Laying terraced boards do it yourself: instructions

Innovative technologies today allow you to create analogues of various natural materials. The quality of the finished product is so good that it can easily replace the original. For example, tens of years ago, natural wood was used to decorate cottages and country houses, terraces, and furnishing the areas around the pool. But, as you know, wood does not tolerate temperature drops, humidity and various atmospheric influences very well. Moreover, the tree is rotting. However, modern technology has allowed to create a material that is similar to natural wood, but has much more advantages. This decking or decking is a natural covering that is designed for outdoor use. Thanks to the terrace board, you can create a smooth and beautiful coating of wood, which is characterized by increased resistance to external factors. We will tell you more about this material and how the decking of the terrace board is done by yourself. But It is worth noting that every home master can perform such work.

Decking and its features

Due to its composition, decking has a great advantage over plain wood. The material combines all the advantages of wood and plastic. What is the advantage and what does such a board consist of? Its composition, like properties, is unique. It includes the following elements:

• Wood flour - the main component that is part. Such flour consists of a tree of valuable breeds crushed in flour. To make it, you must thoroughly grind the wood and dry it. In quality products, the percentage of wood flour is 80%.
• No less important component are thermoplastic polymer composites. It is thanks to them that the surface of the board has its own unique qualities. It does not need to be varnished, painted or treated with various materials.
• The last component that is part of the decking is technical modifiers, which are necessarily added for the interaction of polymers with wood.

This composition makes the material ideal for outdoor use. After all, natural wood is short-lived, as it is constantly amenable to negative impacts. Due to different temperatures, moisture, wood pests, as well as external factors, wood loses its shape, aesthetic appearance, strength and color during operation. But the terrace board is not threatened. It will serve you for a long time, without losing its original appearance and qualities. Let's look at some of the benefits of this material.

1. The flexibility of the boards. This flexibility is provided by molecules of polymer composites, between which there is a physical connection. As the material heats up, the bond disappears, and when it cools, the bond returns. All this allows the board to bend and take the desired shape during installation. Therefore, you have the opportunity to trim not only the terrace, floors and walls, but also to decorate the ledges, steps, corners and various decorative elements with different reliefs.
2. Durability and strength. The presence of modifiers in the composition provides the material with good reliability. If you make the floor of decking, he can withstand a huge weight. For example, on 1 m of coverage you can put 1 ton of weight, which it can easily stand. Moreover, frosts up to -70? C and heat up to +120? C terraced boards are not terrible. Agree, it is impressive!
3. Resistant to mechanical damage. The polymer coating gives the surface increased resistance to chips, scratches, stains from household chemicals, etc. You can drop something on the cover, and it will remain in its original form.
4. Easy care of the coating. This is elementary - you can clean the boards with a simple microfiber, a damp cloth using simple detergents. This ends care. You do not have to constantly paint the floor, clean it and eliminate various defects.
5. High moisture resistance. Unlike simple wood, moisture is not terrible for the product, so it can be used for bathing from the inside, as well as for finishing river moorings or pools. Especially this property will be useful to those who live in a region with high humidity and frequent precipitation. Despite this, your terrace will be constantly protected.
6. Ease of installation. Due to the design features, even a simple amateur in the construction business will be able to install a decking board. You do not need specific tools and materials, everything you need can be found in your workshop or bought in a store.
7. Impeccable noble look. Such a composite coating can be any according to your desire. There is a huge palette of patterns and shades of products that you can purchase according to your preferences and desires. And thanks to the composition of the board, the initial appearance of the coating will remain so for a long time.
8. Ecological purity of the product. If you are an adherent of natural materials, then decking is for you.
9. Retains heat well. On the cover, which is made of decking, you can walk barefoot (especially useful for those who have children).

The only drawback of the decking is its high cost. In stores you can buy this material within 2-4 thousand rubles per 1 m², but wooden products are 4-6 times cheaper. But It is worth noting that the quality in our case is higher than the price. Everything is justified by the fact that composite materials will last you much longer, they are of higher quality, and their functionality is so much higher than materials from wood that the high price is not even considered as a minus. Everyone knows that you have to pay for quality. But having done this once, you will forget about other problems that will arise with a wooden coating.

Video: рекомендации по выбору декинга

Installation Guide

As the instruction states, before mounting the decking, it should be placed for two days in the place where it will be installed. This is done to adapt the material so that it acquires the temperature of the future environment. It is also not recommended to perform installation work in the winter period of time when the temperature drops below zero. And in order to increase the operational life of the coating, you need to ensure good ventilation. Between the base and the future coating you need to make a recess at the level of 20-30 mm.

If you plan to lay the boards on polluted areas where there is sand, earth or grass, it should be thoroughly cleaned. For a composite board, it is better to prepare a concrete base, smooth and reliable. And during installation, we recommend using quality connection elements.

To successfully complete the installation of decking, you need to stock up on such materials:

1. Reference lags of 40? 27 mm.
2. Decking in the required quantity.
3. Initial and intermediate braces.
4. End strips.
5. Screw screw for fixing.
6. Stubs
7. Corners.

Also for work you need to have such tools:

1. Saw.
2. Mallet.
3. Drill.
4. Building level.
5. Pencil and tape measure.
6. Screwdriver.
7. Drill.

Having prepared all the necessary tools, you can proceed to the basic work of laying decking.

