Garden and patio decoration inspiration
Wood is arguably the number one decking material. The use of wood still remains the people’s favorite even till now. Wood gives that appeal and attraction as a choice of material for decking design perhaps because of its natural color and beauty. There are various kinds of woods used for deck designs. These are employed for their various qualities and functionality that they offer.
Here are some of the common woods used for decking and what their properties are:
Pressured treated (PT) lumber leads the pack
Pressured treated lumber are made out of yellow pine wood. Over 70% of people use this wood type as decking wood. It is cheap and readily available. It’s easy to cut and join with nails and screws, unlike in hardwoods. They are chemically treated to withstand rot, decay and insect attacks.
Softwoods are great for making decks
The cedar and redwood lead the pack in the use of softwood. The two wood types are great for deck making. This is a choice among other types of wood for deck making. The natural red colors and beauty these woods offer are reasons this group leads in the use of wood and generally compared to other materials.
They specifically have no need for treatments with chemicals as they have natural species such as tannins and oils which help to preserve against decay, insects, and rots. This is one strong point with cedar and redwoods. There boards contain some amounts of heartwood and sapwoods which can be a determining factor for its further resistance to other forms of weather and bugs attacks
Tropical Hardwoods follow closely to softwoods
Hardwoods are known for their characteristic natures. They are tough and very durable. The tiger woods, ipe, and the mahogany from the Philippines are some types of the hardwoods used as decking wood. The downside to these woods is that they are expensive and are too tough to allow nails to be driven in them. You may have to make a drill for a pilot hole just before applying your fastening method.
