Take care not to allow uncoated iron products or parts of originally coated iron products to come in contact with Q-Deck / Q-Grip / SmartBoard components. Ferrous substances may react with the preservative treatment within the timber and cause unsightly black staining of the surfaces, that may prove difficult to remove. So in particular, it is worth considering if the filing or grinding of metal products needs to be performed near to or over the deck. If possible avoid doing this near decks but if this is not practical then the deck surfaces should be carefully protected/covered to enable capture and disposal of the iron particles. In very hot weather pine resin can rise to the surface of Q-Deck treated softwood products and dark stains/coatings can exacerbate this. In the unlikely event this occurs, wait for the resin to form a crust and scrape away; repeat if necessary.
Wood swells when it is pressure pre-treated with a waterbased preservative - as much as 4% of the finished size after machining - and shrinks as it dries which may vary from piece to piece. This can be evident when butting deck boards end to end. We therefore advise letting the deck boards, in particular, dry somewhat before fitting. This not only helps to achieve a more constant size but improves their workability. Climatic changes cause the wood to continually shrink and swell in service and in turn this movement may vary from piece to piece.