Wiki: Duckboard

Yet another for input...

NT

A '''Duckboard''' is a slatted timber item for use in wet conditions. It maintains a well drained surface and sheds dust & dirt. They're mainly used in bathing areas. Wood also has a degree of natural antibacterial & antifungal effect, reducing the spread of foot infections.

Traditional duckboard consists of many narrow wooden slats spaced apart to allow free drainage, mounted on cross pieces underneath to hold it all together. The slats have rounded top edges for comfort.

=3D=3DWhy duckboard?=3D=3D

  • Never stand in a wet puddle again when you get out of the [[shower]]
  • Stand on flooring that stays a lot cleaner than its surroundings
  • Duckboard flooring can be taken outside and rinsed or pressure washed
  • Practical floorcovering for =A31.25 a square foot (Wickes 2009)
  • Works well with damp floors, allowing evaporation
  • Basic duckboard is more practical than pretty. Decorative patterning is discussed further down.

=3D=3DDecking meets duckboard=3D=3D The use of grooved decking timber makes a quicker and more robust modern version of duckboarding. The construction is different to exterior decking, but the surface is the same.

  • much quicker to construct
  • timber already treated
  • more robust than traditional duckboard
  • heavier, and unlikely to get knocked out of position
  • closed grooves drain satisfactorily but require cleaning more often than traditional open duckboard

=3D=3DMaterial=3D=3D Softwood duckboard has limited life, just like decking. However indoors in a dry house it should usually last decades, as normally it gets a chance to dry out fully daily.

Durable timber such as oak heartwood can last indefinitely. However for the average bathroom its not usually worth the extra cost.

Plastic duckboard is available ready made, and is completely waterproof. But it tends to be either:

  • lightweight domestic duty, and too small to be very useful
  • or heavy duty for farm & factory use, with a 3 figure price to match

=3D=3DConstruction=3D=3D The top planks are standard decking board available from any DIY shed or builder's merchant.

The underside cross pieces are simply ripped down pieces of deckboard. This is close grained & treated, and can be cut from the decking offcuts. Its mounted upside down so that

  • a treated surface will be in contact with the floor
  • the groove makes the screw heads recessed, minimising corrosion
  • and eliminating any risk of a screwhead scratching the floor below.

The underneath cross pieces can rot eventually, usually well before the top deck. If screwed in place rather than [[glue]]d they can be replaced in minutes.

Pilot & clearance holes minimise the chance of splitting the timber, some of which is small (split wood is much more vulnerable to rot). Drywall [[screws]] have a thin shank, increasing the amount of lateral movement available to the wood, and making drilling and driving quicker. (If eventual rust staining of the floor could be a problem, stainless screws can be used.) The clearance holes should be made wider than the screw shanks to allow a little natural movement of the wood without problem.

=3D=3DDecoration=3D=3D The usual way to make duckboard decorative is to divide the area into sections, with each section having boards laid at different angles. Hexagonal patterns are mildly pretty, but your imagination is the limit.

=3D=3DSee Also=3D=3D

  • [[Special:Allpages|Wiki Contents]]
  • [[Special:Categories|Wiki Subject Categories]]

[[Category:Wood] [[Category:Floors]] [[Category:Bathrooms]]

Reply to
meow2222
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Softwood decking has a 30 year lifespan minimum if its tanalised. Wouldn't call that limited life.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Cheers for that... how about:

Softwood indoors in a dry house should last decades, assuming it gets a chance to dry out daily. If particularly heavy use is expected and it won't dry out, which is unusual, tanalised timber is a good choice.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

s/\./ (the term is also used for a load spreading item for roofing work, though that's not covered here)./

... or something more succinct.

Reply to
Jon Fairbairn

though that's not covered here)./

It's also used for anti-slip/anti-fatigue matting for hard floors in industrial environments.

e.g.

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Reply to
Dave Osborne

traditionally used on a building site. On an incline it can become a duck ladder (i.e roof access - the cross members being placed on top to act as treads).

Reply to
John Rumm

But why is it called a duck board/ladder? What have ducks got to do with it?

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Pondering such questions could cause one to quack up...

Reply to
John Rumm

And yet you keep perpetrating it.... ? :o)

Reply to
Steve Walker

And attending a shrink then gets you a large Bill.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

According to wackypedia, "duck" is another word for "a very short cave sump", a sump being a low space that collects water. In the first world war there were lots of trenches. The bottom of a trench with water in is akin to a duck and they had "duck boards" to cover the duck to keep their feet dry and also the duck boards would spread the load to alleviate getting bogged down in the mud.

Hence the use of the term for boards which either keep your feet off the wet floor or spread the load on a roof to stop you falling through.

Reply to
Dave Osborne

Or develop a strange mallardy...

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Not quite. A short cave sump is indeed called a duck, but that is because one 'ducks' through it, in the way a duck (the bird) thrusts its head underwater, with its ass in the air, looking for food*. This sort of cave sump is a short one which you can pass by holding your breath, ducking under the obstructing roof (i.e. the roof dips below water level) and popping up the other side. Caving was not a sport of any significance at WW1 time, and any cavers certainly wouldn't have ventured through sumps until much later. To 'duck' means to avoid something, so a duck-board is a device that allows you to avoid the puddles, or any obstruction you want to bridge with it.

  • In swimming, a 'duck-dive' is a method of transferring from surface swimming to underwater swimming.

Phil

Reply to
Phil Addison

Cool. Thanks Phil.

Reply to
Dave Osborne

x and also the duck boards would spread the load to

like ducks' feet?

or like the little ladders hens use to get to their houses (put away against foxes at night) [g]

Reply to
george (dicegeorge)

Not sure I'd want tenailles timber in a bathroom and softwood is far more prone to damage and thus splintering. Think I'd rather have a nice bit of Beech, the tannin from Oak will assist the corrosion of the fixings and possibly stain the flooring.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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