Decked Out

I posted earlier this week regarding what to use to cap off your stone siding if you’re only going up the wall part way, a type of Wainscoting if you will. There are literally a plethora of different kinds of siding you can use to compliment each other.

Many people who use stone , do so because they’re looking for a low maintenance product, so to compliment that product it would make sense to use another like fiber cement. The wide selection of available profiles such as lap siding and shingle ’s gives you many design options, this photo gives you the idea of what I’m talking about.

Cheers,

David Tomson

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These days people are installing more that one type of siding onto their home. This could be for a number of reasons such as cost or they just don’t want to have too much of a good thing. One way to get around this with the stone is with a ledge or trim or cap or whatever you want to call it. It is a pretty common stone to use and is usually hidden under the name of ‘Window Sill’. Most commonly 18-20 inches long and sticks out from the wall almost twice the depth of the actual stone. They are usually made to allow for water to run off of them. There are a a multitude of different sidings that you can use depending on your taste, although you really just have to decide Vertical or Horizontal.

Although there are basic trims that you can get to separate the 2 types of siding the best way is with this trim shown in this photo. This for anyone that is wondering was done in our Ready Stack Rustic Suede. In my opinion one of the best looking stones available, although some of that has to do with how it matches the rest of the theme on the home.

Cheers,

Dave Tomson

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As I discussed last week, Deck Expo really offers a very concentrated way of seeing what is going on in the decking world.  Virtually all of the key brands in the composite decking category with represenatives in attendance including Trex, Timber Tech, Fiberon, Vanguard, Moisture Shield, CorrectDeck, Rever, TAMKO, NewTech and others.

The news in this category was not so much what was new in the way of products, but how the composite market has evolved in product positioning, customer acceptance, new entrants and established companies exiting or rationalizing production.  AERT is looking at some innovative ideas including the use of Juniper fibre in its composition to fight mold and reduce the use of chemicals in its product.  Other lines have been trying to find the sweet spot in their composition mix to control costs with the increasing price of plastic and oil, while not compromising the integrity and longevity of their deck boards. 

Innovation in this category to broaden the appeal with customers (addressing environmental and longevity concerns primarily) are going to be key to the growth versus wood and pure plastic products.  While using more efficient production and sourcing of raw inputs are going to be the only way to counter increasing costs and to address the dominant use of pressure treated lumber as the low cost product of choice.

One incredible product on display was PureWood.  This is a decking material made from wood that has been thermally modified (apparently any wood can be used, though pine and fir seem to be the options they are considering).  This allows wood that has not been treated or sealed to withstand the elements without decaying like typical softwoods.  There is a great article discussing the product here: PureWoodArticle

Thermally modifed wood products have been used in Europe for around 10 years, but have not really been used extensively in North America.  It offers an environmentally sensitive option with regards to chemical usage as compared to pressure treated lumber, although the carbon footprint of the thermal treating will have to be taken into consideration given that the product is heated and steamed for 50-60 hours in its production.

 It will be interesting to see the uptake of PureWood and other thermally modified products as they are introduced.  With the focus on innovation in materials, there is likely to be some interest in this category.  However, with an expected price point to rival hardwood exotics and high end PVC decking, the question remains how much volume will actually convert.

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In the last two days I have had numerous calls on the finishing for decks, spring projects in the planning stage.  This topic, wood finishing,  is a long detailed and certainly a technical topic.  I know of two sites that will give excellent guidance on the subject and they are the Western Red Cedar Association  www.wrlca.org   and also the Forest Products Laboratory    www.fpl.fs.fed.us   and   www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/ch15.pdf  .

 A lot of information there, more than the average person will need, however some key considerations are the type of wood being painted, (stained or given a water repellant),  and whether it is fresh or perhaps an older wood that needs to be cleaned up.

• the moisture content of the wood, and general humidity conditions  
• clear, semi-transparent, or solid stains
• UV protection required
• oil or water based effectiveness
• cleaning needed prior to finishing

These sites are not only good for the decking, but also if you are considering siding in shingles or bevel siding etc. The hardwoods can be quite different since they are so  much denser, especially the Ipe and Cumaru decking

Regards, Glen

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Is a mountain of rotten wood or faded vinyl siding decorating your front lawn? Now before you dive into your new project, Cape-Cod cedar shingles or Fiber Cement lap siding, take a good look at the condition of your structure. While you or your installer is dismantling the outside of your home, you have an excellent opportunity to inspect the condition of the structure of your building . This is general for all trades really. I would say that usually you’ll uncover some nasty truths about the state of a home during reno projects.

Most of the problems surrounding siding are water related. More often than not, with lap siding anyways, the damage is a result of wind driven rain getting through the butt joints. Maybe you find that your tar paper or (in some cases newspaper) has very little life left in it and the structural timbers are wet or even beginning to rot. Although it probably isn’t in the budget, fix this stuff while you have the chance, seek it out and repair it. Put your siding off for two days and tend to any thing you find in disrepair. The other option is pretty bleak, i.e removing your new siding in 6 months to fix an old problem.

