Three Items You Need to Protect Your Treated Pine Decking

Treated pine is built to withstand the elements, making it a popular and affordable choice for decks. It lasts a long time, but unfortunately, even treated pine doesn't last forever. If you want to increase the lifespan of your treated pine, you need the following four items:

1. Sun Shade or Awning

If you want your treated pine deck to last as long as possible, you need to protect it from the sun. Unfortunately, when treated pine is exposed to excessive sunlight, it gets hot, and the heat makes the wood expand. As the wood expands, its fibres start to crack and break apart.

In addition to cracking, the boards on your deck may start to cup. Cupping is the phenomena where the sides of the boards curve upward toward the sun, creating a valley or cup in the middle of the piece of wood.

Unfortunately, once this process starts, it is impossible to reverse. However, you can avoid the sun's heat on your treated pine by installing a sun shade or awning over your deck. Alternatively, if you want something a bit more discreet, you can skip the shade sail and cover your pine deck in a UV-protective stain or clear primer.

2. Waterproof Primer

In other cases, however, you need to protect your treated pine deck from water. Ideally, if you add a primer or stain to your treated pine deck, it should provide protection from both sun and water. If water gets onto your deck too often, it can penetrate the wood, and as a result, the wood will become distorted as it dries.

You can prevent water from penetrating the treated pine on your deck by covering it with a waterproof primer. In addition, if water tends to pool on your deck, you may want to invest in a squeegee. This allows you to sweep the water off your deck.

3. Lifetime Limited Warranty

If possible, when buying the treated timber for your deck, try to get pine decking with a lifetime warranty. This ensures that you are protected financially if certain things happen to your treated pine deck. In most cases, however, the warranties for treated pine decks are limited, but they allow free replacement or repair if your deck rots due to fungal decay or termite infestation.

For more items and features that can help your treated pine deck last longer, contact a treated pine supplier, such as Australian Treated Pine.