Prepping Your Cumaru Decking

The first step in any cumaru deck project is to prepare the wood through a process of acclimation. Acclimation is getting the deck boards used to your local climate, equalizing the moisture content of the wood with that of the surrounding air.

Wood expands and contracts with changes in moisture levels. Such changes can be triggered simply by moving the wood from one place to another, such as when we ship your order of cumaru decking to your job site. If you do not give the wood time to adjust, it will attempt to expand or shrink after being installed, resulting in warps, buckles, and cracks.

To prevent these problems you must:

• Store the deck boards outside in an environment similar to the final build site.
• Allow for good air flow along each side of every board by keeping them elevated off the ground and using scrap lumber spacers to keep the boards apart.
• Leave the boards open to the air. This means you must not cover them with a tarp.

If you have any questions about the acclimation process, feel free to ask.