From Alan and Tania - North Perth
We just wanted to write a quick note to say thanks again for the fantastic job the guys did on it and tell you how pleased we are with the result.
The fit and finish you achieved with the bamboo on our tricky staircases was excellent and the loft space has been totally transformed for the better.
Being busy at work myself on weekdays, it was really nice to be able to hand over a set of house keys to the guys for the duration of the work and not worry about it. I also appreciated the phone call updates and other helpful touches such as the labels each day showing where it was ‘safe’ to tread.
How to Build A Deck?
Bamboo decking is an attractive, aesthetically pleasing and strong premium quality engineered product that is manufactured from the highly durable bamboo material. Bamboo decking boards are perfectly adapted to extreme outdoor weather conditions and they are more than twice as hard and dense as other composite decking. It is a moisture tolerant, termite resistant choice that enhances the value of your home.
Bamboo decking comes in grooved edges to enable hidden fastening. The long straight boards come pre-coated with Cutek Bamboo preservative on all sides. The application of a wood preservative further enhances the naturally built-in attributes like moisture tolerance and pathogen resistance of bamboo.
The installation of bamboo decking is simple and easy. The equipment you need for installation include rubber mallet, Smartbit pre-drill countersinking bit, hand saw with a sharp blade, square drive bit with each tub of screws, sandpaper 80-100 grit, stainless steel clips, 7 gauge stainless steel trim head square drive screws, paintbrush or lambs wool applicator especially OSMO decking oil applicator, and Cutek Bamboo preservative and tint. Make sure that you choose a hand saw with more teeth as it will give a cleaner cut. It is important that you don’t mix tint into preservative until after installation.
The bamboo decking boards should be installed from the outer edge and worked in towards the building. The first and last boards should be top fixed at each beam along the outer edge of the plank. Make sure that you use a Smartbit to pre-drill the bamboo prior to attachment and prevent over-drilling. Don’t use powered nail guns for drilling as they may lead to over-drilling, deteriorating the outer surface of decking boards.
Once you have fixed the first board, next step is to press a plastic or steel fastener into the groove at each beam and fasten with a trim head screw. A joist spacing of 450 mm centers is required for both 90mm and 140 mm profiles. Now, place the next board on the joists and tap against the clips with a rubber mallet to avoid damage to the bamboo planks. Repeat the process until you reach the last board, which should be cut and ripped to suit the profile of your home. All cut ends such as butt joints, ripped areas or end cuts must be brushed with Cutek Bamboo Clear.
You can also top-fix a fascia board of 140mm DAR bamboo at 450 mm centers around the perimeter of the deck. Mix the tint into the Cutek Bamboo Clear and apply the mixture onto the entire surface of fascia and deck. You should wait one to two weeks if you wish to apply the second coat to increase the moisture repellence of the planks and intensity of the tint. Although Cutek is an excellent wood preservative that gives a beautiful even finish to bamboo boards, it may look patchy for a few days due to its slow-penetration attribute. You should delay the application of Cutek in the bad weather as effectiveness of Cutek increases in less humid conditions and fine weather.
Cutek Bamboo is the only coating product that Simply Bamboo recommends for exterior bamboo. The use of any other product as a wood preservative may void any applicable warranty.
