Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Turning old decking over and re using

My wife and I cant afford to replace the 2x4x16 decking ( my dog caught a 3" splinter through the foot) so my dad suggested that I simply turn it over and re use it.
Well so far, out of the 15 I have turned ( out of 65) 2 were too weak to reuse.
I am also having a little problem with horizontal bowing. Ive been using a clamp to hold the 2x4 in place while I screw it down but it is taking me around 5 min a 2x4.
ANY SUGGESTIONS would be helpful.

***Im also reusing the screws .The deck is treated wood around 10 years old***

I am just trying to get by until I can afford to build a new deck. (Sometime between now and 2050)

Astrotex,

Welcome to the forums.

Getting the bend out of wood decking is difficult work, and even more so when the boards are old, dry, and have been in that bowed position for several years. A bigger (or at least more powerful) clamp may help. You didn't say what you are using for a clamp, but I would suggest a 3/4" black pipe with Pony clamp ends on it.

Only 2 out of 15 being bad isn't bad at that age. How are the tops of the joists that they are attached to? (That's usually the first thing to rot.)

Screws rather than nails was a good choice.

I am using a steel 24" Columbian Bar clamp witch was very helpful until I exceeded the width of the clamp. Now all I have is a Quik Grip 24" bar clamp/seperatorthat I am using as a seperator to push the bow out of the boards. The only problem is that the Qiuk Grip is not very strong .

You know just as I was laying down the 6th 2x4 I thought about the joists, perhaps I should have also flipped them over as well. They seem to be holding up pretty well althought I wight the person who built this deck had added more joists, these are about ( WOW I just measured ) 33.5 inches apart On an 11' 8.5" length ( I was way off on the length).

What I have done is temporarily screw dona board about 1" from the warped board then driven in wedges to straighten it.

What I have done is temporarily screw dona board about 1" from the warped board then driven in wedges to straighten it.


I think my biggest problem when it comes to the bowing is that the joists are 33" apart and which gives alot of space for bowing. I cant affod to add more joists right now and when I can Im just going to rebuild it all together.

Whoever built the deck had no clue what he was doing.

33" is almost 50% too much span for 2X decking. the joists should have been 24" O.C. or less.

As far as clamping, add a block to the side of a joist and use that as your stationary end for the clamp so you can keep working across the deck with it as you go.

Seriously though if mony is an issue check out some job sites and see if they would allow you to legally have some scrap lumber. Sounds like a lot of work.;)

Would the type of wood used in framing a house even be the right kind for decking?

All I will use is ACQ PT. Some contractors will drop down to borate treated PT because it's less expensive. And I've repaired a lot of deck where the framing was done with just untreated Doug Fir. (And that's a lot of the reason I was repairing the deck!!)