Affordable Wood Deck

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My 100sf wooden deck is in bad shape from lack of upkeep before I bought the house so I plan to redo what’s there (new planks) and expand the size to about 200sf.   Since my budget is quite limited, I imagine I’m bound to use the affordable pressure-treated pine that’s very common but does anyone have any other budget-minded suggestions? I find most “composite” options very fake looking and feeling. (I can’t afford IPE…)   If I do go with the pressure treated pine – does anyone know where I can find KDAT (kiln-dried-after-treatment) so it doesn’t shrink up after installation. Thanks in advance…

widthom

in Decks and Porches 13 years and 1 month ago

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brooklynbilt | 13 years and 1 month ago

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Look into Phillipine Mahogany (available at RBS, see above).  It is harder and more attractive than cedar and less expensive than Ipe.  I have built many decks using it out in Montauk, NY.  I would argue that it’s worth the slight increase in price.

widthom | 13 years and 1 month ago

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Thanks to both of you for the professional advice.  Although the budget is small, I think I will go ahead and spend a little extra and use cedar instead of the pressure treated pine.  Makes me feel better with the kiddies running around out there too.  I need to make a few more calls but I got a pretty good price from Riverhead Building Supplies in Mineola… and they’ll deliver free for any order over $200.

stevecym | 13 years and 1 month ago

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we rebuilt a deck for a customer who had us lay out the new top in “pods”, 2×2′ square sections.  What we realized by doing this was we could buy No2 cedar lumber, which is very knotty, but cheap, and cut around the knots.  Normally one would not use no 2 as the wood is guaranteed to fail where the knots are, but when we were done cutting it into 2″ lengths, there was not one knot in any of the pods.  No2 cedar is much much cheaper than clear.  the pods were a nice idea because they can be lifted for access below (roof inspection, etc).

Steve

urbanexteriors | 13 years and 1 month ago

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Cipster, I only build Ipe decks, but I know of other materials. If you want to go with pressure treated, don’t buy it at Lowes or HD. There are other options, such as the KDAT you mentioned. There’s also heat treated, pickled, glass infused wood…and more. http://www.deckmagazine.com/article/420.html The problem is finding them locally. I don’t work with them, so I don’t know. Composite and plastic decking is a gamble, and the better ones are expensive. The cheaper ones are just that…there are so many products, and many of them will be out of business within 5 years, because of lawsuits. Another option is 5/4×6 knotty cedar. If you do yearly maintenance, it’ll serve you well.    steve