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Proper Installation of Redwood Decking for the Front Porch

Bob talks with Ron Holen from Georgia-Pacific as carpenter Pat Cloutier puts the finishing touches on the redwood front porch deck. Ron points out the advantages of redwood are that it is naturally resistant to decay and insects, it's extremely dimensionally stable, it's lightweight, and it's easy to work with using traditional tools � plus it has a beautiful salmon pink color. Redwood should always be installed with the bark face up to prevent the grain from lifting up or having it cup on you. Today's redwood is all from second growth trees from the California redwood region.
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Proper Installation of Redwood Decking for the Front Porch

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Pat Cloutier is our carpenter here who's putting the finishing touches on the redwood deck. Now, the space to that he's using it just a spike and those are annular ring nails. So, we've got Ron Holen here from Georgia Pacific. Ron, why is redwood such a good choice for decking?"

" Bob, redwood is naturally resistant to decay and insects. It's extremely dimensionally stable in all kinds of weather conditions."

" we go to the top of the board. This will be the heart side of the board."

" Yeah. The smaller the rings get that's the center of the trees----"

" That just right."

" so obviously the opposite direction is where the bark was."

" And this the way it goes down."

" It goes down that way so that you don't have to worry about the grain lifting up----"

" That's exactly [unk]."

" or having it cup on you, yeah. Now, a lot of people are concerned about using redwood because of the depletion of the source in the ancient forests and stuff. What's the story there?"

" Bob, we have a lot of redwood growing in a California redwood growing region and this wood that we're using today is all second growth trees."

" Uhm!"

" We do not sow growth redwood trees any longer."

" So everything is second growth. How long does it take to grow a tree that you can harvest?"

" Bob, we're sawing trees that are 60 to 80 years old."

" Uhm!"

" And that's where this wood came from."

" Alright. We're ready to put the final band piece on there. Alright, perfect."

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