Sometimes, thinking outside “the box” can have great rewards! Our customer recently completed this beautiful rooftop deck to enjoy our upcoming beautiful Pacific Northwest evenings. When the weather cools and the “rainy season” begins, the Western Red Cedar deck panels can be removed and stored. Because it is light in weight and naturally resistant to rot and decay, Western Red Cedar is the perfect choice for this type of application.
Each decking panel was made using our 5/4×5” Knotty Western Red Cedar decking, a somewhat uncommon size that allows the look of a wider board but a little lighter on the pocketbook. This decking is Kiln Dried prior to final milling, making for a smoother finished deck board. Beautiful and affordable!
To make each of the removable deck top panels, the 5/4×5″ radius-edged Western Red Cedar decking was screwed to 2×4” Cedar runners cut to the appropriate size for each of the rooftop panels. The size of your panels will depend on your particular roof, all while taking into consideration how the panels will be moved and stored. If you will be moving the panels up and downstairs by yourself, for ease of removal, smaller panels would work better than something that would be stored on the same level moved by two people.
To allow for expansion and contraction of the decking and allow rain and debris to fall through, allow adequate spacing between the deck boards. We recommend at least a 1/4″ gap between boards. When installing the Cedar deck boards to the runners, to prevent corrosion, we recommend using Stainless Steel or coated screws at least 2-1/2″ long for 5/4″ decking.
For more information on planning and installing your decking, including a list of tools and other items needed; please visit our blog on Deck Installation by clicking HERE. If you have other questions, our team of experts is happy to help.
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950 B Fountain Street, Burlington, WA
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My dad has been wanting to get some timber decking installed for his home, and I think that your tip to have a quarter inch of gap between boards to allow for draining and debris would be smart! We’ve talked about doing the decking work ourselves, and I think that being able to have that gap in mind while we’re doing construction would be helpful. I’m going to have to look into some different timber decking options and see if we can figure out if we should do it ourselves or pay the pros. Either way though, thanks for the information!