Attaching tounge and grove decking on covered porch.

[michaelskis]

I have to rebuild a covered deck on my 120 year old east lake and I am looking at options for decking. I am likely to go with. 4-inch tonge and grove decking. I have seen several ways to attach them but what to know what would be best. One site said that I could even go with 18 gage 2 inch long finishing nails at an angle on the tonge but that dose not seen like enough.

Another site said rent a floor stapler...

What would you suggest?

[gluby174]

Hi,curious ,what type of material are you installing for the finish deck.Some woods can be caustic for the nail in time.I would recomend not to use a finish nail,the head is not large enough to hold the decking down.How large is the deck,I would handnail using a galvanized or better yet stainless steel nail if your budget will allow. The Maze Nail Company http://www.mazenails.com/priceguide_independent.php
makes a good galvanize nail,7-8pny siding nail,this nail has a nice small flat head ,easy to nail (blindnail)and use a nail set to finish flush the head it will tend to drive the t&g material tight.If you can not locate siding nails,try a oval head or sometimes called a shot head,I have used them with sucess, good luck Gene