Decking, Bark Side Up or Down?

[dthor68]

Before I started building my deck I read an article about what is the proper way to lay your decking. It stated that the bark side should be down or growth rings arched up. So that is the way I did the entire deck. Today I was cutting all of the old decking up to transport it to the dump. I quickly noticed that every piece of deck board that I cut up had the stain on the, bark side up, side. I just saw several videos of people putting the bark side up.

Here is the article I read and I oriented my deck boards their way, bark side down. https://www.thespruce.com/deck-board-installation-1825145

Did I do it right or wrong? I will say this, the original deck was horribly rotten. It was made in 2008 and it was bark side up.

 

[The Cobbler]

It used to be bark side up, then it went to "the best looking side up"
you would think that bark side up would be easier on the wood, but with no old growth wood left, who knows.

 

[billie]

Bark side ??? Crown up. Otherwise the board will cup, hold water and rot.

Read the article, so you got it right. Bark side, new term for me, down.

 

[CKS1955]

Crown side up if possible, helps with water drainage. But it may not be possible with the quality of lumber available today.

Jay

 

[dthor68]

Crown side up? Pretty sure that is the opposite of what I am talking about. When you look at the end grain is it smiling or frowning? Mine are smiling, which is correct way according to the article I read. Every deck builder on you tube is doing the opposite or frowning.

 

[Barnabas]

Frowning is crown-side up.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Frowning or arch to the top as I was always told. Less chance of material cupping. Make it easy on yourself use Trex or similar, hard to get that wrong.

 

[dthor68]

Frowning is crown-side up.

Exactly! Mine are smiling, bark side down. I have now read 3 articles that say that is the correct way to lay the decking. Here is another, https://www.warlinepainting.ca/are-your-deck-boards-installed-right-side-up/

As I said previously the original deck was built in 2008 and bad rotton. They installed the decking bark side up, or frowning.

I tried to stay away from the word crown because the way you are thinking the wood will crown is complete opposite of what this article states.

 

[johnnyradiant]

Frowning
Crown
Arch-up
Bark side up

All the same thing. The theory is the water will shed better that way, but as already stated the current lumber quality leaves it a little open for debate if it really makes much difference, unless you get your hands and life savings on some old growth lumber.

 

[KenC]

My theory is that the grown rings will straighten, or try to, when they absorb moisture,and curl tighter when drying.

So, if the lumber is wet from treatment, it will likely be as flat as it will ever be. So lay it with the arc up and it will tend to curl in such a way as to shed water when it drys.

But, if using dry lumber, reverse that logic as it will uncurl when it absorbs water.

The real problem is the fact that current lumber often comes from trees so small that the growth rings may not be consistent. The taper of the log or cut may cause the rings to reverse end to end since the cut may not be parallel to the log center.

 

[WVBrady]

...So, if the lumber is wet from treatment, it will likely be as flat as it will ever be. So lay it with the arc up and it will tend to curl in such a way as to shed water when it drys.

But, if using dry lumber, reverse that logic as it will uncurl when it absorbs water...

I ran into this with two decks. One had no roof, so it tended to stay more wet and the other had a roof and dried out more. Both had southern exposure to the sun. Also with the wet one, the boards stayed tight together. When I put a gap between the boards on the dry one, the gaps got larger.