Stage 1: Foundation Preparation

Installing decking on an unprepared surface, it's like playing football without a ball - it's useless. Therefore, in order for the work to take place comfortably and correctly, you need to provide a solid foundation. The main requirements for the base on which the boards will be laid are strength, perfect evenness and smoothness. As a base, you can choose a cement screed, wooden beams, plates or metal logs. When in the place where the decking is laid, grass grows, the soil should be covered with a special material or treated with herbicides.

An important point is the arrangement of the drainage, which is also extremely necessary so that the water does not stagnate. Your base should be made with a slight slope, which is 1.5–2 ?. If you want the water in the form of precipitation to flow over the surface without obstacles, the bars must be installed parallel to the descent.

Stage 2: Installing Lag

On the concrete base, you need to install support logs and fix them with anchor bolts. The maximum distance between the lags should be 40 cm. In places that will be subjected to increased load, the distance can be reduced to 20–25 cm. It is also important to observe a 20 mm clearance gap between various obstacles, such as walls, thresholds, curbs, etc. . Thanks to the gap, in the hot season the boards will be able to expand freely.

If you want to install the decking board diagonally, the logs should be fixed in 25 cm steps. Check the installation lag using the building level. Even if your base is fairly level, you should not neglect the horizontal check, because the entire future coverage depends on the correct installation of the support lag. In order for it to be even and not to “walk” under your feet, lags must be set perfectly even.

Stage 3: installation of decking

Once you have installed the logs in place, leveled them and fixed, you can proceed directly to the installation of decking. As mentioned above, it is very easy and simple to do:

1. To fix the board to perpendicular to the lags. To begin with, you need to cut the board so that after its installation the protrusion of its edge above the base is 7–10 cm on each side.
2. The starting board must be mounted from a fixed structure. In her role can serve as a wall. First you need to fix the starting brackets (clips) on each lag. To arrange them exactly, use a simple rope stretched over a level. While sticking to the markup, fix the clips in their places with self-tapping screws.
3. Install the first board into the groove of the initial bracket. For convenience, you can use a mallet, tap the board from the end so that it sits in each slot.
4. Now make holes in the board and fix it with 8 mm self-tapping screws to the support lags. Measure everything by construction level.
5. When the first board is fixed, take the intermediate brackets and install them into the groove of the board and reattach it to each support lag with self-tapping screws. Thanks to the intermediate staples, a gap will be formed between the decking boards, necessary for the water to flow down from the surface to the base.
6. Once the intermediate brackets are fixed, continue to mount subsequent boards in the same way. Do not forget to check the flatness of masonry level.
   If the length of the composite board is less than 80 cm, you need to use at least 3 support lags.
7. When building a long terrace, when the boards need to be laid end to end, it is important that both ends rest on the same lag and are fastened together with clips.
8. At the end, if necessary, the edges of the board protruding above the base by more than 5 cm should be trimmed. This is the main work completed, you can go to some details.

Stage 4: Completion

When everything is ready, the boards are firmly fixed and ready for use, you can smooth out all the "shoals" and give the design a complete and attractive look. To get started, take the end caps and close all the gaps around them. Just snap it all the way into each board from the end. Then the boards will look harmonious, and water will not penetrate into them.

If you do not want to buy end caps, you can use a cheaper option - end plate. It consists of the same material and has the same color as that of the decking. The plank is attached to the floorboards with self-tapping screws.

The third option, which can hide the gap in the ends of the boards - composite corners. They are attached to the boards like a plinth.

At the end, when the plugs are already installed, the surface must be cleaned: wipe it with a damp cloth to remove dust, chips, and other contaminants. At this work on the installation of decking boards finished. The installation process is slightly reminiscent of the installation technology of the wall paneling, only in our case it is necessary to provide gaps for ventilation.

Do not make mistakes!

It should be noted that if it is wrong to assemble the entire structure, it is possible to significantly reduce the service life of the material. In order not to throw money away, it is important to avoid some common mistakes.

1. The gaps between the boards are simply necessary. This small nuance will significantly extend the operational life of the coating. Thanks to them, the boards can "breathe" as ventilation occurs. Moreover, this gap allows the product to expand with temperature fluctuations without loss of integrity.
2. Self-tapping screws or other fasteners should not be tightened much up to the stop, since they will contribute to the deformation of the boards.
3. When the concrete base is ready, and it is impossible to make a slope for running off of water, make in it several gates, along which water will flow down.
4. Be sure to take care of drainage holes.

If you do everything correctly and properly care for the terrace board, it will serve you for more than 25 years. This care includes:

• occasionally wash the surface with a damp cloth;
• when serious stains have formed on the boards that cannot be washed with a cloth, use detergents without bleach;
• in order to avoid damaging the surface, use a soft bristled brush when cleaning;
• small scratches or bumps can be removed with fine sandpaper.

Let's sum up

As you can see, installation of a terrace board can be mastered by every person who is able to hold tools in his hands. If you follow the instructions and adhere to the rules, the work will not seem too difficult. Qualitatively laid decking will last you a very long time. It is resistant to the sun, increased moisture, insects and mechanical stress. Moreover, the coating is able to withstand heavy loads. This is an ideal option for finishing the terrace in your home.

If you have any questions related to the technology of laying decking, write them in the comments. They will be reviewed by our experts, who will be able to give you a comprehensive answer in the shortest time possible! We hope that the information from this article was useful for you, and thanks to it you will be able to self-lay the decking board.

Video

See how the installation of decking boards on piles:

And here is how MultiDeck decking is installed: