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The most stable terrace materials in the world

When most people decide to purchase decking material, the first thing they consider is the appearance of the wood or its cost. One unfortunately overlooked aspect of deck material is the structural stability of the wood. If you choose an unstable deck material, you run the risk of the deck boards warping or cracking. Warping is the tendency for wooden decking to curve inward along their longitudinal edges. The end check refers to the ends of deck boards that crack and split as they absorb and expel moisture. Both warping and checking are big problems for a rig owner, and repair can cost a lot of time and money.

Fortunately, the stability of a wood species is relatively easy to measure. There are certain standardized measurements that are used to determine the mechanical properties of each species of wood, and these properties tell us the stability and durability of the wood in question.

Stability measurements

The two main properties used to measure stability are tangential and radial shrinkage. Both radial and tangential shrinkage refer to how much a wood species tends to shrink during the drying process. Radial contraction occurs in the direction from the center of the tree to the bark, while tangential contraction occurs tangentially or parallel to the tree’s growth rings. Both radial and tangential shrinkage are measured as a percentage. The lower the percentage, the less the wood will shrink during the drying process and the more stable the board will be when installed.

Although the percentages of radial and tangential shrinkage are important on their own, the best way to measure the stability of a wood is to consider these properties together. The smaller the difference between the two measurements, the more stable the wood will be. For example, if a wood species shrinks twice over its width as it does throughout its thickness, the boards of that wood would warp and bend much more than the boards of a wood with a radial / tangential differential. much less.

Stable wood species

Now that we’re familiar with how stability is determined, let’s look at the most stable types of exotic and domestic deck woods.

Domestic:

Domestic woods are generally softwood, which means they are less dense, less hard, and do not support as much weight. However, this doesn’t mean that great softwood deck options aren’t available. Two of the most stable softwood deck options are Western Red Cedar and California Redwood.

Western red cedar

Although cedar is a soft wood, it is still very structurally stable. Both tangential and radial shrinkage are quite low, and the difference between the two is also very small:

Tangential shrinkage: 5.0%

Radial shrinkage: 2.4%

Cedar’s other mechanical properties – strength, stiffness, and density – are also relatively high, making it a good durable species for most deck projects.

California Redwood

California redwood is another very stable deck material. Tangential and radial shrinkage values ​​are even lower than Cedar’s:

Tangential shrinkage: 4.9%

Radial shrinkage: 2.2%

Although these percentages are lower than those of Cedar, the differential is 0.1% higher, which means that it is a little less stable than the other species, but not much.

Exotics:

Exotic hardwoods are denser, heavier, and tend to have higher percentages of tangential and radial shrinkage. Does this make them less stable? Not always. The differences of some exotic species are lower than those of their national counterparts, making them more structurally sound.

Ipe

Ipe’s tangential and radial shrinkage percentages are much higher than those of Cedar and Redwood; however, the differential is much lower, which makes it the most stable wood.

Tangential shrinkage: 8.0

Radial shrinkage: 6.6%

A 1.4% differential is excellent, and combined with Ipe’s naturally high density, strength and stiffness, it makes it naturally suitable for decking use.

Merbau

Merbau is another hardwood with excellent structural stability. The percentages of tangential and radial contraction are:

Tangential shrinkage: 4.6%

Radial shrinkage: 2.7%

These percentages are considerably lower than those of Ipe, and although Ipe’s differential is only 1.4%, a 1.9% differential is still very good. The low percentages combined with the relatively low spread make this the most stable exotic terrace option. However, Merbau has an unfortunate and unrelated downside: read on to find out what it is.

Comparisons

For domestic woods, the most structurally stable option is cedar, although redwood comes second. For exotics, Merbau is the most stable option, and the Ipe platform is a good second option.

Between Merbau and Cedar, the obvious choice is Merbau. Shrinkage percentages are roughly the same as Cedar, but the difference is much smaller. Also, having a higher density makes wood more naturally resistant to rot and decay.

Considerations

In addition to structural stability, there are a number of things to consider when choosing the right decking material. Here are some important facts about the wood species mentioned above.

  1. Shrinkage values ​​for cedar and redwood apply only to materials made from pure heartwood. Many manufacturers will include sapwood in their boards, which greatly reduces the stability and strength of the wood. When choosing a softwood, check for little or no sapwood content.
  2. While Merbau is an extremely stable hardwood, it does have an unpleasant quality: it bleeds. When wet, the tannins in Merbau boards fade to a deep red wood color and can stain any light-colored surface. Merbau’s tannin bleed can ruin driveways, cars, and other living spaces. Merbau decks should be treated with a high quality wood sealer to minimize tannin bleeding. Just to be safe, don’t use Merbau over a living space, driveway, concrete slab, or garage.
  3. While structural stability is certainly important, it shouldn’t be the only factor you need to consider when choosing a deck material. Merbau may have the lowest radial and tangential shrinkage percentages, but Ipe has an incredibly high density. This density, which naturally protects wood against boring insects, mold and weathering, leads many consumers to choose Ipe decking over Merbau. Ipe also has no tannin bleed, so it is safe to use in garages and other living spaces.

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