Can fence boards be used for decking?

[Tgbbb]

I’m thinking of pallets being used, can fence boards be used also? I’d imagine they’d need a lot of sanding but in theory are there any reasons why not? I’m just looking to add a small 6x8 decked area to garden, but deck boards are so expensive.

Fence boards are a lot thinner. I don’t imagine they will last long with the weight of people/furniture on them.

No, definitely not. The price of materials has rocketed recently, but don’t try to cut corners. If you want decking, then you need the right materials. Or wait until you can afford them. Don’t try to bodge it, not worth it.

Decking made of pallets will look like 'decking made from pallets' i.e. dreadful.
It's difficult taking pallets apart and the result will be slippery, and it will warp.

An alternative, and easier, way of devaluing your property would be to paint all the bricks red and the mortar white.

Don't and for all the reasons already made.

My deck is is 35+ years old, and while the boards are old-fashioned in their look, they are still perfect. That's because the builder (not me) put down the proper wood, and it was maintained.

If you want a deck, wait, save, and do it properly.

No. Stop being cheap and lazy. Do it properly or not at all.

Tough crowd…

fence panels won’t work as others said, they are too thin. Pallets do have the strength, but there are quite large gaps between the slats, but it is a thing.

blitsy.com/pallet-deck/

Pallets work. You can fill the gaps with wood. Lot of work though.
Fence boards won’t.

Try freecycle. There's regularly old decking on the ones close to me. Might take a bit of work getting them up to scratch but will save a lot of money. You can then save up to get nicer/newer ones if you want to.

Don't use anything other than decking boards, it will just be a waste of money as they're not strong enough.

Could you use gravel instead to make a similar sitting area. A tonne of stone would be far cheaper. Decking is notorious for beening a great habitat for vermin.

Also. Palettes are really hard to take apart. I found that out

You don’t need to take them apart. Just get a load and screw them together, sand then varnish. It looks like a load of pallets screwed together but is a thing, as per link above 😄

Fence boards tend to be thinner. So wouldn't really be suitable as decking as they would be prone to breakage. Better to bite the bullet and buy properly treated decking boards.

Fence boards will either be square edged between 8-12mm. Decking will be 22mm+

The point of thicker boards is span- you can stand on an 8mm board perfectly well- it will just require vastly more support than a significantly thicker board. For 22mm decking boards laid perpendicular to the supporting joists they should span 450mm centre gaps (from the centre of one joist to the centre of the next joist is 450mm). I would imagine to have 8mm decking boards not flexing, you would need to be spanning something like 100mm centres max. Given a 50mm wide joist that means a 50mm gap. At that point the extra cost of supporting frame would obviate the advantage of using fence boards. Don’t discount the significant cost of additional screws- decking screws are not cheap- I used around £80 to build my (very large 6m x 4m) deck. Had I used fence boards and was using 100mm centres over 450 centres I would have spent easily in excess of £400 on screws (not to mention additional joist hangers etc etc).

just use decking boards. It’ll look better, and it’ll work properly. Appreciate the cost issue, but using fence boards won’t save you anything cause your sub structure (made of vastly more expensive 24s or 26s) will be significantly more dense because fence boards won’t be able to reliably span the distance without flexing/breaking.

Should read 2 4s or 2 6s

Bloody html.

2x4s or 2x6s

My sisters DH made a path way out of sleepers, I told him it was a disaster in waiting but he wouldn't listen. The treatment meant the water just sits on top of the wood and it's a sloppy nightmare. Add frost and it's deadly. I slipped and broke my foot. Now they have to cover the pathway with stained down chicken wire. Looks TERRIBLE but now it functions as a pathway.

Flipping hell that's quite a nasty comment!!!

Why revert to name calling? What's it got to do with you ffs

I think the reason why pallet-decking looks cheap is because the lengths of wood aren't long enough. The way to get round this is to make a design that fools the eye - either on the diagonal or a herringbone pattern - although it will be more difficult to make with all those 45 degree angles!
Hiddenmnetter's post is full of useful information but since the area is only small (I assume the measurements are feet, not metres!) the caveats may not be so relevant.