Plane uneven joists? Trex fasteners?


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Old 07-31-02, 05:04 PM
merbert99
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Plane uneven joists? Trex fasteners?

I am done framing my deck and made the mistake of getting my pressure treated lumber from 2 different stores...thus some of my joists had shrunk more than others. Some of my seams for joists do not quite match, I am out up to 1/4 inch.

Should I plane the difference? Or would I notice it at all if I laid the decking as is?


Using Trex as decking. Trex the company recommends stainless steal. Talk to anyone at a lumber store and they say just to use regular deck screws.
Any suggestions from experience out there?
 
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Old 07-31-02, 05:17 PM
Doug Aleshire's Avatar
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Deck Joists?

merbert99,

You have me wondering, "seams"? If we are talking about a joist system whereby the lumber has shrunk, can you install joist hangers? Are the joists level at the top for good decking application but too short by 1/4"? Again, is this what we are talking about?

By the way, the below quote is from TREX concerning fastener recommendations;

Hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel nails or screws are highly recommended to take full advantage of the durability of Trex Wood-Polymer lumber.

Let us know about the joists?
 
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Old 08-27-02, 10:01 AM
merbert99
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I have put in 10.5" pieces of 2x10 between the joists in places for support and also for deck board end support (decking will be 45 degree angle to joists in places). I could not get all of these to line up properly with the joists they are between due to warps, crowns and different actual dimensions on some of the joists.

As it turns out when I tried applying the Trex decking, being out even 1/4 inch is too much...the Trex bends to follow the level of the joist and will look poorly constructed not being level.

I had to shave off the uneven seams and the severly crowned (up to 1/2 inch) joists to make sure they were even. I then treated the shaved edges with wood preservative.

As for the joist hangers, I am using them but I followed some instructions on a web site that said it was easier to apply all the joist hangers to the ledger board first then attache the ledger. That is how some were slightly higher than others...the joist hangers were not set exactly right for the particular joist they would be holding.

One other thing I am having to do is compensate for a joist that may be a bit to low by putting a space filler between the joist and the decking to keep level. This is not recommended but is unavoidable since removing the joist hangers and rehanging is not an option...they are attached to solidly and I cannot get at all the nails attaching them.

PS: A friend at work is buidling a deck with ChoiceDek and has run accross the same issues.

Re: fasteners... decided to use regular deck screws after talking to a builder who has worked with Trex.
 
 

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