Went to b and q earlier, said to the assistant I want decking and the chap punched me to the ground, be careful folks

You might be better with a trolley. You wont get many in your boots.

Wickes have their 'Premium' board on BOGOF for the next week or so - works out cheaper for a far better (thicker, wider) board - also available in longer lengths 2.4/3.6/4.8m

Wickes 28mmx140mm - approx £9.70 m2
B&Q 25mmx95mm - £11.70 m2

Not really. Breathing smoke from treated timber may prove to be a very poor choice. :wink:

http://web.utk.edu/~mtaylo29/pages/Don't%20Burn%20Treated%20Wood.htm

Absolutely...
This from the Timber Decking Association...
By far the majority of timber decks, boardwalks and piers built around the world are surfaced with plain timber boards. Whilst grooved deck boards are often marketed as "anti-slip" there is no evidence to suggest that they perform any better or worse than plain decking. Choice of deck board style is therefore a matter of personal preference.

A fall of around 1:100 should be built into a deck to help the surface drain and prevent standing water. Grooved deck boards were actually designed to aid water drainage and as such should be laid in the direction of the fall away from any adjoining property.

Where there is a higher than normal requirement to prevent the risk of slipperiness, for example on ramps, stairs, bridges or on public/commercial installations then deck boards with built-in abrasive strips can be used.

The TDCA should be contacted for details of DeckMark™ quality assessed manufacturers of such boards.

And this great linked article...
http://www.shepherdscarpentry.com/decking-and-domes/ribbed-decking-or-smooth-surfaced/

Saw these yesterday - what absolute rubbish they are... At £1 each, they could be excused, but not at this so called bargain price. Typical B&Q tat... :disappointed:

Who breathing in smoke from treated timber??? I'm on about the fact the decking is strong enough to keep a 5 man tub up not using it to burn. Honestly some people need some common sense

​Lol... Douglas is not a semi hardwood! Douglas fir is softwood but you are correct it is better quality. What you should refer to is the difference between the quality of softwoods. Yours (Douglas fir) is a 'Red' softwood this and other cheap softwood is known a 'white' softwood.

This is cheap rubbish 'white' softwood.

25mm = to thin. Buy at least 32 or 38mm & never buy decking with grooves ONLY on one side. Machining grooves into wood twists the wood naturally, putting a profile cut on the reverse side helps to stop this.

Knowledge = Wood machinist!

​hi arthur could you recommend a good alternative to balsa am naking fishkng lures and vasla seems expensive sorry for thread hi jack :smiley:

For those of you who are puzzled, #91 was a comment on the web reference given in #54.

Interesting to note Salford's advice "Do not allow run-off from fire fighting (treated wood) to enter drains or water
courses". Yeah, sure, we'll definitely surround the burning garden shed with waterproof sheeting before we allowed the fire brigade to put the fire out.

didn't know that, I had to google it to see if was true.

will still install it groove side up as it looks better though :wink: - learn something new every day

Finally, someone else who knows how to fit them!

Interesting fact. Uk is only country in world that persists in fitting these boards wrong way up!!! Grove sided down folks!

whats the price of hard wood version in 12ft

Err??? :confused:

same with all stores in Glasgow, u nd to go down and have a look and hopefully it's a worthwhile trip if not at least it's a wee day oot for the family eh!

oops

Hardwoods are stronger & therefore longer lasting as opposed to softwood. You pay for what you get. My deck is made from a semi hardwood Douglas fir, it's still going strong after 9yrs

+VAT

link please

Yes. Company called Metsawood, formerly known as FinnForest.

I use them to make plant containers, worth the money for that.

thanks for posting op. heat from me

Thanks OP, bought 30 quids worth to also use it for a raised bed!

loads left in Slough store.

​If you've checked online it'll be coz no store actually stock it, it's been sent in just for the promotion.

Thanks, saved me £20 and a better end product!

I've had these (well, similar) cheap boards from B&Q for 6 years now. I think I've treated once after originally putting them down. Decided to treat them again so power washed yesterday and started to stain them again today after checking the forecast which suggested <5% chance of rain. Half way though it started raining....Maybe I should make myself a toastie!

Seriously, back to the boards, they still seem decent enough to me without any real care. If I get another 6 years out of them I will just replace. I must have only spent about 100 quid on them in the first place.

£1.00. A metre @ Selco .

i have around 40 feet of decking from B&Q which has been down about 3 years and not had a problem with it. then again i used decking oil instead of decking stain, the oil soaks in well and really helps look after the wood better then stain imo, just to add we have sun all day on the back "when its out" and to say it was sold as soft wood decking it is now harder then first bought? maybe a combination of the sun and oil? cleans great with pressure washer. i used wicks own brand which i used on the last coat over a year ago and still looks great.

