Where to use decking and how to stack it

The main advantage of housing in the private sector is the possibility of frequent hanging out in the fresh air. The territory adjacent to the estate is a place where you can comfortably communicate, enjoy a day’s rest, read, have lunch. Therefore, many justifiably seek to improve this zone as best as possible. So there are terraces with furniture corners located on them, mini-greenhouses, gyms and even creative studios. And it is very important that the flooring withstands not only the load created by the decor elements, but also atmospheric influences from the outside. The integrity of the base in particular and of the general appearance as a whole is reliably ensured by decking – terrace board.

Content

• Like on a ship
• Which wood is better?
• Arguments for”
• Styling features
• Benefits of DPK

Like on a ship

Traditionally, flooring for open areas adjacent to the house is made of wood. The result is a semblance of a deck. The wooden floor guarantees not only a heat-insulating layer, but also sets a special mood. The overall effect is a feeling of coziness and comfort..

The analogy with the deck of the ship determined the appearance of the name of the building material, which is used for boardwalks – decking (in English, deck means deck). By and large, almost all varieties of terrace coverings can be called decking. This is a deck, terrace board, garden parquet made of DPK, that is, those materials that are used for various options for finishing walkways, open platforms, decks.

Which wood is better?

Thanks to modern technologies for the production of such materials, it is possible to obtain terrace coatings that are resistant to soaking, delamination, and rot. For their manufacture, enterprises use special types of wood, which by their nature are resistant to decay. These include cedar, larch, tropical wood: paduk, merbau, iron tree, sapelli, irko, bangkira. Still, tropical wood is still preferred, since it is adapted to a humid environment, has natural protection against destructive processes of decay. Those manufacturers who make garden parquet from exotic wood give up to 50 years warranty on their products.

The operational qualities of larch and cedar are much lower. But modern processing materials, as well as quality care, can extend the life of this material for many years and significantly save costs.

Arguments for”

Using modern decking for terraces has a lot of advantages. They make it possible to visually transform the garden or summer cottage, clearly define the estate zone, and set the necessary accents. Decking board transforms concrete or asphalt pavement, earth mounds, soil areas. At the same time, preparatory work is minimized. This material allows you to create a kind of bordering pools, decorative fountains, artificially created ponds. A wooden floor heated by the sun’s rays is much more pleasant and safer than a cold and slippery tile, hot asphalt or concrete. Due to this feature, decking is used not only to transform suburban residential complexes, summer cottages, this material justifies itself in saunas and baths, indoor pools, winter gardens and greenhouses.

Modern garden decking can look not only of a traditional board covering. It can be square modules, the size of which is 30×30 or 50×50. The flooring is going from them. The module includes a substrate with wooden strips fixed to it, lamellas that match the pattern. The substrates may be a wood or plastic frame. This makes it easy to lay blocks even on the ground. The main thing is that the drainage system is well established on the site. So that the modules fit snugly on the designated area for this purpose, the soil is pre-leveled and well compacted, sometimes an additional substrate of sand or gravel is created on it.

Styling features

For open areas that are often prone to precipitation, it is recommended that you use a deck board with rounded top edges. With its smooth surface, it can have additional longitudinal furrows, which create an anti-slip effect. The smooth terrace board looks good on balconies, covered terraces, and verandas under a canopy. It is very practical, as it is well washed and cleaned of litter..

There are no specific sizes for this type of board – each manufacturer has their own. With a thickness of 20 mm, their width can range from 70 to 180 mm, and their length can be from 1.5 to 6 meters. Such decking is laid on wooden logs of the same breed with a step of 1 m to avoid torsion of the material. A gap of 3-5 mm is left between the boards for water drainage and ventilation. In the process of creating the flooring, the slope of the base is necessarily provided. This is done so that water does not collect under the deck, but flows freely into the drain.

Benefits of DPK

Manufacturers have repeatedly experimented with decking as flooring material. The connection of this material with plastic did not justify itself. The result is a very expensive coating. An alternative solution was the material obtained by wood-polymer extrusion (this is the so-called KDP). DPK decking has a very high strength, it retains some properties of natural wood (low thermal conductivity), is not exposed to moisture. The amount of wood in the timber industry varies from 34 to 68 percent.

Polymer decking has a very pleasant decorative look, which almost completely imitates a real tree. Thanks to the hidden installation system, such a flooring is quickly assembled. At a certain distance, special latches are placed that enter the longitudinal groove. The support profile itself is attached to pre-installed beams or to the foundation. The base can also be created from fine gravel or gravel..

In landscaping a private estate in the open air, it is advisable to rely on the help of highly skilled workers who can carry out the installation of decking at a high level. High-quality work is a guarantee of a long and reliable operation of terrace areas.