[JohnJak]

On my personal house my decking is 16' and 20' cedar 2x4's. Has any one ever staggered the deck boards to have an interior floor look or am I sucking wind. Thanks

 

[deckman22]

Of course folks have staggered decking, most of us no longer do it tho.

 

[ArtisticDecks-Bob]

There are several problems with staggering your deck boards. One is how far apart do you want to stagger the board ends and how much framing do you want to put underneath the deck boards. Are you planning to set your joist on 12 oc or 16 oc and if so are you planning to use one joist or two.

What I am saying is that the framing cost could cost more than the deck surface boards if you frame it in such a way that each board splice rests on its own joist or two joists for each splice.

But they sure look nice when you are done.

 

[deckman22]

But they sure look nice when you are done.

I guess it's a matter of opinion Bob, I think the opposite.

My biggest gripe with staggered decking is all the butt splices. Cedar is the predominate wood used here & splices always rot first cause of the solid joist underneath. The boards shrink then you have a place for debris to collect holding moisture thus creating a haven for rot. If you do parting boards then at the union the decking can run past the joist just a bit so there's nothing solid underneath = less rotting.

 

[redwood]

I've staggered a lot, not just from drinking. I also agree with Al, "the Deckman", regarding rot and shrinkage.

 

[Texas Wax]

Staggering has a good look.

Routing the edges minimized the hard build up of debris and such, also helps the butt joint look good after shrinkage.

Wood decks require maintenance. Most wood deck failures are due to lack of maintenance.