Recently, PDB learned about an Australian company called Decktec, which has developed an innovative decking installation system for wood decking. Steve Byrnes, the company’s general manager, says in an email that it introduced its product to the Australian market last year, with plans to bring it to the North American market by the end of next year, or in 2020. Made of 100% recycled polypropylene, Decktec strips are designed to be nailed to the tops of the deck joists, and the company claims that this provides moisture protection to the joists. The strips are fitted with snap-off spacers that automatically align and straighten the decking (the spacers are removed after the decking has been installed).
The strips are about 4 feet long, and once they have been aligned and installed, the decking is distributed over the joists, where it can then be quickly fastened down without worrying about whether it is straight or evenly spaced (the fasteners are driven down conventionally through the decking and strips into the joists). There’s a video showing how the system works on the Decktec website, but it’s not clear how the spacers accommodate different widths of decking (perhaps the Decktec strips – which are currently sized to fit 12mm-by-90mm decking – will be available in different sizes to fit domestic North American decking). You can’t get them yet, though, unless you want to travel to the southern hemisphere, where the installed cost looks to be about $16 per square meter of decking. Decktec.com.au.
