Dang it I meant to post this in the lounge...

 

if its going to be in the sun leave 1/8 to 3/16 inch between boards. they will not shrink that much.

 

Mine shrunk almost a quarter of a inch

 

That's what she said... That little blue pill not working like it used to huh buddy? ROFLMFAO...

 

I've always placed the decking tight, without spacing, and after the treated lumber dries out, there has always been adequate spacing between the boards for water to drain.

 

Do you install the grain cup side up or cup side down? I did it down(like common sense should tell you) and had half hold water. So I flipped them all over and the other half did the same. Next time I'll get the composite stuff.

 

I had a covered porch built 2 years ago at my house mainly because I didnt want to see the flaws I would have left behind if I built it, anyway we used 5 qtr by 3" board because my carpenter mentioned the 6" board may cup over time, that and he did screw them down touching each other, now after 2 years there is maybe a 32nd of a inch gap between them. Or a better gauge would be earlier this week I dropped a few pellets while shooting at a groundhog, the pellets got stuck between the boards. So Id ask your self if you are willing too loose a few pellets or not? ps I got the groundhog 125yards love these new air rifles

 

seal team six sniper material

 

Cup down. I nailed my w/ galv spiral nails. Start board and put nail against board for spacing. Some boards are not straight so I could bend boards into place and left uniform gap. My is 20+ years old and still looks great

 

I like the idea about using 3" boards. If it were my deck I'd space them around 1/8th hoping to end up with around 1/4 inch gaps.

+1 on galvanized spirals.

 

I like the idea of the narrow boards too but I still plan on using the 5/4 x6. I've actually had decks both ways and see advantages of each.
I always heard bark side up on the boards so the boards wouldn't hold water.
I haven't figured out exactly which fasteners I was going to use on the new deck boards but the old deck I just tore out they used nails and about 1/2 of the nails were almost rusted in half. The deck was 15 years old and I was surprised at how bad the nails looked. Of course the deck had probably never been sealed so maybe that helped make them rust quicker.
I'll be rebuilding the structure over the next few days so keep the info coming, deck boards won't go down until probably next week.
Thanks again to everyone.

 

If your using fresh treated lumber I always but them together no gap. When they shrink you'll have a small gap. If your using a composite decking they need spaced. The hidden style fasteners for composite decking have the gap built into them unless they are just a fastener that goes through the face then you'll have to gap them yourself.

For wood decking I use a 2-3/8" ring shank nails for the air gun

 

.whatever fastener you use make sure its rated for use with pt lumber. the salts injected into the wood to preserve it will react and corrode some nails and screws

 

I use 2" screws that are specially made for use on decks. They are not cheap but they are made to resist the corrosion caused by the chemicals in the treated lumber. They come in a couple different colors and are available at Lowe's or Home Depot in the fasteners aisle.I usually pre-drill to prevent splitting the decking.

 

We just pulled some decks out from a project we did a couple years ago. I was surprised to see that some of them started to corrode even though they where ACQ approved fasteners. Also most screws will not come out whole after years in a joist. Once the wood shrinks around the screw the force to unscrew it will normally snap the screw off

 

Has anyone checked on Kagee lately? Is he okay?

 

?? WHAT HAPPENED

 

I work in the construction field. We always space our boards and use weather treated exterior screws. Spiral Galvanized nails work, but over time, they will still come loose and make that creaking noise.

 

Put them together.

 

Am I the only one that thought this was going to be a worm hook thread from the title?

 

Hmmmm. Clearly we are into the dog days of August.

 

Yep...the dog days are here.

My deck boards were all KDAT(kiln dried) pressure treated. I spaced them 1/8" using 2" deck screws and they still have the same gap 4yrs later.

Had I used 'wet' pressure treated lumber, I would have butted them.

 

So after all the advice and looking at a lot of info on the internet here's what I did.
Most people seemed to say no gap for wet wood but while doing a little research I found 1 good reason for leaving a gap and it was for drainage and allowing dirt and debris to fall through the boards. It also allowed better air circulation giving the wood a better chance to dry & avoid decay or rot. They suggested leaving a 1/4" gap even on butt connections if so required. That seemed a bit extreme to me but I could follow their logic.
So what I did was leave an 1/8" gap along the sides so I got the best of both worlds.
Thanks to all who replied.