Here’s a quick video of Accoya® decking being installed at a residence.  Follow the moulding process where wood blanks are turned into decking with the edges eased.  Then watch as the Accoya® deck is completed.  Accoya® FSC (Mixed Credit) certified wood was used for the front porch and back deck.  Accoya® wood is made only from sustainably sourced wood.  Because this “modified” wood absorbs 80 percent less water than does conventional wood, the wood is substantially more stable, lasts much longer and requires far less maintenance.  The use of Accoya® wood will help the project gain half of a LEED-H point in the category of Materials & Resources, exterior decking and contribute to the overall percentage of FSC wood used in the home.

Accoya Deck Install from Green Life Smart Life on Vimeo.

To follow up my previous article, we will continue to discuss deck face screwing and plugging methods.  Again, I’m a huge fan of face screwing/plugging, not only for the aesthetics, but also structurally – it’s easier to replace a failed board.  All you have to do is drill out the plug and unscrew the board.  If you use a hidden fastener system, you have to take out all the boards up to the one you need to replace, think of the labor cost!  Well placed face screws I believe give the board more stability and strength to withstand severe summer heat and winter elements that will stress the wood.  That said, I’m no deck building expert, but I do have personal experience in designing and installing exotic decks so this comes from my experience.

I’ve had several conversations with deck builders over the past few weeks and we discussed the numerous ways that they try to speed up the plugging process to contain labor costs.  In my previous article, I discussed how to get a nice, smooth plug finish by planing off the top and going back with a sander to finish.  Yes, this is painstakingly slow, and if you have a big deck, a very daunting task.

So here’s what some of the pros do – they use a sharp chisel and masonry hammer.  Lay the bevel side of the chisel against the edge of the plug, going with the grain, and pop!  The plug is shaved.  Now, this is the easy way, but it’s not the pretty way.  The positives are that your labor cost is lower due to time saved.  You don’t need any special or expensive planers or sanders.  The negative, and this is why I don’t like this way just for the sake of appearance, is that you get a very un-clean plug that will either be rising above the deck or, in some cases, break off below the deck surface and leaving an indentation.  See the following photos that I took from a finished project and see if you can notice the rough finish of the plugs:

Some of you can live with this, but some of you cannot!

Now, a compromise – try using the chisel method for speed, and then go back with a sander and smooth out those bumps.  There is still nothing you can do about those plugs that break off below the deck surface, however you won’t have that bumpy feeling as you walk on your deck if you take the time to go back over it with some spot sanding. 

Enjoy your new deck, and please comment if you have any other methods or ideas!

I can speak from personal experience on this topic.  In 1997, I designed and built an Ipe deck at my father’s house around his pool.  This was a project house, and you can see from the first picture that the old deck and fence had to go.  The engineering challenge was to sink the deck flush with a new stone retaining wall around the pool and butt it up against the fence. 

My decision to screw and plug the face boards came after worrying about the severe Texas summers and the stress on the 4/4 x 6 face boards.  I also considered ease of replacement should I need to take a board out.  It seems a lot easer to be able to drill the plug and unscrew versus…well, I’m not even sure how to remove a board after a hidden fastener has been used.  Finally, in my personal opinion, plugging just flat looks better.  It was a learning process, and here’s what I figured out:

1. Practice screwing and plugging on a spare piece before you actually start!
2. Set the depth of your countersink pre-drill hole with masking tape on the bit.  Make sure it is deep enough to receive most of the plug, but not shallow enough that the plug can’t grip inside the hole.
3. Make sure that you have an extra countersink bit handy, in case you break off your bit (I learned this the hard way).  Ipe is DENSE, and the bit gets hot quickly.  Keep some water or cutting oil handy, and frequently dip the bit to keep it cool.  Be careful with cutting oil – don’t get any on the deck as it will stain Ipe (yes, I learned this the hard way too!).
4. Set your pre-drilled hole about 1″ to 3/4″ from the edge of the board, or as close as you can get it based on your plug size and still maintain a nice aesthetic.  This will help to prevent any potential cupping of thinner material.
5. Pre-drill one hole, then immediately set the screw.  It helps if you have two drills handy, one with a countersink bit and one with the driver bit, so you don’t have to keep changing bits.
6. Make sure you are using stainless steel screws!  I like to use a small head, Swan Secure Woodpecker #7, with a square drive (they don’t strip).  Swan Secure is a good brand.  My experience with the “Home Depot” wide-head #8 stainless steel is that the heads break off frequently, even with pre-drilling.
7. Get a Bo-Wrench!  This little jewel will save you lots of pain if you are working with long or slightly bowed boards.  It clamps to the joist and jacks your board into it’s proper position, holding it there for you to set your next screw.
8. Use a long guide to gap your boards.  I used a 1/8″ plywood scrap and it worked great.  Ipe shrinks and swells with heat, humidity, and cold.  Proper spacing will prevent the boards from buckling or popping.
9. After you have face screwed all of your deck face boards, it’s now time to plug.  I found out real fast that Gorilla glue was not the correct glue.  It will also stain your deck.  A little dab of Tight Bond (#3 for outdoor, I believe) is what I ended up using…a little dab around the bottom is all you need.  Too much glue will force up the excess when you press down, and you will have a mess.
10. Tap the plug with a mallet as far as it will go.  TAP it, don’t hammer it.
11. Once all of the plugs are in place, I recommend making a few passes with an electric hand planer.  While this is an extra step, it will save you time in the long run.  Plane each plug to where it is not quite flush with the deck face.  If you don’t have access to a hand planer, a second method is to use a sharp chisel, turned on its beveled angle and make sure you tap the chisel with the grain. 
12. Go back with a belt sander to finish smooth.  It’s up to you whether you want to sand the whole deck.  I did not do that, as it was already smooth by East Teak’s millwork and did not require further sanding.  The second photo shows what the plugs look like after they have been set, planed, sanded, and the deck face finished.

I’ll leave the finish for another blog post for another day, but here’s a picture of the finished deck!  Not bad for an amateur.  If you have any quesions on your project, you can reach me in my office direct at (972) 248-0078 any time during the week and I’d be happy to discuss this process with you.  If there are any professionals out there that can lend some advice or if you have a better method, please comment!

There’s a new “species” in town…it’s called Accoya®.  Manufactured in The Netherlands by Titan Wood,  it is the result of years of research and testing.  When we saw it, we were so intrigued that, although it’s not a hardwood per se, we added it to our product line.  Why?

For starters, we consider this to be the Cadillac of modified woods.  It is created using a process called acetylation.  This process has been around for a few decades, but Titan Wood is the first company to get the right formula with the right wood.  I’m not a chemist, so you can read more about the actual acetylation process on the Accoya product website, but it basically is a natural process that takes out the bad stuff and adds more of the good stuff.  The process uses what is naturally found in the wood.  Therefore it’s not “treated”, which makes it 100% recyclable.  It’s not baked either.  And this process works from surface to core, up to about four inches thick.  So this is not a topical solution either.  The result is an actual microscopic, mollecular structural change. (more…)