Pro-Tips

Being a composite board, Ekodeck will expand and contract along its length. Timber on the other hand will swell and shrink in its width as it takes on moisture or dries out.

Be aware if installing Ekodeck on a hot day that as it cools it will contract causing the ends of the boards to pull back and gaps to open – it is recommended to tighten up ends gaps when installing on a hot day.

For best results, installing all your boards slightly over-length, then trimming to length all at the one time is best practice.

This ensures all boards are cut to the same length, as if you are cutting each board individually throughout the day the temperature difference may influence board length by a couple of millimetres.

Depending on the weather when installing Ekodeck will greatly affect what gaps you should (or shouldn’t!) be leaving during installation. If installing on a hot day, your Ekodeck boards are likely to be in their expanded.

In this instance we recommend closing up your end gaps, as when the boards cool they will contract and these gaps will increase.

For best results, use a breaker board layout instead of end-to-end butt joints.

Butt joint gaps are notoriously difficult to manage.

Different board lengths result in different amounts of expansion/contraction, and dealing with the movement of two or more boards of different lengths expanding and contracting into and away from each other never ends well.

As such, we recommend utilising a breaker board layout – read more here.

Always pre-drill and countersink your boards prior to top-fixing. Ensure you drill an oversize clearance hole through the board larger than the shank of the screw to allow for expansion and contraction.

Do not use the Quickfix screws to top fix. We recommend using 10g screws.

There are situations where you may need to top fix, but please note we don’t recommend top-fixing your entire deck – always install with Quickfix.