Small Deck

Ok so we have two areas that we want to deck.

The big area is under out Grand outdoor alfresco and the smaller area is beside the dinning room.

I have started working on the dinning room one it will be a small sun deck its about 11m2 in size and i want to build it with 2 picture frames and hidden fasteners. I want to use a wide board like 140mm with a small gap like 3mm. The deck is near the ground and represents some challenges.

My biggest problem is the Metricon filled my back yard way to much with soil. I’m digging down and levelling out to the minimum space i require. I guess i will just have to dig my hole yard down a bit. it does tapper off as you head down the yard so some areas are worse than others.

I have been doing a lot of research into the different hidden fastener systems on the market.

http://www.deck-max.com.au/
http://www.deckfastener.com/pages/welcome.asp
http://www.camofasteners.com/

Of them the deck max are my pick. they are more expensive than decking screws but look better. The problem with the deck max is that they only go up to 110mm boards in there pro kit and they seem to like to sell it over the old standard biscuit kits.

Also i really wanted to use Fiji Mahogany as the decking timber from
http://www.pridemahoganyfiji.com.au/

But have ran into issues with it being not endorsed by any of the hidden fastener manufactures although http://www.pridemahoganyfiji.com.au/ say its ideal for decking purposes. I have even seen its in ground buried test results showing that it is a very appropriate timber for the use of decking.



Extra reading if your interested between me and pride mahogany fiji.
Then me and Deck Max.

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To: info@pridemahoganyfiji.com.au
Subject: Website Enquiry

Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 20:59:47 -0500

Subject: Fiji Mahogany Decking 140mm x 21mm

Comment: Hi can i please get a quote for 120 lineal meters of Fiji Mahogany 140mm x 21mm delivered to xxxxxxx xxx xxxx
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G'day Clinton
We thank you for your enquiry!
The 140 x 21mm decking is priced at $6.50 per lineal metre, therefore 120 lineal metres will cost you $780 inclusive of GST. Delivery will cost you $200.00.
The timber packet will be shrink wrapped and properly strapped thus wether proofed.
Please feel free to give us a call anytime on 0431089371 if you have any questions.
Kind Regards
Shane G.M
Pride Mahogany Fiji
GMH (AUST) PTY LTD
Ph: 0431089371
www.pridemahoganyfiji.com.au

________________
Hi,

Thanks for the quote I forgot to ask do the boards come reeded? Ie grooves to de stress and prevent cupping. If not does Fiji mahogany have a tendency to cup? Also why does the website www.monarotimber.com.au/sp_fijian_mahogany.htm "not recommend it for decking"

Regards

Clinton

________________

G'day Clinton
My apologies for the late reply, I was out of office.
Well the 140 range are all four sides dressed with pencil round edges, however the 90mm and the 70mm range come with 3 sides dressed and one side reeded.
No there is no tendency to cup as since recent times all our decking timber range have been H3 treated and kiln dried to a moisture content of 10 - barely 15% thus the low moisture content disallows cupping or cracking. Cupping mostly occurs when there is alot of moisture in timber, once expose to the natural environment the sun tends to absorb the moisture (water) out of the timber thus it leads to cupping and leeching however with Fijian Mahogany that we supply this is NOT the case due to our state of the art equipment and treatment processes that we use.
As to the website you quoted, Well I would not get too into it but only will say that different people have different mindsets, if a person/company cannot compete in pricing of a certain product and is not able to sell that product any longer than obviously other products that person may sell becomes "Superior" overnight. For your information Fijian Mahogany is one the best and most suitable choice of decking timber, harvested from a sustainable plantation forest.
Please feel free to give us a call on 0431089371 if you have any questions or queries.

Kind Regards
Shane G.M
Pride Mahogany Fiji
GMH (AUST) PTY LTD
Ph: 0431089371
www.pridemahoganyfiji.com.au

________________

Hi Muhammed,

Thank you for your reply.
I understand what you carefully put about others opinions.
One more question that i would like to ask.
does Fijian Mahogany lend itself to any of the hidden fastener systems like "Deck Max" or "Tiger Claws"
Can it be end matched?

Regards,
Clinton
________________

No reply………. Fail……


So i contacted Deck Max to see if they could provide some answers.

________________

Dear Clinton,

I called earlier sorry I missed you, I have done a lot of enquiries about Mahogany, and Peter the inventor and owner of Deck-Max has been speaking with me to explain that even though he loves Mahogany, he would not recommend to use it for an outside deck, it is very soft and not a suitable decking species, this is his personal and professional opinion, and after experimenting with many products within the decking and timber industry Peter does have a lot of wonderful knowledge.

We have the following species available and have all been given the Deck-Max process of air drying, kiln drying and then air dried again to ensure the timber and deck has a long life span and can with stand the Australian climate and conditions.

Our species are –

· Merbau

· Spotted Gum

· Ironbark

· Blackbutt

· And we have Composite in Grey Ash and Cuban Coffee

Can I do you a quote with one of the species above for you at all? I am looking forward to hearing from you soon, and I am looking forward to helping you with your decking enquiries.

Warm Regards,

Dianne

Projects Manager

www.deckmax.com.au

_____________________

Hi,
Thank you for your work looking into this for me.  I'm still struggling with conflicting opinions. Bellow is the response from Pride Mahogany Fiji.
It makes it very difficult to decide what to do but in the end i guess Merbau is the tried and proven way to go. what information do i need to provide you for a quote?
Regards.
Clinton
_____________________
G'day Clinton
My apologies for the late reply, I was out of office.
Well the 140 range are all four sides dressed with pencil round edges, however the 90mm and the 70mm range come with 3 sides dressed and one side reeded.
No there is no tendency to cup as since recent times all our decking timber range have been H3 treated and kiln dried to a moisture content of 10 - barely 15% thus the low moisture content disallows cupping or cracking. Cupping mostly occurs when there is alot of moisture in timber, once expose to the natural environment the sun tends to absorb the moisture (water) out of the timber thus it leads to cupping and leeching however with Fijian Mahogany that we supply this is NOT the case due to our state of the art equipment and treatment processes that we use.
As to the website you quoted, Well I would not get too into it but only will say that different people have different mindsets, if a person/company cannot compete in pricing of a certain product and is not able to sell that product any longer than obviously other products that person may sell becomes "Superior" overnight. For your information Fijian Mahogany is one the best and most suitable choice of decking timber, harvested from a sustainable plantation forest.
Please feel free to give us a call on 0431089371 if you have any questions or queries.
Kind Regards
Shane G.M
Pride Mahogany Fiji
GMH (AUST) PTY LTD
Ph: 0431089371
www.pridemahoganyfiji.com.au

_____________________

After this Deck Max called and explained that they supply to very large builders and the need to purchase extra boards to repair or extend a deck later on means they can only recommend and supply timbers that are readily and reliably available. So again its not so much a will the timber fail side of things and a logistics issues.

My reasons for wanting to use the Fijian Mahogany are as follows

Merbau is about 2 Oragatangs per board.
Merbau tannin stains everything it gets on and takes ages to stop coming out so that you can oil it.

Fijian Mahogany looks awesome when oiled!! it goes black and orange and looks like a tiger.

What do you guys think i should do?

A) Merbua in 110mm from deck max. it pre groved and end matched so no joining on the joist required and will look very nice.

B) Paddle up stream, buy Fijian Mahogany from pride and the serries one biscuits from deck max and a biscuit cutter. I will have to join on the joist for ends and fudge my way through the install. but it could look orange and black in the end.