As I said in the prior step, one of the challenges of achieving a tight fit between decking boards is created by the presence of warped wood. Undaunted by the challenge, the pro who built this deck revealed a great tip for dealing with such warped boards when attaching your decking, using a scissor jack (you may well have one stored away in your car). Here's how:
- Set the warped decking board in place.
- Begin by screwing it down at one end.
- Move over to the next joist.
- Using 2 screws, attach a scrap block of wood to that joist, a foot or so down the joist from the warped decking board.
- Wedge the scissor jack in between this block and the warped decking board (photo).
- You may need to have a helper push against the warped wood further down its length.
- Tighten the scissor jack.
- When you're satisfied that the fit is tight enough, screw down the warped decking board.
- Repeat along the other joists to finish securing the warped board.
- Repeat the whole process, as necessary, with the rest of the decking.
Save your best decking board (i.e., the one least warped) for the end, since it will be more difficult at that point to straighten out warped wood (you wouldn't be able to secure the scissor jack easily).
In Step 10 we conclude our floating deck project....
