Aluminum decking

[grsthegreat]

Possibly. All I know is I can walk on it barefooted.

 

[marhar]

[I was going to reply to this thread but decided not to hijack... ]

I've been considering aluminum decking to replace ours.

Our deck currently is about 3" of exposed aggregate over what should've been a layer of bituthene, and thus theoretically watertight, because part of the deck is over an enclosed area (and another part is over a hot tub area and thus the deck needed not to drip through there either). The reality is that it's leaked here and there, and there's evidence it's because the concrete people didn't pay attention when setting forms and destroyed the bituthene... anyways

so I've been looking at alternatives for this, because we're probably going to do a complete tear-off, and I found "LockDry" aluminum decking that looks pretty decent:
View attachment 719134View attachment 719135

The concept looks good to me; for our deck besides the tear-off and repair of any damaged joists (and whatever other bad stuff we find) I may need to fur the joists for proper slope (depending on how the joists are sloped currently).

Does anyone have experience with this decking system?

I am also thinking about this type of decking. I have a deck that extends over my basement opening and I would like to use the space.

Here is a website for what I have been thinking about LockDry® Aluminum Waterproof Decking from Nexan

The site says this material is as cool as wood or cooler in the sunlight. I have no expertise with the material but I am interested. Is it really cooler than wood? I do not want a deck that is too hot to walk on in the summer.

Any idea on cost per foot installed? I cannot find a ball park cost.

Also, thanks for starting the thread.

 

[grsthegreat]

Just email them, they will send you cost sheet and free samples. Mine was about 50% more than a good quality composite deck, but that was 5 years ago. Metal prices are nutz now

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep... i need to come up with something that is once and done...

 

[TractorGuy]

I wonder how it will or won't react to pressure treated wood?

When I had the rear door on my house replaced the wood framing had rotted at the bottom. They cut the rotten part out and replaced it with pressure treated then put the aluminum flashing back on. The flashing is now disintegrating. I am going to have to replace it with vinyl flashing I guess.

 

[grsthegreat]

That I don’t know. My framing is all Doug fir.

 

[civilian]

I wonder how it will or won't react to pressure treated wood?

When I had the rear door on my house replaced the wood framing had rotted at the bottom. They cut the rotten part out and replaced it with pressure treated then put the aluminum flashing back on. The flashing is now disintegrating. I am going to have to replace it with vinyl flashing I guess.

When we trimmed over PT wood frames on concrete walls, we were told to put 30lb felt paper over the PT boards before the aluminum trim metal. Three years so far and no deteriation(sp?) yet. Jon

 

[ponytug]

Stainless goes well with pressure treated lumber. Pretty much nothing else does. Aluminum decking is not going to be happy on pressure treated lumber. You would want stainless fasteners, with vinyl / rubber tape on top of the beams.

One great thing about the aluminum extrusions for the deck is that all the water is going to go off the deck, rather than resting on the fasteners.

@ning does aluminum count as a fire resistant deck material? If it does, I would love the fact that leaves can't get through that deck design.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ning]

Stainless goes well with pressure treated lumber. Pretty much nothing else does. Aluminum decking is not going to be happy on pressure treated lumber. You would want stainless fasteners, with vinyl / rubber tape on top of the beams.

One great thing about the aluminum extrusions for the deck is that all the water is going to go off the deck, rather than resting on the fasteners.

@ning does aluminum count as a fire resistant deck material? If it does, I would love the fact that leaves can't get through that deck design.

All the best,

Peter

Aluminum is definitely fire resistant; it's non-flammable and has a melting point over 1200F.

It's also a concern here (really should be a concern everywhere, but I think a lot of people are still thinking "we don't get fires here" but they should look at history and rethink that) and fire resistance was a big selling point for the concrete deck originally (primarily was the alleged waterproof aspect, which failed, and secondary was low maintenance, which due to the lack of waterproof has failed to materialize).

 

[ning]

Reading the FAQ for the lockdry stuff, there's this:

6: How should LockDry decking run with the house?​

My joists run from the house to the edge of the deck, so I'll be looking at either (A) or (B) above.

Note here in (B) they say "Cover the deck with 3/4" pressure treated plywood to fasten to" (currently about $58/sheet here, ouch); they don't say not to put the aluminum directly over that. They do supply stainless fasteners, though.