Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - HELP -- Question about laying decking

I plan to use 5/4 board decking on my deck. It is 24' long and has a section that is 10' deep and a section that is 12' deep with 16" (2x10) OC joists. I was talking to someone about how to lay my deck boards and what size to buy and here is their suggestion.

Just buy 12' decking boards for the whole thing. So you don't have to butt them up against one another and create one continuous seam do the following. Rip one of the boards down to 1 1/2" wide and attach this to the top of the joist that is at the end of each 12' deck board so it runs perpendicular to the house along the joist. Then attach a 2x6 to each side of this joist so you have something to support the ends of the deck boards and run the deck boards from the outside of the deck and butt them up against the piece of 5/4 that I ripped and screwed on top of and along the length of the original joist. So I would have a ripped piece of deck board running perpendicular to the house to use as a parting board and run all of the decking parrallel with the house and butt it up to this parting board.

Questions:

Would this work? Would the 2x6's be ok to hold the ends of the decking boards? Would this look okay?

Yes, that will work, but it is alot of work. Personally I would not like the looks, but thats just me. I always buy the longest length me deck will take, screw them down and trim the ends. I do not like splices in the decks we build. Always someone catching a toe on the. Sometimes it is necessary, and when it is, I just make a diagional overlap cut and splice together so I do not have a butt joint. Good Luck

You could run your decking boards at a 45 degree angle along your deck joices. This would eliminate the need for any butt joints. Run the boards long over the outside edges of the deck, snap a chaulk line and then run a straight cut with your saw. The sad truth is, that any butt joint will eventually open up as the wood shrinks.

With your joists at 16" O.C. and using 5/4 deck boards, DO NOT run your deck boards at 45 degrees, unless you add a joist between each of the existing ones. Do it without the additional joists, and you are overspanning your deck boards.

Current codes for most states allow the running of 5/4 decking at 45 degree angles over 16 O.C. joist. We've been doing this for the last 10 years here on the Outer banks. In fact, with our consistant hurricane and ocean overwash problems, we've found lateral stability increases due to the angling of decking has been instrumental in preventing side force collapse of many decks and this is on decks from 8 to 16 feet above grade supported soley by pilings ( code requirement for within a certain distance from the ocean unless we chose to sink our pilings 18 feet down in which case the home can be used as a anchoring/ledger point). Currently you'd be hard pressed to find a builder here not running his decking at a 45 degree angle except in cases of composite products being used in which case we would run our joist's at 12 or 8 inch O.C. depending on product.

We understand that in you area of the ocean (Outer Banks) that you do have different codes. However, your code does not hold much water throughout the rest of the country. Lefty is correct. In answering these threads, we have to try and answer the question where the person lives, not where we live. Have a good day

We understand that in you area of the ocean (Outer Banks) that you do have different codes. However, your code does not hold much water throughout the rest of the country. Lefty is correct. In answering these threads, we have to try and answer the question where the person lives, not where we live. Have a good dayPerfectly understandable. Since I'm new here and wish to follow the normal guidelines, how exactly is a posters question answered when that poster did not give his area of residence? Lefty, I assume, is speaking of the codes in his area since Brians area is an unknown, while I'm speaking of the codes in my area. A little help please, if you will, on how the proper area and code is determined in a case such as this. My goal is to only give solid information with regards to what a person may have asked. Clearly there's some determining factor that I'm unaware of since my codes don't hold water and Leftys does. Thanks for any guidance in this area.

Shamrock:
Not a problem. Answering posts so they help the person asking the question can sometimes be very hard. I guess the best rule to follow is COMMON SENSE. There are several members who answer posts by what their codes are in their part of the country. They do not realize that in Montana they do things different then in Georgia. The answer should be "What would a prudent and knowlegeble person do, given this problem." Probably the biggest thing that I notice is that those who answer do not really read the question, or sometimes they read it and interject what they thhhhhhhink it means. I take the questions just as literally as they are asked. I do not try to second guess the question. If it is something serious, I will ask the author where they live. That way I can give information local to them.

Lefty and I and Doug and some of the other Contractors have been around along time and seen alot. but even I make mistakes. Don't tell anyone I admitted to that. Now that Lefty lives in Calif, and those old boys walk on water. Doug and I have to put on our waders.

So, I hope this gives you some insight. Just jump right in, and if you make a mistake, I can guarantee that about 15 people will jump in and give you advice. Thanks for you question, and I hope I have given you some guidence.

In regards to your question about your codes, you live on the ocean, so your codes will deal with winds, high water, large waves etc. 500 miles inland where they do not have those problems, their codes will be different. Codes can vary within 50 miles given the terrain and climate.

Have a good day.

Shamrock,

Obviously there is no way that any of us can possibly know ALL of the different codes that exist for every area in the country (or the world for that matter), and we cannot know all of the local interpretations of those codes. And when posters don't tell us where they are located, we have no idea which 'code' (UBC, IRC, BOCA, etc., etc.) they have to build to, and, in a lot of cases, they are using some species of wood that we have never dealt with. So we try to respond with the best info we can.

The west coast uses virtually no 5/4 wood decking. Wood decks in CA are built mostly with redwood 2X6, and in OR and WA they use a lot of PT or cedar 2X6. Maximum joist spacing with those is 24", and if you run the boards diagonally, you reduce the joist spacing to 16" so that you aren't overspanning the deck boards. What little 5/4 we use, as well as most composites, require that the joist spacing be 16", and again, if you run the deck boards diagonally, you reduce the joist spacing by about 1/3 so that you don't overspan the deck boards. Running the deck boards may indeed add wind shear strength to the deck. But if you overspan the deck boards, the customer has a 'bouncy' deck.

Jack,

I'm sure that was a typo on your part -- I walk IN water, not ON it!! And this year, I'm in the wrong part of CA to even FIND it on a regular basis -- it all went south!!

Sorry to have caused any problems. I didn't realize that my profile wasn't updated with my location. I should have checked it. I live near Cincinnati, OH.

Brians,

I don't see where you have caused any problems. You asked a question and got some answers. Your original idea of 'picture-framing' the deck as a way to eliminate butt joints in the decking works well. I've used that method many times with really good results. I have used diagonal decking at times, also with good results. There's no doubt that diagonal decking can add shear strength to a deck. But it has been my experience, and the advise from every decking mfgr. I've ever seen, that when you run the decking diagonally, you shorten your joist spacing to prevent overspanning the deck boards.

Thanks for the insight guys. You'll just have to watch out for us Outer Bankers a bit more since we tend to believe that anyone who doesn't live on pilings is abnormal and not to be trusted. :)

Shamrock: Have a good day. Catch a fish, eat a lobster, sit on top of a piling, and watch out for the slivers.

Shamrock,
Jack,

I'm sure that was a typo on your part -- I walk IN water, not ON it!! And this year, I'm in the wrong part of CA to even FIND it on a regular basis -- it all went south!!

I still have that mental image of you framing a deck in a trench coat and rubber boots :D

Hellrazor,

It'll just have to stay a "mental image" -- NOBODY HAD A CAMERA THAT DAY!!