Timber Decks

Timber Decks – Hardwood or Softwood?

When building your timber deck what is best hardwood or softwood? What will last the longest? What type of timber is the easiest to work with?

After building many decks over the years I would like to share with you what I have found to be the best type of timber to use when building a deck. There are three main topics that I would like to address:

• The best looking timber deck
• Longest lasting deck
• The easiest decking timber to work with

These three areas are important factors when building a new timber deck or replacing an old one.

The Best Looking Timber Deck

Great design of a timber deck is no doubt an important factor when trying to achieve a good looking deck. However as far as timber is concerned what type of timber is the best? The types of timber available for decking boards fall into three main categories – Hardwood, softwood, and composite (plastic/resin and timber). The best looking in my opinion is by far natural hardwood with all of its colours and features. Next on the list is composite decking boards which are a man made product using resin and timber fibres and can be made into many colours. However composite decking boards lack the colours and features of real timber and they are the most expensive of the three. Last of the list is softwood decking boards which are mostly made from treated pine, however they are a good option if your budget will not allow for hardwood decking boards. Softwood decking boards can be stained to any wood colour and then clear coated which will give a good result with a natural look. However softwood even being treated will not last like hardwood and will tend to crack and warp over time on exposed decks.

The longest lasting Deck

Durability is an important factor for timber decks as they are offend fully exposed to the weather. I have replaced many hardwood decks that have been 20 years old and are just coming to the end of there life and they have become unsafe. Hardwood decks will last 15-20 years if some maintenance is done and longer if yearly quality maintenance is done. Softwood will last well if maintained and should last 10-15 years however it will only last about 10 years if exposed to the weather and no maintenance is done. Composite decking is designed to last 20-25 years without coating however because composite decking boards have not been on the market that long the jury is still out. For the money and looks, Hardwood decking wins hands down, as it will last a long time and will look the best throughout its life.

The easiest decking timber to work with
Softwood is the easiest decking timber to work with and when nailed will not split easily. Hardwood will split if it is nailed or screwed to close to the edge and the end of each board must be drilled first and then nailed or screwed or the timber will split. Composite can be nailed or screwed and is similar to softwood. Softwood does tend to come in long length of 6 metres however hardwood will tend to come in random lengths of both short and long lengths. This makes softwood easier to install because it is easy to cut, nail, screw, and there will be less joins in the decking boards.

So what is the best decking board timber? Well it depends on the look you want verse your budget verse installation. If I was building a deck at my own home it would be a hardwood deck because of the durability and the beautiful colours and features. All decks do need some maintenance and I would suggest that once a year you give your deck the once over and replace any damaged boards and re coat the deck with a quality acrylic decking coating. For more information on deck design and deck building check out these links.