This is what bugs me. I recently made a set of shelves to grow food and flowers on in the garden so Mum can reach them easily. Did a little look around at safety wrt growing food and everything was "Yeah treated wood these days is safe to use for food such as in raised beds blah". So I'm trying to isolate the pots by using saucers and only flowers on lower shelf to avoid runoff dripping from higher shelf because I'm not buying it as 'safe'.

Or use it to make furniture - - - Sofa - so good! ( ;-) )

Loads in stock at Doncaster

Loads of it in Crewe, but looked a bit crap if im honest. Some of the boards were twisted, very knotty etc.

Buildbase have some Q-Deck at £1.89pm in 4.8m length but the offer ends today. They're 120mm x 33mm

"Longer lengths"!!!
Oooo er madam!
Lol

Plenty in Sunderland, I'm sure it's smaller (6 ridges this time, 7 last time) but it'll be fine for me use.

Cheaper than wicks

Thank god you didn't ask for any screws

Nearly 3 full Pallets of decking in Kingsgate East Kilbride Sat 21/05 and all decking are spot on, no joe mangled ones, and all neatly stacked like a wee terraced hoose
When i arrived about 11ish this morn i asked this wee guy who was kidding he was busy if any was left, he said it had all gone, i had a nosey around the timber yard anyway as i was suspicious of his laid back ways,
And there was fn loads of it up at the back of yard next to the wood :laughing:
That's B&Q staff for you (not all of them i suppose) and if you can find one at that, more the wee ba bags that are still wet behind the ear and don't give a monkeys or just thick as a bag of sh**e, don't listen to them worth having a check to make sure before you do the toes out the store when your looking for something
Away noo to get me dbl bet on, cargo in for the Gers to win easily, then Crystal Palace tae win tally hoo :man:

PS. Also took a troop doon to B&Q in Motherwell Sat 21/5 it has a closing down sale, watering cans £1, various sized Clay Pots were a few pounds down to 80p-£1, various light bulbs were £5-8 now £1.60-£2 etc..., massive watering buts £5, loads of fencing but it depends what your looking for, worth a wee look anyway.

Including Wickes? By reputation theirs is better.

Just bought 24 to do garden borders. Came outside to monsoon season so retreated back through the tills to the cafe.

Cheese and tomato toastie nom nom

I came in here to find this and someone delivered, +1

This hurts your feet if walking barefoot.

So avoid if you plan on walking around with no shoes on.

No clothes should be okay though.

a man walks into a b&q and asks "got wood?"

I had softwood last night. To many Shandy's.

Biggest factor in the warped boards is the heat in stores, most stores keep these inside ironically whereas they would be fine stored in the garden centre outside.

Better to check local building / timber merchants, Rembrand, Jewson, Travis Perkins etc. often there cheaper but will normally match this price when mentioned.

Hey fella, I was on me mobi and couldn't be bothered fighting with the browser to check through all the links before posting. So as to avoid being the boy-who-cried-woodsmoke here's a link to the Tanalith E safety sheet:

https://www.salford.gov.uk/media/387611/ger-appendix2.pdf

Doesn't make for much better reading. The main difference is that the ash isn't so toxic as before since less heavy metals in them.

The message is the same though, don't burn and breathe this m'kay!

We used a decking that's 35 MM. thick and was 130 MM wide . Came in 5.6 metre lengths . Yes was triple the price but we used 9x3 timber joists for framing at 400mm centres . Been down 4 years and looks great we clean and treat every 18 months .

Do you know when in next week. I really need to buy some to make flower bed

Wickes have that on offer saw a post on here yesterday I think .Buy One Get One Free on premium decking ,
10 year guarantee apparently, not sure how they guarantee a plank of wood for 10 years thou.

Worth checking Travis Perkins as well... they're decking is by far the thickest and best quality. Probably wont' compete with these offers, but usually its fairly similar price.

I made a gate and fence out of this stuff about 3 years ago, no sign of any problems with rot, despite living in Manchester.

I personally wouldn't use it for raised beds, I prefer old scaffold boards, or better, scaffold boards that have failed the quality test (and therefore are untreated - I don't know the Chemistry but can't see it being good for your garden to stick treated wood where you're growing food), you often find suppliers on Ebay, they work out slightly more expensive but for a much stronger board, with an edge thick enough to support a board crossing over the bed.

mike

Never seen so much excitement over softwood!

