How much decking do I need ?

How much Hardwood or Ipe decking do I need to buy?

The first thing is to have a well laid out plan for your deck design. Once you have a plan, you will need to calculate the linear feet needed to cover the deck, plus your estimated waste. You will also need to include decking for steps, risers, and any additional structures on the deck. It is best to include some extra material, since you will be having this specially shipped and ordering small quantities is not nearly as cost effective.

How to calculate linear footage from square footage?

You can use our calculators page which has a Square Feet to Lineal Feet Calculator . On there, you can enter your square feed needed, select the width of Boards 4″ or 6″, and your percentage of waste you plan. It will give you the linear feet you should order.

How to decide how much waste you will have?

It depends how much waste you think you will have and how accurate your designs are, the industry standard is 5-10%. If you are using specified lengths, they can yield far better efficiency. 16″ on center joist spacing makes 8′ very desirable because there will be virtually no waste. 12″ on center joist spacing is ideal for many because all lengths, odds and evens will work nicely. We usually sell random lengths because we are dealing with a naturally grown products, so a significant amount of boards of the same length are hard to get. Though depending on your needs and available quantities, we can provide the lengths required but it could affect price (Longer lengths are generally more expensive).

Make sure to include stair or any additional structures.  

Above we have covered how to calculate linear feet needed for the floor area of your porch or decking, but you will also want to include step, riser, and fascia material needed for your decking. You may also want to build storage, benches, or any additional structures so make sure to include those.
Once you have all of this information together, feel free to contact us to receive a quote and we can confirm that you have completed all of your calculations correctly. Since Hardwood and Ipe Decking lasts so long, you want to make sure you do it right the first time including having the correct amount of material.

If you have any questions about completing the calculations or about Hardwood and Ipe decking, feel free to ask them below!