Hot take: People keep putting their new deck boards too close together

I just finished my deck in the backyard and my neighbor, who built his last summer, asked why I left a gap. I used a 16d nail as a spacer, about an eighth of an inch, between each pressure-treated 2x6. Wood needs room to swell when it gets wet, or your whole deck turns into a wavy mess. Anyone else in a humid area like Georgia have a different spacing trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosejackson1mo ago

Wait, your neighbor didn't leave any gap at all?

faithk921mo ago

Honestly, I thought the same until I saw how much better it works this way.

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