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I am planning to replace the deck boards and railings on my deck and I am considering getting a Kreg Deck Jig for the flooring part of the job. But I am concerned that the pocket holes will trap water and rot will eventually start at those points. By the way I am planning to use pressure treated wood but it will be one of those new MicroPro treated woods that is a natural cedar colour rather than green.

Has anyone who has used the deck jig found that to be an issue or a concern?

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We haven't seen issues with rot around the screw holes, and we've kept an eye on the test decks we built here using the jig.

We generally don't recommend the Deck Jig for use with pressure-treated lumber because it is often very wet. We recommend it for cedar, hardwoods (Ipe, etc.) and composite decking. That's because the pressure-treating process soaks the wood with moisture. As the wood dries and shrinks, it's possible that the boards could split at the screw holes. That said, the MicroPro is, I believe, supposed to be more stable. If it is dry before installation, it shouldn't shrink from what I can see with a bit of online research. If the wood is wet, though, it will shrink and there is the potential for problems associated with that.

I know pressure-treated decks have been built successfully using the Deck Jig, so it might seem odd to say one of own products may not be the one you want. But, we'd rather have you happy with the end result. Installing decking takes too much time and money to have it come out wrong.

Again, I'd investigate the MicroPro and what the manufacturer says about drying/shrinking.

KregRep

I kind of wondered about that too.  I just did my small deck/porch a few weeks ago using the Kreg Deck Jig with treated wood.

I'm just going to leave the wood dry until next year and then give it a couple coats of good stain and not worry about it.  The surface sure looks good without nail heads or screw heads showing.

I'll keep an eye on it and report back in a couple years:)

Marine Grade Clear Flexible Silicon Caulk can be used to fill the voids above the screw heads.

It an be applied using a caulking gun---

smoothen the caulk, so it's flush with the surface.

Thank you for everyone's input. I finally got started on my deck job.

I'm very pleased with the wood I choose. It came bone dry and remarkably straight so that it took little effort to fit the flooring.

I must admit, however, that after researching my options, I ended up using the Camo system to anchor the boards.  It's not quite as flexible, but it's half the price, does both sides of the boards at one go and, what I really like, is that I did not have to predrill with softwood. The screw head fills the dimple it makes leaving little space for water to collect. It made the job go very quickly and was easy enough that my wife got the hang of it and ended up doing half the work. We shall see how it fares through a typical Canadian winter.

I did use my HD jig though for attaching blocking between the joists and now for the railing. It works especially great for areas where you can't drive a screw in from the opposite side.

I am trying another interesting product for the railing posts: http://www.ideas-for-deck-designs.com/titan-post-anchor.html  I had to put extra blocking in under the boards where the posts are mounted, but I so far I am impressed with how secure they are.

Where are the pictures?

Odd, that's the first time I've read the cautions about using the KDJ with pressure-treated lumber!

I have a PT deck at my house that uses nails and screws through the surface, and I've had to replace boards due to rot around the screw and nail holes (especially at the ends).

Last year I built a deck at my cottage (see project photos here) using the KDJ and pressure treated lumber (kiln dried). The wood was dry and stable, and over a year later there's no movement, no apparent pooling or water collection in the screw holes, and everything is solid. I also think that using the 45 degree offset at the ends of boards makes for a stronger and longer-lasting join, since the hole is moved back from the end of the board and there is less likelihood of splitting or checking the wood.

Hey, Fins59.  How has your deck held up over the past 3 years?  I am curious about using the kreg jig on PT as well.  Great work on the deck, by the way.

Many Thanks



Fins59 said:

I kind of wondered about that too.  I just did my small deck/porch a few weeks ago using the Kreg Deck Jig with treated wood.

I'm just going to leave the wood dry until next year and then give it a couple coats of good stain and not worry about it.  The surface sure looks good without nail heads or screw heads showing.

I'll keep an eye on it and report back in a couple years:)

Hi Jim;

I also built a deck using PT wood. A lot of PT lumber used to be wet, but as Kevin Coombs said above in recent years the PT wood I've gotten from my local lumber shop is dry and stable. The deck i built in 2012 is still going strong, no signs of wear, rot, cupping or splitting. I stained the deck right away, and several times since. I recently removed a couple of boards (trying to locate a hornet's nest), and the screws looked brand new.

Here's my deck, by the way.

Thanks, Derek!  I have a local lumber yard that sells PT that is kiln dried after treatment, which is what I am planning on using?

Did you use the 1/4" spacers? 

Great deck on an even better piece of property.

I used the smaller of the two sets of spacers, I believe they are 1/4"? The deck areas are 12' wide, so I simply bought 12' boards, but I had to use a bit of persuasion at times since there was some minor warping over the length of the boards. A pry bar came in handy. 

JIM said:

Thanks, Derek!  I have a local lumber yard that sells PT that is kiln dried after treatment, which is what I am planning on using?

Did you use the 1/4" spacers? 

Great deck on an even better piece of property.

My deck has an awning on it have not had problems 3 or 4 yeas old.

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