Spacing of deck boards

[Denco]

Hey, All.

I'm replacing the top boards on my deck. What is the proper spacing between boards? Is it 1/4"?

I'm using red cedar.

Thanks in advance for your reply. I appreciate it.--Den

[jAngiel]

I'm no expert but I've always seen them use a nail as a spacer, so what is that, 1/8" or so. 1/4" seems too big to me. The only exception would be for pressure treated stuff that shrinks after installation, then I have always heard to use no spacing as the shrinking boards will create their own. I'm sure someone with specific red cedar experience will chime in shortly.

[crokett]

The answer is space them them so that when they dry and shrink you end up with the spacing you want. I've seen decks installed with spacing as wide as 1/4" but I think that is too much. I went for 1/8" on my deck.

[JR]

A 16d nail is perfect for setting up the spacing. It's handy, can be tapped into the stringer for temporary alignment, and provides sufficient space for both expansion and shrinkage.

JR

[Denco]

Thanks, All, for the advice. I was just reading through some old posts. I added a 6x12 section to the deck. I used screws with the joist hangers. Looks like I'll need to redo that with nails, huh?

[jseklund]

I would just take some clamps, glue them all up like a table top, and lay them down

Just kidding....I'm new to this, and it amazes me how you can make 50 pieces of wood come together as if they were one....so I am gluing up everything.

I never heard that nail idea- but it sounds good! The shrinking has been a problem for me on the few decks I've worked on. This seems like a great solution.

[JSUPreston]

Thanks, All, for the advice. I was just reading through some old posts. I added a 6x12 section to the deck. I used screws with the joist hangers. Looks like I'll need to redo that with nails, huh?

Depends on how much value you place on the deck and/or the safety of the folks on the deck.

Screws are easy to do, especially with an 18v cordless, but they are too easy to snap, meaning that they shouldn't be used in the framing. However, they are perfect for hold the decking to the frame.

[Denco]

Depends on how much value you place on the deck and/or the safety of the folks on the deck.

Screws are easy to do, especially with an 18v cordless, but they are too easy to snap, meaning that they shouldn't be used in the framing. However, they are perfect for hold the decking to the frame.

Yeah, I want to do this right, so I'm going to replace the screws with nails Fortunately, it's just on a small extension and there's not top boards on yet. The rest of the deck was done with nails. Thanks for saving me on this before it was too late.--Den

[91FE]

Went with 1/8" on mine (composite).

[Hellrazor]

It depends what you want. Use an 8d if you want small gaps and a 16D if you want larger gaps. PT wood will shrink as it dries and you will easily have 1/4" gaps.

As far as the screws, yuppers, remove and install joist nails.

[Denco]

Thanks for the good advice. I'm sure it saved me a lot of pain later. What's really cool is that LOML said she didn't want me wrecking my hands using a hammer (I have a little carpal tunnel thing), so she took me out and bought me a DeWalt framing nailer. I'm new to framing nailers, but the guy at Lowe's recommended this unit and it works great!!! Haven't had so much fun on a project in a long time. I was grateful to have it because I found rot on some of the cross beams and decided to replace a whole bunch of them. This made it much easier.

[jAngiel]

Hopefully the framing nailer has a positive placement tip. I know some of the Bostitch ones come with them, not so sure about Dewalt. From what have read you don't want to be using a regular framing nailer and trying to make it hit the nail holes in a joist hanger. It will either degrade the joist hanger or maybe jam up the framing nailer.

They make special nail guns just for joist hangers but some brands also make a postive placement tip that either comes with a nail gun or can be purchased separately.

[Denco]

Thanks. I'm not using the framer on the joist hangers. Just other areas.