Deck-Max Refurbishing

Replacing a old deck

If you had used Deck Max™ you would not have to replace the entire deck, the innovative and revolutionary decking and home improvement specialists…

Why Use Deck-Max

You save the cost of replacing the first cheaper option.

This story referred to as Deck #3 – highlights the benefits of using Deck-Max decking system – Yes it will be more expensive however you will not have to do this in a short period of time. Watch the video!!

Learn More

Deck-Max has taken the opportunity to tell this story by a time line of a real deck and what happens over time and the outcome. In 5 years, the deck was rotten and dangerous.

If there was ever a time to understand why spending a few more dollars in the start and pay for quality, this story will tell the REAL story.

Situation

In 2005, a chippie added a new deck to a pool side area of approx 250mm off ground and was laid beside a pool with salt chlorination.

Specification

90mm Merbau decking
Screw fixed with decking screws
Treated Pine joists

Overview

Day one it looked really nice it was coated with an oil chosen by the contractor and everyone was happy.

The reality was

I was never given the choice of alternative materials from screws to nails to other options – however within one year the holes where the screws were fixed started to crack open and in the section close to the pool the screws started to show surface rust and started to stain the decking boards.

The automatic reaction was to re oil the deck – so I cleaned it and re oiled and it was not bad to look at but when you dig deeper into this deck you will discover the cancer of the deck and the outcome:

01

4 years ago the deck had deteriorated into a terrible looking deck with cracks splits rusted screws, mould and the entire deck was an eyesore.

02

During this last 4 years the deck was left and not used due to heavy work load by the owners and situations that did not prioritise the need to fix it.

The Solution / Outcome

After inspecting this deck and considering the state of the screws the decking and the entire deck area there was no way to repair or resurface this with deck cleaner or other chemicals let alone the impossible task of replacing the rusted screws.

So, after the initial spend of approx. $1200.00, it was a clear decision to remove the decking and replace with the best option on the market based on the following key points:

Surface fixing with screws or nails was not worth the grief as it has proved to fail over time even though it was cheap.
The unknown issue was – What were the joist like ?
- So after removing the old decking boards and discovering that the joist were very close to rotting it was clear that the joists need to be left exposed to the sunshine and dry out before making any decisions.
After several days in the sun the joists had dried out to see that there was some deterioration but was isolated to the hole where the screw was inserted and had rusted and in most cases had broken off with rust.
The best part of this outcome is that when using Deck-Max fixings you can choose an alternative position on the surface of the joists to get a clean fix and especially making the choice of Stainless Steel screws.
Choices to make:
- Do you want surface fixing? – NO
- WHY? – because not only does the hole from the screws make a conduit for water to get into the board and the joists but the boards split around the hole when the board wants to expand and contract.
- SO !! – when considering the option of Deck-Max secret fixing it made very clear sense why to go with it
No hole in the decking board to split and crack
It allows the boards to expand and contract without cracking and splitting
It will not allow water down through the surface fix hole into the board and into the joist.
Decision made:
- Allow the video and the photo’s to tell the rest of the story.

The problem was the owner had no idea how to tell the difference between Stainless steel screws and plain old cheap decking screws – let alone why you need to know? The builder / Chippie did not offer alternatives.

Our Gallery

Here at Deck-Max, we really hope you take the time to understand all options before making this big dollar investment and we can at least suggest why spending a few more dollars will deliver a LONG TERM outcome.