This video shows how we have laid these deck boards without ending on a half deck board or a wedge-shaped deck board.

Most often two opposite walls will not be exactly the same length and they certainly won’t be designed to accommodate an exact amount of deck boards with a uniform gap. What can happen is that you start on one end and end up with a half deck board that has to be ripped length ways on the other end. This is both unsightly and can result in premature failure because the deck board may become too narrow to be secured properly.

If the two opposite walls are not the same length then the problem is compounded because not only will you end up with half a deck board, but you will end up with half a wedge-shaped deck board.

So we need to try to mitigate this problem by adjusting our gaps between deck boards either up or down, very slightly so as to be unnoticeable.
Normally the gap between deck boards is 5mm and we commonly use a 6 inch nail as a spacer. By increasing one end of the line of deck boards to 4mm and the other end to 6mm you can effectively gain, or lose 2mm per line of deck boards. In this video these boards were 90mm wide, so if on every line we gain 2mm, we will gain about 20mm for every 1m of deck boards installed. So after 4.5m you can gain a full deck boards width. On most decks this is sufficient to allow you to finish on full deck boards and to avoid having to cut a wedge-shaped deck board.

Watch the video and you will see how I panned around the little alcove that we had to deck into. We employed both methods here to end on a full deck board and to avoid a wedge-shaped deck board.

It is far easier when decking to the end of the deck as here you can continue with full deck boards until you reach the end, and then cut your joists off at the right length.
It makes for a much neater deck and less chance of failure.
Other videos are also available on the Videos Tab on the menu bar on the left. These show other techniques we employ in building wooden decks which can make the job a lot easier.

For a free no obligation quote on your wooden deck, please contact us on 082 496 5444, or use the contact us form below.