Building a porch/deck

^ This

They stain fine. I use the 6" long foam rollers. Look at using TWP stains

Go with composite lumber and you’ll never have to worry about rot or restraining it every couple years. Not all the boards will be perfectly treated. More $ upfront but it’s worth it imo

Just wait a few weeks after installing so they're not so wet

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crown

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By that you mean the grain of the wood so where the grain is curved facing down...so when the wood dries and board has a natural tendency to curve...it won't curve up at the edges...if nailed/screwed down properly, it won't lift at all. That's a trick my dad taught me long ago. Also, 5/4 deck boards might tend to cup more than say a 2x6...that's why I went to 2x6 for all my decking. I found butting the boards up without spacing results in a good space later...but with the nail in between each board you can have a bigger gap and easier for things to drop through. But that's my personal experience. To each his own there.

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I would put the crown up, so as to not have a bowl effect

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We are saying the same thing. You want the bowl of the concave side of the board facing down.

If you get center cut boards...there is very little crown but outside edge (near the bark) have tons of crown.

Thanks for all of the replies!

I would usually wait around 60 days for the wood to dry and shrink before I stained. If the wood hasn't dried out properly, you will get a crappy looking stain job that may not stick or look splotchy.

what you refer to as crown is actually the cup fwiw. on composite boards in another thread, make sure you get screws that don't cause protrusions of the material and remember that composite boards get hot as hades in the sun.