What Is Metal Decking?

Features

• Aluminum decking comes in four powder-coated colors--white, gray, buckskin and clay--and provides a class A fire rating (flame spread value of “0”) with a limited lifetime warranty.

Benefits

• The strength of aluminum decking allows it to be placed on joists 24 inches apart, whereas lumber and composite decking requires joists 12 to 16 inches apart. ?

  Your metal decking requires llittle maintenance. You typically need only to sweep or hose down a metal deck to keep it clean.

  Metal decking also weighs much less than a comparable 2-by-6 board of either wood or composite material.

Installation

• Each board fastens directly to wood, steel or aluminum floor joists with No. 10 screws, using one per fastening point. Lock-Dry boards interlock along their entire length, snapping together quickly.

Considerations

• Metal decking costs more than comparable wood or composite decking, at about $7.98 per square foot for Lock-Dry and $5.98 per square foot for NextDeck (2009 prices).

Size

• The 1-by-6 deck boards come in lengths of 12 to 30 feet in 2-foot increments. The manufacturer offers a free estimate of how much to order based on a sketch or architect's drawing.