Hi, the tongue and groove on my covered front porch is rotting at the ends so I'm replacing it, probably with spaced decking to allow water to run through. I have tons of questions, but first I just want to understand the lumber options at the big stores like home depot/lowes vs smaller lumber yards.
I've found lots of lumber type/grade info online, but once I'm staring at the racks in the store the options seem broad and not well defined (at least not to me). For instance I'm considering using 5/4x6'x8' pressure treated pine decking, of which there appear to be several different types according to their end tags (lots of brands, abbreviations and decimal numbers). Can anyone either point me to a resource that explains the lumber options and their uses, or give me the quick tutorial?
Thanks, and I'm new here and so far there are tons of great questions and responses to peruse.
Give us some examples of the data you need to understand so we can be specific. Items to consider are lumber grades, moisture content, and amount of treatment chemical present.
I would not use pressure treated lumber, you will probably regret it. I did one of these 6-8 months ago. We bought tg mahogany from a local lumber yard. In order to reduce problems with rott I had the homeowner prime and put one coat of finish on all sides before I started. We also painted the cut ends before installing. The material was not that $$$, especially since we got random length instead of full length boards.
Bill
Try google, here is the basic:
Softwood Lumber Grading
Hardwood Lumber Grading
Think about how many front porches you've seen. How many were pressure treated?
How many had gaps? Your's would be unique. Be safe, GBR
Before you choose to go to a gapped board, check into Azek Porch. This is a new line that they came out with, so availability may be an issue for a month or so, It's TG, so make sure that there is a slope to the porch to facilitate runoff, which there should be since your current porch is TG.
Sorry for the slow response back. I didn't get any notifications of your responses (email filter probably) so I thought I was ignored! Obviously not, so thanks for the responses.
Wirepuller, I was mostly confused by the decimal on the end tags (ex. .40, PT content?), the lack of number grades at places like HD (#1, #2, etc.) that I see in smaller lumber yards, and the use of premium, select, etc.
GBR, your link to softwood grading was very useful, cleared it all up. To answer your questions, I can't say how many porches I've seen are PT (can't tell) but many do use the 1x4 TG that is commonly sold as PT for pretty cheap so I assume it is used by some. My neighborhood (Houston Heights) is full of early 1900's renovated homes, so there are lots of very old and new porches. Many of the new covered porches I see are using TG, yet many use 5/4x6 (some radius edge) or thicker with gaps and hidden fasteners. Aesthetically, I've found that warped boards, rotten edges, exposed TG ends, and poor workmanship create a bad look, regardless of material and design. Conversely, a lack of those problems creates a good look despite material. Regardless, TG looks great and I'd love to stick with it if not for the longevity/maintenance issue, on which I'm clueless, so If you can expand on your opinion, I'd love to hear it. I've already been burned once with TG...I assume the previous owner didn't maintain it well...so I'm reluctant.
Bill62, I'd also like to know why you think I'd regret PT. I assumed everyone would use PT for any outdoor pine, but I'm noticing a lot of criticism based on shrinking/warping.
Lefty, synthetics aren't my thing. I try to stick with renewable products. Plus they're pricey and the Azek Porch can't be painted.
Tags: replacing, covered, porch, tongue, groove, pressure treated, Azek Porch, Lumber Grading, lumber options, lumber yards, porches seen, smaller lumber, smaller lumber yards