As far as a builders tips go “Ask the Builder” is providing some good information on installation techniques to ensure that water stays out of your butt joints. He uses a miniature flashing behind the caulking, pretty clever.

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I attended Deck Expo 2008 last week in Orlando, FL.  This is the largest trade show devoted exclusively to decking.  It provides a forum for everyone in the decking industry to share what is going on with manufacturers, distributors, retailers, deck builders and, of course, customers.

This is an ooportunity to see all of the components of the industry whether it is the large manufacturers of deck boards, fasteners and railings, to the niche products of dock boards, sealants and accessories.

The category of deck boards that showed the biggest growth in terms of number of new products on the market was PVC/Vinyl decking.  The real advantage of PVC is the fade and stain resistance as well as the flexibilty in creating products with more depth of colour and options, without the wood chip and flour that is found in composite products.

The company that has been in this category the longest is Azek (they acquired Procell) and they have shown the most growth at least in the number of yards that carry their product.

Premium Composites is launching Elite Decking, a line of PVC decking utilizing Strandex technology.  This represents a growth in their offering in addition to their composite line.

Two other brands of PVC, Luxrae (www.luxrae.com) and Truemarc (www.truemarc.com) have shown the look of the future of PVC decking with their manufacturing technology that gives a very authentic wood grain finish.  While not a pure PVC product (they both contain rice husks), the finish on these products is the most realistic maufactured finsih I have seen.  The price point and corresponding volume remains to be seen.  The indications I saw suggested retail pricing around $3.50 per lineal foot.

Next week, more Deck Expo review including composite, thermally modified wood, docks and more.

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A good question today about the railings and lighting the perimeter with “mood” lighting.  It’s dark out,  you want to see the edge of the decking and have a boundary fixed for your party or dinner outside.  Some railing systems now can insert lights inside the columns or rails and work from a dedicated circuit for the lighting, looks good and usually expensive.   A very simple comment back to me suggested we use rope lighting.  along the upper rail,  underneath and situated along the outside so it is hidden from view.   Certainly no drilling into the rails or need for an electrician to do the hard wiring.

 Just a suggestion and something to consider which is faster and easier.

Regards, Glen

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I had a call today, a buyer was asking about spans for joists on his decking,  using 2×8 and/or  2×10, how far could he go?  I don’t think that is the right way to approach the problem,  there are span tables recognizing various species have different strengths , and then there are recommended spans for various weight loads.  The real questions are what are you putting on the deck in terms of weight,  what species are you using, and what margin of safety do you want.

A good resource would be the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau  that has a simplified table for floor and ceiling joists  with giving how much a distance you can use joists,  at recommended  loads.  -  It is also important to know what species you will be using,  different species have different strengths.

http://www.wclib.org/pdfs/SimpSpanTbls.pdf   and    http://www.wclib.org/SpanCalc/SpanCalc.asp

http://www.wclib.org    

Also,  check with your local building code and inspectors first before doing anything.   I believe in the theory of overbuilding,  if you think you will have a large number of people on your deck for BBQ’s or parties then take that into consideration.   I  don’t want anyone finding out after the fact they have a problem.

regards

Glen 

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So,  thought you had seen all the decking species?  I learn something every day on this job and that makes it interesting.  Here is one that I really like and definitely will be the center piece for your home.  A hardwood from South America and plentiful,  durable for years of long life, and economically very attractive.   Just the name of it gets the imagination going.  I am throwing in a couple of my photos that give you the full flavor of the Tigerwood,  a very exotic wood and excellent properties. 

And in case you want just a plain ol’ tiger.

 photo courtesy of  mape_s’ photos  

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Hi all you weekend warriors,

Is your Fireplace looking looking like it needs a little something?

Well maybe you need to get stoned. No no that doesn’t mean what you think. I mean do something on your walls. The best is if you have an existing fire place because then you have about half your work done and here is a good step by step way to go about it. This is of course if you have an existing fireplace.

If you don’t have an existing fireplace an easy way to go about it is to use an electric unit gas is fine too but more expensive, either one will fit your budget. With electric you will need to do 1 of 2 things, either recess it into the wall or build it out from the wall. Unless you have walls with tons of dead space behind it you will likely be building it out. You will have to check with your local building codes to figure out if you can do this first of all but also to see if there will be any hang ups with your install. You don’t want surprises. No with interior installations you can go either way with your installation, the best is with a scratch coat. This is comprised of a wire mesh and mortar to give the stone something to adhere to. The link above gives a really good step by step on how to do this.

Doing stone on the inside you can cheat a little. You don’t want to mortar this stone to drywall because it will absorb the moisture and fall apart. What you can do is once you have it all framed out and secured down so when the stone is on it, it won’t fall down. You can begin ‘cheating’. What I mean by this is the stones adhere to the scratch coat because it is a rough cement surface and the mortar grabs onto it well. Since your fire place is inside and not exposed to the elements then you can go ahead and use cement board. This will give you that rough surface to adhere to and since it isn’t drywall it won’t fall apart from the moisture in the mortar.

When you are done you can have something like this and give your place an updated touch that looks great without breaking the bank.

Good luck,

Dave Tomson

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