The good, the bad and the ugly

As a designer I have an unusual interest in small details, a fence design, a doorknob style or almost anything. This interest is also directed at the construction of the building or it's subsequent alterations. Here is a compilation of three examples of porch decking, and looking at them makes me think of the story of The Three Bears, one is too big, one is too small and one just right. The traditional covered porch decking material here in Key West, as well as many other spots, is 1"x4" tongue and groove wood planking, blind nailed and painted (I'll leave paint colors for another post). In the period when these homes were made (1820's - 1930's) the wood of choice, or at least what was available, was cypress or a south Florida heart pine called Dade County Pine. Both choices were supplied from old growth trees and tended to be dense, straight grained and bug/rot resistant. Today those superior woods are hard, if not impossible, to find so pressure treated southern yellow pine has become the new available choice; un-treated pine has a very short life here of perhaps three or four years. Of course some home owners prefer and can afford more exotic woods, but for this post I'm only interested in the treated material. Standard lumber dimensions of a hundred years ago were nominal, meaning a 1"x4" plank was actually one inch by four inches. Today the 1"x4" we buy has been milled down to 3/4"x3-1/2" . Armed with this knowledge, when a porch deck is replaced on a vintage home, order 5/4" making it the full one inch thickness. Enough dimension talk, you can see from the photos which bear is the right bear.

1-1/2"x5-1/2" Very heavy feeling

3/4"x3-1/2" Too thin and unstable

5/4"x3-1/2" Just right