Do I need to check it and make sure it's old growth first? I'm picking up materials tomorrow, so I can check stamps or whatnot then. The structural boards under the decking won't be touching the ground at all since they'll be on the cement piers, does it matter if they're regular douglas fir or pressure treated? If I do just use regular douglas fir for the structural boards, do they need any kind of treatment first?

And I know doug fir is tough to seal since it's so dense, any recommendations on what to seal it with? Thanks

Over here doug fir is the same price as pt lumber.

Anyway look for the knot grade on the df,although for some reason the old growth is in the utily lumber . The stamp wont say anythng about old growth.

A good treatment >> copper Napthenate

why would you buy a 6 year product for .45 a lf when you can buy redwood for 1.10 on a 10x10 deck? why would any one encourage you? it takes 22 10' boards to cover this deck the price difference of which you are speaking is $132.00.
If 132.00 is really that big a deal how is it that you can afford to eat or even buy toilet paper. Although you may get 6 years out of untreated pine this is on a sliding scale and has to be replaced. At which point you will have to pay again, something you aleady did the 1st time. Why not just do it right and try not to cheat yourself. Because that's what your doing, along with the bandstand that is trying to encourage you.

If $132 isn't that big of a deal for you, mail me a check. I am a full time student in a doctoral program living exclusively off of loans with a wife and baby. We just want some sort of back patio for as cheap as possible that'll hold up until I start real work. That $132 will be accumulating 7%+ interest for the next 30 years or so and be over $1,000 in the long run.

Besides, with redwood I am slightly concerned about how soft it is. I have a big crazy dog and it'll probably get a lot of foot traffic, so I also don't want it getting torn up quickly. Thanks for your replies, John.

Welcome a board deckbarn guy. Your site is a sales site,not a deckbuilder site. But you have the loud mouth of some Carpenters I know so it seems you know something about the business.

But you dont know doug fir at all it has a very long life exposed to the weather without any treatment at all. Its not to be compaired with hem fir.If young Dream used the copper napthenate and used a S & B grade of dougfir on the whole project he would get 6 years + out of it. The frame is not going in the ground remember.

You do know what copper naptheate is right barndeck?? anyway Dream my man using this stuf is nasty put on eye protection and gloves. It has a high smell but it will go away after a while. Might run a big fan on it for a couple of days. Doing this it would not suprise me if you got 10 years out of it.

John Hyatt www.deckmastersllc.com

Great, I'm going to pick some up, thanks John. Good news, I was just at Home Depot and their neon green pressure treated 2x6x10s were on clearance for $4 a piece (normally $11. Apparently they're switching to new dark brown PT lumber). They only had about 15 of them left, but I found enough good straight ones for all of my structural boards. Now I'll use doug fir for the decking, treat it per John's recommendations, and have a new 10'x10' deck for about $200. Can't beat that. It's not ideal, but if any of the decking boards do have problems in the next couple years, I can just pop out the screws and replace them really easily.

John, I'm OK with the douglas fir for 6 years only. Would I recomend something else. Most Certainly.

Now I would not probably use copper naptholate for the Deck boards. That stuff is pretty lethal. Great for the structural part of the deck, but not the decking.

IF you can get it, JonMon recomends TWP100, I think. In Ca., we can't get it. We usually use Penofin. For DF, I would probably do all 4 sides, to give a little protection to the underside, as well.

I have seen John Hyatt recommend TWP countless times on this board, so I was surprised that he recommended something else for finishing the fir. If TWP would be better than the copper, I can get it online and have it shipped here. Thoughts?

I use the Naptheate brand Jasco Termin-8. It is a wood preservative, it kills the actual Bacteria and is a insect protector.

I use it on anything close to the ground when framing a deck. After it sets up it is a light brown color. Now it would be possible to put twp over it like on the top of the deck boards after coating everything in Termin-8.

Would I do this?? not really but if the man wanted to use doug fir on the whole thing it would be like treating the wood with out preasure. J.

We use Termin-8, as well, but certainly not for anything exposed that may be touched by animal skin.

If you can top coat it with something else, I guess that's OK

Mark