Lumber Prices

[Dirty Steve]

Originally Posted by mortten

Trex had mold and UV problems several years ago that they have corrected. Composite decking is very touchy on joist spacing. If someone tried to save some money with 24" OC spacing it will buckle. If laid at 45 degrees to the joists it requires 12" spacing.

My brother has a composite deck. No bows or sags after 5 years. But it flexes when you walk on it between the joists. I agree, the spacing of joist must be closer than conventional lumber. Me, I chose a paver patio instead. 0f course they have their own unique issues.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by darkminion_17

Looks like it was built without a permit.

Most lumber yards in my area have closed down due to Home Depot. Stlll some 84 lumber yards around, they always have good prices on Trex. We never go to lowes as lowes blows.

Used to build a lot of these. Now I have the easy life.

No permits required where in the middle of nowhere, hehe.
No permits required anywhere really.... Only in one town, and it's the county seat. Even then, as long as no one complains, they don't enforce it. Even if you get a permit, it's just a fee. No one comes to OK it, and you don't have to have it approved. I like it here.

Nice deck Lew!

Easy life? You retired?

[Billy-O]

Maybe permit are required. Maybe not. Until the tax asssor comes in and sees that this deck hadn't been on the list before. Cost an extra 7 bucks a year.

[ambrola]

This deck wasn't held up on ether corner. It had a brace in the middle, but not on the ends. I did put 4x4's there and cemented them with footers. My brother and son are the guys with the hammers in the picture, they are tapping the screws in place after they chalked it. I went with the 2.5 inch star screws? I did check all the lumber contractors around here, and there wasn't any difference in price or quality? I could have went for the cheapest flooring, but bought middle of the line boards. And using Trex, well that wasn't possible at 30.00 per 12ft board. There were 46 12ft boards just on the deck floor. That's $1300.00 before sales tax. But, in all honesty, the deck is 12 years old, wasn't constructed right and had tons of stain on it. The boards just at my grill were broken from all the years of my big ham standing in that one spot. I just hope this one last another 15 years?

[drglinski]

No lumber yard around me either. The best value I've seen for wood is Menards as well. We have a home depot but its frustrating looking there for wood b/c you end up digging through a huge pile of warped/twisted/knotty pieces for anything decent.

[ambrola]

Originally Posted by drglinski

No lumber yard around me either. The best value I've seen for wood is Menards as well. We have a home depot but its frustrating looking there for wood b/c you end up digging through a huge pile of warped/twisted/knotty pieces for anything decent.

That's what we had to do. I bought the middle grade 1x6. Had to look at every piece to get the decent ones. The only lumber places around me are Home Depot and Lowes. Used to be a lot of others, but I guess their all out of business?

[green 4 acres]

Someone ought to build a table with their warped / knotty / split wood ,all catywompus and post it on the web ( Wood from HD