Pre-grooved wood decking on a backyard deck project

Tips about Pre-Grooved Hardwood Decking

Written by Chris Nolan on Thu, Apr 12, 2012 @ 09:04 AM

Many of our clients love the look of a hidden deck fastener on their hardwood deck installation. A hidden deck fastener provides a cleaner and sleeker look for their beautiful hardwood deck boards. Other clients prefer the strength of using a screw to fasten their deck boards and don't mind the appearance of the head of a deck screw.

For clients who want a deck with hidden deck fasteners, we suggest using pre-grooved 1” hardwood deck boards (5/4 nominal) or thicker. A biscuit joiner can also be used in the field to create your own grooves for your decking boards. Many deck builders and homeowners find it much simpler, faster and more efficient to buy their deck boards pre-grooved. This allows you to position each deck board wherever it works best for your decking layout quickly and easily. We find the greater strength and stability of using 5/4" pre-grooved decking boards provides many years of worry-free deck ownership.

Some decking suppliers sell 3/4" pre-grooved decking material. We do not recommend pre-grooving ¾” deck boards (1” nominal) for several reasons:

Thinner decking boards makes the deck fastener more visible
With a hidden deck fastener, there is only one small screw fastening each deck board to the deck joist. This provides only a minimal amount of lateral bracing for the deck structure.
If the deck is close to the ground or has limited ventilation beneath it, the extreme variation in temperature and humidity from the top of the deck boards to the bottom may cause the thinner deck boards to "cup".
Our clients' long term satisfaction with their deck is very important to us.

Ipe pre-grooved decking with hidden deck fasteners