Decking problem - any Kiwis who can help?

[Student]

Hi All,

With apologies to all of you back in the UK, I'm currently soaking up the sun in New Zealand; temperatures in the low 20s Centigrade most days.

Having arrived, my daughter handed me a list of DIY jobs to do, one of which is to sort out their decking. It seems as if most decks in NZ are secured with nails which, with sunshine and cold causing the planks to expand and contract, pop up and need constant hammering down. It's not only my duaghter's deck that we have seen affected. I saw the same problem at a cafe that we visited and a B&B that we have stayed at.

Short of trying to find decking screws, which I haven't seen at the DIY sheds, any other thoughts on how to solve the problem.

I should mention that the deck has some 300 plus nails so removing them and screwing the deck planks down isn't an attractive proposition!

 

[mtr1]

Is there anyway you could screw next to the nail, that would at least save trying to take them out.

 

[Chrispy]

Sounds like you're looking for an excuse to spin it out a bit longer, however long it takes to put it right!

 

[Student]

Chris

Would that I could stay a bit longer but the return flight is booked :>(

Other jobs on the list are to paint/stain the deck once the nails are sorted and then paint/stain the fence. Problem is that you can't do this if the temperature is over 30C and it was hitting that the other week before we set off on our tour around NZ.

Problems, problems!

I'm just hoping the house is still standing when we get home!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Annular ring nails won't pull. Are they what you are using? My bil in NZ was a chippie and he used to laugh his socks off at people in this country screwing decking down.

 

[Mike.S]

My bil in NZ was a chippie and he used to laugh his socks off at people in this country screwing decking down.

Did he say why?

 

[Racers]

This product might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-bnhrFnVcY

Pete

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My bil in NZ was a chippie and he used to laugh his socks off at people in this country screwing decking down.

Did he say why?

Yes. because they use annular ring nails, and he'd never known them to pull out.

 

[Higon]

Chris

Would that I could stay a bit longer but the return flight is booked :>(

Other jobs on the list are to paint/stain the deck once the nails are sorted and then paint/stain the fence. Problem is that you can't do this if the temperature is over 30C and it was hitting that the other week before we set off on our tour around NZ.

Problems, problems!

I'm just hoping the house is still standing when we get home!

What about starting the paint / stain job as the temperature drops in the evening? you'll get the reasonable temperatures overnight for it to dry off...

(sat here in 4 layers including fleece, windstopper, neck warmer and ushanka! Wind chill outside is of brass monkey looking for a welding mask!)

 

[blackrodd]

If you have to use just nails, the only answer would be to "skew" nail at opposing sidesand one going to the left or right, giving 3 different angles to pull against.
If you can find angular nails, it would be better.
Regards Rodders

 

[lanemaux]

Near balmy minus 9 C here today Higon. Last few days were cold though , worries for homeless in large cities as it was minus 20 C with wind chill to minus 30-35. We get a bit of nail - pop as well. Come the spring I bend the knees and hammer them back , short of screwing down the whole thing it's all you can do I fear.
Edit : thnx Rodders , new plan this spring.

 

[Higon]

Near balmy minus 9 C here today Higon. Last few days were cold though , worries for homeless in large cities as it was minus 20 C with wind chill to minus 30-35. We get a bit of nail - pop as well. Come the spring I bend the knees and hammer them back , short of screwing down the whole thing it's all you can do I fear.
Edit : thnx Rodders , new plan this spring.

I screwed down the decking, even though it took 2 days, (big deck) rather glad I did now, don't fancy trying to fix it at the moment. Wouldn't mind the minus 9, at least its a 'dry' cold... not like this nasty damp version. Had to add a layer of goretex while I urgently research wood burning workshop stoves!

 

[Student]

Me and my big mouth! After weeks of sunshine, where we are at the south of South Isalnd, today we have gales, threatening clouds and low temperatures. However, we are due back in Auckland on Sunday where the weather is a bit more clement.

Although I am not at my daughter's house at present, from what I remember, the decking planks are only 100mm max wide with the nails at about 75mm apart which doesn't give a lot of room for screw nailing. I also realised that I got my sums wrong. There are 17 planks across the deck with 23 rows of nails but each plank has 2 nails per row. That makes over 700 nails. Hammering in another 700 nails and trying to,get the heads below the surface may be a step too far. My son in law may have to hammer them down on a regular basis as the kids tend to run about on the deck in their bare feet.

As for putting on the decking/fence stain in the evening, that's a good idea but, with a south west facing deck, the sun is full on it until about 1 hour before dark and this may not be enough time to put a complete coat on in the time. I'll bear it in mind though.

Thanks for all your help (as usual) guys.

Martin

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Ever heard of a nail gun?

 

[Student]

I certainly have Phil but have never ever used one. I'm not going out to buy one and am not sure where I can hire one from convenient to where my daughter lives. I may ask their builder for advice as the house was only completed 6 months ago and he's building another one just up the road.