Installing a deck board confuses even the most experienced of carpenters. The age-old question is: Should the boards be installed with the growth rings facing down or the growth rings facing up? Many however go for the bark side up answer but according to experts, installing the deck board with the bark exposed is not always the right thing to do.
If you are installing decking boards, you need to remember that they always come in three cuts i.e. the edge grain, flat grain and the heart. For do-it-yourself enthusiasts who want to save some money, the flat grain is the cheapest and the most common of all. Edge grain is also another choice. If however you want prime pieces, you should get the heart where you can get the center of the tree’s rings. Most of the time these are cut in dimensions that feature the beauty of the lumber.
The issue of whether you should go for bark facing up or down is relevant to flat grain deck boards because the way the growth rings are placed can be a factor on how the lumber would react to water.
One thing you should also remember is that boards warp. This means that the exposed areas will expand while the unexposed areas will stay intact. This is something to consider because if a certain part warps while all the other parts do not, there will be glaring dimension changes. If you use a heart cut and an edge grain cut, there is minimal warping problem. This means that you save more money if you use prime pieces. The lumber of these cuts do not distort as easy as the flat ones so there is no issue of whether you have to install it bark facing up or down because these cuts are more consistent when exposed to rain.
