brizzle

Anyone here ever remodel their porch. Sorry I dont really know the size of mine but I need to know what kind of wood did you use or would recommend for the porch floor. Mine is currently buckling and I'd like to replace it altogether.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Pics? Is it directly exposed to the elements? Does it look like just the decking is buckling? Can you see the framing members, joists, header, etc. to see if they are rotted?

For an exposed porch you could go pressure-treated, cedar, Trex.... Lot's of choices, obviously the price can vary significantly.

Show us some pics of it and we'll help.

brizzle

Thanks, I shall have pics up this weekend.

brizzle

Ok here are the pics of my porch. As you can see that it has a roof over it but I'm more concerned about the floor of it that should be replaced. On the 4th pic, the floor does not even completely meet the post. Also if you have other ideas on what I should do, please post them.

fsttyms1

Things to think about. Natural wood like cedar is pricey, but if treated right will last a long time. and looks great! Trex will last for ever (figuratively speeking) BUT in winter conditions is like ice. its very slippery. treated wood will last along time but doesnt look as good as something like cedar. Most of it comes down to how much maint you are willing to put into it and how much money to put into it. Me id spend the money into something like cedar, but make sure you use treated lumber for the framing of it so that it lasts and doesnt rott

Dfreder2

Working for ITW, Illinois Tool Works, I specialize in corrosion control, and I do a lot of work for our divisions Buildex (industrial screw fasteners) and Paslode (pneumatic ((with an air hose)) and cordless nail guns. Paslode also makes nails.)

Up until last year for outdoor exposed construction, CCA (copper chromic arsenic) treated wood was the norm. This was also known as wolmanized wood, after a scientist named Wolman who invented the pressure treated process. Well, it turns out the the chemical treated wood, which is very resistant to insects, that chemical can leach out of the wood and taint the groundwater supply. CCA is being phased out. In fact, I can no longer find it here in Illinois.

There is a replacement, although, and this stuff is called ACQ, for, forgive me, Ammonium cupric (I think) quartenary, and is not as harsh on the environment. This treated lumber, slightly greenish in tint will be marked "ACQ" on the end tag.

Be forwarned that ACQ, like its predecessor CCA can be bought at different densities of chemical treatment ACQ is available in .25, .40 and .80 pounds of treatment chemical per cubic foot of lumber. The higher the number, the better the rot and insect resistance. When sawing ANY of these pressure treated lumbers, CCA included if you can still find it, proper respiratory protection really should be used.

When buying this type of wood, PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION to the type of fasteners you use, be they screws and/or nails. There are significant issues that exist regarding corrosion of the fasteners used, and in particular, the fasteners can stain the wood in only a matter of a few months! This is particularly true in the woods cedar and redwood, which have high levels of acetic acid in them. Do NOT try to save a few bucks by buying cheap fasteners. Right by the lumber should be a fastener guide (at least they do at Home Depot), and you should use stainless or at the very least Heavy hot dipped galvanized, but not electrogalvanized, which is zinc protected, but it is micro thin.

The reference above regarding cedar and redwood is true, weather it is pressure treated or not. But I doubt you would rebuild your porch out of redwood, you'd go broke doing that.

For corrosion resistance, plating and galvanizing thickness and staining studies for Paslode, I'd bet you over the last 15 years with ITW, I have probably fired (and in many cases, had to "dig out" nails fired into wood) over a half a million nails for study. So I know a bit about this.

Sorry I can't be more specific about ACQ. It is too new for me to know much about it yet. Do a web search about ACQ. And I do believe that there is a web site named www.wolmanized.com

fsttyms1

Good call. I forgot about the new treated lumber. Yes you must use the correct hangers and fasteners with the new stuff as the wood will react with the wrong stuff. You can also wrap the ends of the wood that rest in the hangers with a ice and water shield to help with the reaction.

brizzle

thanks guys anyone else wanna chime in?

iTimmy

One of my good friends had a 1000+sq. ft deck installed on his house - well sort of around the whole thing - made from composite decking(trex I guess its called) and its GREAT. Its comfortable to walk on, looks great and needs little to no maintnance. I told my father about it, he is an avid fixer-uper, and he really liked it and built a new front porch at his house out of it and I LOVE it. My friends huge deck is a brown almost wood looking color, my father's is a grey color with wood grain/texture to it I like them a LOT. If its in your budget I would strongly recommend looking into it. As I see it, other then price there is NO downside to it.

I am having a new home built next spring and am doing the front porch and rear deck in composite decking, I am seldom this impressed with a product but I really like it!

brizzle

I went to their website. That stuff looks great. How long has this been out. I know someone who got their porch done within the past 5 years and I think it's that same material.

brizzle

Anyone else have any ideas?

JLatimer

Another option is to tile your porch. Get an outdoor terra cotta tile. Might be a little more work and costly, but it will last a long time if installed correctly and your sub-structure is sturdy. It'll look rich.

ric

Comments about chem treated wood are all good.

However, I'd look to another concern. Hard to tell from your photos what the wood is resting on. Is it a concrete slab (unlikely, given the era of the house). Is it wood planking on a wood joist system that toenails into the concrete foundation wall? Would probalby be the case.

I suspect part of the problem is that you have some very nice wood/concrete interfaces. The concrete is naturally a moisture holder, and I think from the photos I can see some discoloration from moisture leaching into the concrete. Concrete is porous, unless it is really, really thick..... What may be happening is that the wood is in contact with the concrete, the concrete is wet, and the moisture has an almost constant interface with the concrete.

I would explore several things. Is there any way to get any ventilation into the crawl space that probably exists under your porch? Even a few holes, small enough to not allow street vermin to move in, but large enough to allow the crawl to dry out periodically, might help.

In addition, when you re-floor, take a careful look at the interface between wood and concerete and think about a barrier, either visquine, neoprene separation rods, or some other device that would keep the moisture in the concrete from leaching into the wood.

As an alternative, you could explore ripping out the wood infrastructure completely, building a base for a wet-bed tile floor, and be done with it. That might be prohibitive in terms of cost, as you would need to build some sort of concrete floor.

When you do pull up your decking be sure to examine the support systems for any moisture rot that might have occurred.... House looks like it was built in the '20's, and the porch is probalby original.

ric

and by the way, the plant spilling out of the planter onto the deck is attractive and romantic, but it is also holding moisture next to the wood floor and the brick.....

brizzle

Thanks a lot ric. I am able to get under that porch through the cellar and it is support by 2X4s which are resting on conrete on each end of the board. Those supports come from the house itself to the front of the porch(so looking at the picture, the board would be coming toward you) They, meaning the supports don't seem to be rotting though and yes it is the original porch but not original supports. Also, you are also right about another thing. The house is 80 something years old. Thanks for you input.

ric

I used to have a moonlight practice in Philly, and the house is similar to ones I worked on, from time to time. Probably pretty solidly built.

That the supports are in good condition is great news. That means you're just dealing with moisture problems on the surface. If you replace with a decent wood, and you buffer the contact between wood and concrete with some sort of material (even caulking) you should be good to go. In addition, if you possibly can, you might try to get the slightest bit of slope to the porch so that it will shed any rain that blows in. Standing water is far worse than water that sheds...... It doesn't take much; you might be able to achieve it with tapered rigid insulation as an underlayment if you resurface the entire deck. (Commonly used to give flat roofs a taper..)

fsttyms1

one thing to think about with the composite decks like (trex) is that when wet and with snow on them they can be VERY slippery. Ive see alot of them around here and with snow on them they can get slick

brizzle

Ok, thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

brizzle

Thanks for the tips Ric. With the cost that I may be facing, I might put it off until the spring.