Decking boards, how bent is too bent? And smooth side is rough?

[broody]

Hi all,

I'm doing DIY decking and had forty 3.2m lengths of deck boards delivered, fully aware that I'll be checking each one. From seeing others do it I know bent / arched boards can be pulled straight when screwing them down, but I wondered how bent is too bent?

I assume they'll be okay but for those in the know I wanted your opinion please.

There's also a board with a nasty knot/ gammy bit in it and another with a crack one on end, are these acceptable?

One last thing, I was going to go for smooth side up, yes I know all about smooth Vs grooved, but the smooth side is rough, would I be expecting to sand these down like the smoothness of the grooved side?

Photos attached: The pile of boards, the top one is pretty much straight for comparison.





Thanks

 

[broody]

Photos:

 

[JohnD]

The knots are prone to rot, because water gets in. And are also weak when, as in yours, a large proportion of the board is crack or weakened. Best to cut that part out and use the rest where you need a short bit.

 

[big-all]

my thought
i always aim for 5-7.5% spare to cover defects and cut out defects i dont like and use the offcuts for planters /hex pot stands steps/edging whatever
if you are only using full board lengths with no part boards then you need the most spares so 3 in your case on 40

 

[broody]

Yeah fair point, thanks!