decking boards ,groove side down now ?



mickb2112 said:
Decking is slippery whether or not the groove side is up or down.
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Bald car tyres or a tread?
PTR said:
Everything is a personal choice.
But I would say that wearing your underpants on your head isn't a great idea. Wibble.


Decking is supposed to be a smooth finish. Have you ever been on a boat? Where they have a deck. Its flat.

Some people are simply not reading the articles from the people who designed the product, or the various merchants who sell it :lol:
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Let's put it this way.
When decking first came out, or was recognised as the do all for the garden, I never saw anyone, professional or otherwise put decking down in any other way but groove side up and I saw plenty.

I don't ever recall seeing instructions telling me that groove side up is wrong.
I accept it could be a personal choice but for me it was and still would be, groove side up.

As fr walking on smooth board or grooved in terms of ice. Any way would still create a slippery surface but as for water, the grooves dissipate the water underfoot and do not create a barrier beneath, anywhere near what a smooth boarded floor would.

All this air travelling under neath it to stop mould and such. What a load of bolongers, as far as I'm concerned.

But...that is just my opinion and people are obviously welcome to their's.
 
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i'm going to lay my carpets upside down, after all it's my personal choice irrespective of what those losers who made it say...
 
Kevj said:
I’ve posted three articles which all advocate laying to falls. It’s standard practice.
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You can’t have a fall on ten metre wide decking man work it out !!! it will be like a ramp !! the fall wouldn’t get all the water out anyway maybe the bits on the end that’s it
Nukehasslefan said:
Bald car tyres or a tread?

Let's put it this way.
When decking first came out, or was recognised as the do all for the garden, I never saw anyone, professional or otherwise put decking down in any other way but groove side up and I saw plenty.

I don't ever recall seeing instructions telling me that groove side up is wrong.
I accept it could be a personal choice but for me it was and still would be, groove side up.

As fr walking on smooth board or grooved in terms of ice. Any way would still create a slippery surface but as for water, the grooves dissipate the water underfoot and do not create a barrier beneath, anywhere near what a smooth boarded floor would.

All this air travelling under neath it to stop mould and such. What a load of bolongers, as far as I'm concerned.

But...that is just my opinion and people are obviously welcome to their's.
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The water sitting in the grooves would freeze !
Have you ever seen decking abroad in Australia maldives etc where it’s most popular with grooves ??
Wilfy said:
Paved patio at the new house for me so none of these decking decisions to make. Only problem is that it’s cheap shit that the builder has put down and I’d like to replace it with riven slate. That can wait till next year though.
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Have you put the stones upside down for better grip ?
 
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Kevj said:
Aye your right. I hope I get an invite to gan ice skating at @Whitburnmakem’s gaff on his perfectly level rink.
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Who sits on their decking in the rain like ?? Bit grit on it in the winter jobs sorted it’s no more slippy smooth side of grooves your still walking on wood scaffolding boards aren’t as smooth as decking anyway they are rougher and you can get oil with sand it to give them more grip
Nukehasslefan said:
I already said both would be slippy when iced.
I'm talking about water.
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Why would you be sitting outside on your decking in the ice and snow a paved patio would be slippy when it’s icy
They only get slippy when they go black and green off water sitting in the grooves
 
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I loose fitted my boards flat side up and it looked absolutely shite, couldn't care less if its the 'right' way or not. I wasn't a big fan of decking but it was only a small area and it was a quick and cheap solution. Its actually came out well. The base is solid and treated and the boards run off to the drain and are treated with high quality stain. No issues and no algae,just brush the thing. I did run out of the timber yard decking boards and had to buy a couple from wickes to finish it off. They were clearly better finished and had grooves both sides.
 
Where's all this airflow underneath the boards coming from? Shirley there's like millions of percent more airflow above the boards. Grooves will create more surface area but that would be relatively ineffective underneath compared to efficacy if facing upward. Airflow's a red heron.
 
Whitburnmakem said:
Every few days in autumn? and do you dry the grooves out in winter ??
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Once a year if that. There aren't any grooves in my patio I bought concrete slabs without grooves.
Brother in law has a deck in his garden he's had it about 2 decades. He pressure washers it every couple of years then applies new oil. The grooves are up and it's in perfect condition. It's a wood deck not a crystal chandelier. There's no need for any of that bollocks you're saying.
 
Nukehasslefan said:
Bald car tyres or a tread?

Let's put it this way.
When decking first came out, or was recognised as the do all for the garden, I never saw anyone, professional or otherwise put decking down in any other way but groove side up and I saw plenty.

I don't ever recall seeing instructions telling me that groove side up is wrong.
I accept it could be a personal choice but for me it was and still would be, groove side up.

As fr walking on smooth board or grooved in terms of ice. Any way would still create a slippery surface but as for water, the grooves dissipate the water underfoot and do not create a barrier beneath, anywhere near what a smooth boarded floor would.

All this air travelling under neath it to stop mould and such. What a load of bolongers, as far as I'm concerned.

But...that is just my opinion and people are obviously welcome to their's.
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Opinion is fine. Feel free to wear your pants on your head.
But they were not designed for that.

The people who brought this style of decking to the UK specifically said why they designed it like this, and why everyone got the wrong end of the stick at the start.
Whitburnmakem said:
People going on about decking been slippy smooth side up when it’s wet who’s gonna be sitting on it when it’s raining like ???
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I have to walk on it, for example, to put the bins out.
bennett83 said:
I loose fitted my boards flat side up and it looked absolutely shite, couldn't care less if its the 'right' way or not. I wasn't a big fan of decking but it was only a small area and it was a quick and cheap solution. Its actually came out well. The base is solid and treated and the boards run off to the drain and are treated with high quality stain. No issues and no algae,just brush the thing. I did run out of the timber yard decking boards and had to buy a couple from wickes to finish it off. They were clearly better finished and had grooves both sides.
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That's your choice. That's fine.
pinewaves1868 said:
Where's all this airflow underneath the boards coming from? Shirley there's like millions of percent more airflow above the boards. Grooves will create more surface area but that would be relatively ineffective underneath compared to efficacy if facing upward. Airflow's a red heron.
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The people who created the product say that's what its for.
They designed it.

IIRC, its about a channel and how air will move along it.

And its Herring. Red Herring.
 
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PTR said:
Opinion is fine. Feel free to wear your pants on your head.
But they were not designed for that.

The people who brought this style of decking to the UK specifically said why they designed it like this, and why everyone got the wrong end of the stick at the start.

I have to walk on it, for example, to put the bins out.

That's your choice. That's fine.

The people who created the product say that's what its for.
They designed it.

IIRC, its about a channel and how air will move along it.

And its Herring. Red Herring.
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Thanks for the update on the spelling of another name for the reddish egret. I'm sure they'll catch fish much better now they know they're actually cannonballs.
(And it's cannibals. Cannibals)
 
pinewaves1868 said:
Where's all this airflow underneath the boards coming from? Shirley there's like millions of percent more airflow above the boards. Grooves will create more surface area but that would be relatively ineffective underneath compared to efficacy if facing upward. Airflow's a red heron.
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It allows air to get between where the board sits agaisnt the joist instead of trapping moisture
PTR said:
Opinion is fine. Feel free to wear your pants on your head.
But they were not designed for that.

The people who brought this style of decking to the UK specifically said why they designed it like this, and why everyone got the wrong end of the stick at the start.

I have to walk on it, for example, to put the bins out.

That's your choice. That's fine.

The people who created the product say that's what its for.
They designed it.

IIRC, its about a channel and how air will move along it.

And its Herring. Red Herring.
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You also have to walk across a paved slate patio if that’s wet or Icey or had leave sir mould on that will also be slippy
zinedine said:
Once a year if that. There aren't any grooves in my patio I bought concrete slabs without grooves.
Brother in law has a deck in his garden he's had it about 2 decades. He pressure washers it every couple of years then applies new oil. The grooves are up and it's in perfect condition. It's a wood deck not a crystal chandelier. There's no need for any of that bollocks you're saying.
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If you have tree cover or shade it’s a different story . concrete slabs also have the potential to be slippy
 
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Whitburnmakem said:
It allows air to get between where the board sits agaisnt the joist instead of trapping moisture

You also have to walk across a paved slate patio if that’s wet or Icey or had leave sir mould on that will also be slippy

If you have tree cover or shade it’s a different story . concrete slabs also have the potential to be slippy
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No one thinks anything less of you because you’ve used scaffolding boards as decking rather than buying the proper stuff with grooves. Just let it go man.
 
Whitburnmakem said:
It allows air to get between where the board sits agaisnt the joist instead of trapping moisture

You also have to walk across a paved slate patio if that’s wet or Icey or had leave sir mould on that will also be slippy

If you have tree cover or shade it’s a different story . concrete slabs also have the potential to be slippy
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A neighbour has a concrete patio with an area of decking outside his conservatory. The contrast of wood and slabs with different levels looks very nice. I thought about doing similar or going over all of it with decking. He put me off the idea when he told me that when it's frosty the patio is hardly any different to just wet. But frost on the decking turns it into an ice rink. I didn't want the Mrs going over when she put the washing out so I steered clear. Obviously ice or snow turns anything slippy but we don't get a lot of it these days. Frost though we get loads.

They put grooves in composite decking. Is that meant to be smooth side up?
 
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zinedine said:
A neighbour has a concrete patio with an area of decking outside his conservatory. The contrast of wood and slabs with different levels looks very nice. I thought about doing similar or going over all of it with decking. He put me off the idea when he told me that when it's frosty the patio is hardly any different to just wet. But frost on the decking turns it into an ice rink. I didn't want the Mrs going over when she put the washing out so I steered clear. Obviously ice or snow turns anything slippy but we don't get a lot of it these days. Frost though we get loads.
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Frost/ice on printed concrete is horrific mind. In fact, just water on that stuff, nah.
 

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