Our Entryway Decking Project

This was a great project to enhance a small front door entryway deck that had rotting deck boards.

The client called me saying her front door deck boards were rotting and needed repairing. We also discussed redecking with hardwood, rather than pressure treated pine to enhance the entryway appearance.

Anytime you have rotting deck boards, you may have rotten framing underneath but you won’t know that until you take off the decking boards.

As a contractor it’s hard to give an estimate in this scenario since you don’t know if you have to replace framing as well as decking.

I gave her an estimate for just replacing the decking and another one for replacing everything if needed.

Luckily, the framing underneath was in good condition, minus an outside board that had the most water damage.

Most of the entryway is covered under a roof, minus the last two feet, which is where you see most of the rot on the deck boards.

We beefed up the framing by adding sleeve anchors to the ledger board attachment to the concrete foundation and joist hangers to all joist locations.

We also added joist tape to all exposed edges for more water protection.

The homeowner chose tigerwood for the decking. Tigerwood has red and orange colors with dark stripes which mimics tiger’s stripes, hence the name.

Due to it not having a uniform appearance, it’s about half the cost of Ipe.

Personally, I like the variation in colors.

Tigerwood is a cheaper option if you want hardwood, for its durability, but can’t afford Ipe.

Most hardwood species hardness “Janka” ratings range from 2000-3600 pounds, compared to Cedar at 320, Redwood at 490 and Pressure Treated Pine at 690.

The larger the “Janka” rating the harder the wood and the longer it will last.

Tiger wood decking is rated to last 30+ years with minimum maintenance.

The current cost of an 8 foot long tigerwood deck board is $30, while a PT pine 8 foot board is $6. So the cost difference is significant if you build a large deck.

We mimicked the diagonal decking look with a slight difference. Instead of each diagonal board meeting in the center of the deck, we alternated 90 degree angle boards.

Personally, I find this look more attractive compared to mitered boards that will have different gaps after several years.

We screwed all deck boards through the face with stainless steel screws and plugged the holes with matching tigerwood plugs.

With low level decks, face screwing is better than hidden fasteners due to low airflow and movement of the wood.

We applied Ipe Oil which will protect the wood and enhance the wood’s colors as seen between the two pics above and below.

The oil will help keep the wood’s natural look longer rather than turning gray if left untreated.

This was a quick two day project and made a big difference in how the front entryway looked. The homeowner was very pleased with how the project turned out. This was the first time I worked with Tigerwood and I was very impressed.