Deck plank renovation

Mr Deck Showpiece Decks and Arbors

How to re-plank an old deck

Here is a whole new approach to renovating an existing deck with PrimoPlank. And it's the cheapest way to do it.

Here are the prerequisites for this approach

First, the deck needs to be in good repair. That is, the understructure must not have any dryrot or mildew.
Secondly, the existing planking must be in good shape: no dryrot and no big knots in the planks that are to be kept in place.
Thirdly, the joists should be at least 2x8s with spacing at most 24 inches on center.
Finally, and this is critical, the thresholds of all the doorways that give access to the deck have to be at least 1 inch or 1½ inches above the existing deck, depending whether 2x (1½-inch) or 5/4x (1-inch) thickness of plank is used, respectively. (2x is recommended if there is adequate threshold clearance.)

The Method

The method requires the removal of every two of three planks starting at the second course from the ledger. Then plastic groove & groove (G&G) 1-inch by 6-inch or 1½-inch x 6-inch planks are run across the remaining wooden planks at 45º , 60º or 90º and fastened with Eb-Ty plastic biscuits to each old plank, except at the plank at the outermost edge . At the outermost edge, the ends of the plastic planks are screwed up from the underside through the old plank into the new instead of using the Eb-Tys.

To minimize any water impact along the walls, galvanized or aluminum angle flashing should be applied all along the walls and corners before laying down the new planking.

A facia border can be applied over the exposed ends of the new plank to give it a finished look. And railing posts may be fastened outside the rim joist that runs parallel to edge of the deck, exposing the railing posts. Then the facia board is tucked in-between the posts. The best way to do that is to fasten it with screws from the backside through the rim-joist.

And where old planks have been spliced across a single joist, a 12-inch long, pressure-treated block of at least 2x4 dimension need to be scabbed onto each side of the joist and then the old adjoining planks screwed-down to the scab blocks before applying the new planking.

To the right is a renovated deck done exactly that way. Notice how the planking was run at a diagonal in opposite directions in rectangular sections and then framed by a border plank between them. There's a trick to doing this so it handles the expansion on hot sunny days.

Also notice the railing. It consists of 5ft long pieces of stainless-steel tubing tied into PrimoPlank 4x4 posts and held rigid by a vertical 2x3 between them.

To see more, click on the picture.

The Rationale behind the method

The use of Eb-Tys in the grooves along the edges of plastic planking accommodates the expansion and contraction of the new planking, which has an expansion rate of 1/4-inch per 12 feet over a 40ºF change in temperature. If the plastic planks were all just screwed to the old boards in the skip-lath configuration, it would push-and-pull the deck apart and undo the nails in the old planks during expansion and contraction. Using Eb-Tys allows the new planks to slide during the expansion and contraction phases.

The new planks are fastened with screws at the exterior sides of the deck as opposed to doing this along the walls in order to confine any large contraction or expansion to occurring near the house where it won't be as noticeable and can be accommodated with the ½-inch setback. Further, it also allows the exposed planking along the outer edges to be covered with a facia board that won't be impacted by the new planks' movement with temperature changes. And moreover, this won't impact the new or existing railing posts either.

The purpose of removing every 2 of 3 old planks (skip-lath) is to allow all the plastic planks to release their heat from their exposed bottom sections when in the direct sunlight. Otherwise the planks may get too hot and expand beyond what is reasonable to accommodate. One of the properties of solid-plastic planking is that it transmits heat to the underside as fast as it absorbs it from the topside ─ that's why it doesn't get uncomfortably hot -- it will reach a stable temperature and stay there until the sunlight subsides.

Because most decks are built with planking parallel to the house, laying the plastic planks across the old planking has an ancillary benefit: it avoids the need for any splicing the new planks since most decks that are long tend to be not wider than 16 feet, and that's the longest standard size G&G plastic board.

And lastly, only every third old plank (not counting the one along the ledger) is kept in place because one flat 2x6 board every foot is necessary for supporting the live-load between existing joists that the deck was originally designed for. That's also the reason for adding the scab-blocks where the old planks were spliced.

Now for cost

Standard cedar-colored G&G PrimoPlank will cost $5.84/ sq ft for 1x6 and $6.80/ sq ft for 1½x6. For, say, a 500 sq ft. deck, that would amount to $3000 or $3500, respectively. Add to this the cost of the Eb-Tys and freight from the Midwest. The freight cost is mitigated by the absence of sales tax when a shipment crosses state lines.

Note: Our minimum order is $3000 for the planking, so your deck should have an area of 500 sq ft or more or we won't even quote you a delivered price. Click here to request a quote.

Reviving an old deck doing both cleaning and staining, it would cost about $3500 to refinish a 500 sq ft all wooden deck just once. And that process is required at least every 2 years. You'll never have to do that even once with permanently colored solid plastic. So for the price of one refinishing, you eliminate the need for that process once and for all.

While you're at it, you might consider replacing your wooden railing with PrimoPlank too.