Building a wood deck makes a great DIY project for your home. Here are some tips when laying the deck boards.

• When using pressure treated wood that’s still saturated with preservative, install the boards without a gap between them. As the wood dries, it will shrink, leaving a small gap between each board.
• Orient the deck boards so the growth rings in the end grain have the arc facing up.
• When nailing into the end of deck boards, turn the nail over and tap the point with a hammer to blunt the nail and prevent splitting.

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One Comment on “How to Install Wood Deck Boards”

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1. mike doyle Says:
   May 21st, 2012 at 9:02 am

   Regarding your direction to “Orient the deck boards so the growth rings in the end grain have the arc facing up”, Wouldn’t that method result in, in time, in making the deck have a ripple surface which also causes water to pool in the cups of the wood surface? Why would it not be better to put the cups down so the wood flattens over time?
   Thanks for your explanation.

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