If you want to make sure that the wood that you have chosen was harvested from a good supply that can be replenished, look for the FSC trademark. To treat it, you might want to simply let it age to a lovely silver or you can treat it with marine oil and get an effect that is not unlike teak.
You should be ready to take some time to figure out what your deck is really going to look like. Be sure not to neglect the importance of wood when you are making plans to build a deck.
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