The key with longevity in wood is to stop it staying wet.
So...
Level your ground where you are placing your bearers & lay some cheap black tarpaulin across the ground for weed surpression (assuming you don't have the budget for teram)
Get a roll of cheap damp proof membrane from a builders merchant and lay it under your bearers (on top of the tarpaulin)
Buy pressure treated CLS for your bearers - it's cheaper than pressure treated 4x2 and is nominally the same size
Fix your decking to the bearers and then keep it clean (twice a year) and well treated once a year - it will last as long as you would ever want it to.
:smiley:

havnt got much money to do garden but if i managed to do a good base out of 4x2 would this be a good stop gap as i realise it will need re doing in a few years.??

heat

Always go for the 28x144 mm decking , it's available everywhere unlike this cheap B&Q stuff . Just got some from a local timber merchant for
less than this with free delivery . If you ever need to repair the deck down the line you may struggle to find this

If you are going to post a scare story get your facts right CCA was banned by the EU in July 2004 and your link (from 2003) refers to the Copper Chromium Arsenate treatment where the arsenic and Chromium were the baddies. TanalithE doesn't contain either.

Think also if your give your soft wood a good rub it ermm well turn into hard wood :man:

How much wood would a wood decker use if a wood decker would use wood??

Wow I've never heard that joke before. :smirk:

You buy cheap and look after it you buy once.

Nonsense. Stop recounting hoary old adages like you're Yoda. I and many others on this site buy plenty of cheap things and I only need to buy once.

I bought a bunch of this last year for my borders and it's fine. I also treated it with cheap wood treatment before putting it on the ground and will do again either this year or the next.

This will be fine for 95% of what you need it to do.

Dont want to spoil it for everyone but the same suppiler supplies all the big sheds so the quality cannot be any different.

Wouldn't your boots be a bit uncomfortable with all that wood in them?

You buy cheap, you buy twice.

I'm in a good mood so you can have a like :man:

Went to b and q earlier, said to the assistant I want decking and the chap punched me to the ground, be careful folks

I've been working on a few projects recently and B&Q timber is the worst I've ever bought. Even if reasonably straight when bought some of it has warped and corkscrewed within hours of getting it home.

Wickes have their 'Premium' board on BOGOF for the next week or so - works out cheaper for a far better (thicker, wider) board - also available in longer lengths 2.4/3.6/4.8m

Wickes 28mmx140mm - approx £9.70 m2
B&Q 25mmx95mm - £11.70 m2

Where did you put the drainage holes?

I picked some up earlier today and made garden gate. Slight variations in length but width, thickness and straightness all good. Very very soft and not something I'd use for decking but has plenty of other diy uses. Absolutely loads in B&Q Preston

people make furniture out of these And garden tables then sell them on Facebook!

When I did similar used some damp proof membrane or heavy grade plastic sheeting with some drainage holes to protect the wood.

We've had decking of this type down for about 5 years. Treated well it looks great. I tend to give it a good clean with a hard brush and detergent twice a year, spring and autumn. Then once a year treat with decking treatment (b&q do one for about 24quid a tub for 5l).

Wouldnt double up. Just put a few more supports in and you will be fine. Raised bed boards are usually only 19mm thick anyway in kit form. To save the compost squezing out through the gap between the boards use weedfabric on the inside and staple on before filling with compost/soil

Not a regular line. Every store has stock on these one off deals. Give em a ring and ask if they can put 12 and half lengths aside for you

6 B&Qs in my local area - none stock it?

Anyone have an idea if this would be good for making raised beds? Maybe would need to double up for thickness?

Good price and hot for me.

Not really. Breathing smoke from treated timber may prove to be a very poor choice. :wink:

http://web.utk.edu/~mtaylo29/pages/Don't%20Burn%20Treated%20Wood.htm

Works well on keeping this up

cheap fire wood if it is rubbish.

I've got them but won't know how good they are until my shed starts slanting or when i dismantle the shed in 3 years time.

Used B&Q decking to make a garden gate. So far so good.

​have you used it. if your on a budget then it's great.

Cheap but in fairness shiiiiiite

You might be better with a trolley. You wont get many in your boots.

Soft = pine/conifer
Hard = deciduous

Ironically balsa wood is classed as a hardwood despite being the lightest softest material you can imagine.
However, generally hardwoods are harder, denser and longer lasting.
Softwoods are usually cheaper and lighter.

I assume its easy enough to return the crap ones?

as above just work through the pack looking for the straighter ones. our big decking has been down nearly 2 years now and it's brilliant. just make sure it's well treated.

you need to pick the straight ones as a lot in the pile are banana shaped soft wood does not last as long as hard wood but they cost 4 times as much so you make yar choice

hot

Is 25mm not getting a bit thin?

Soft = cheaper, readily available.
Hard= more expensive, not so available.

Furniture wise think pine compared to Oak.

Good price and more than good enough to lift a shed off the ground.

Good spot - hot from me

Anyone know what they're talking about with regards to soft vs hard wood decking? What's the story?

Ohh. Nice. Anyone know how much these cost normally?