Couple hopefully easy quick house questions

1. 2x6 Deck boards follow the same size as regular 2x6s correct? So they are actually 1.5x5.5.

2. I have an old outlet in the backyard by where my pool equipment used to. I was planning on trenching from that outlet to where I am building a pond and adding two outlets. One at the pond and one at the gazebo. Should I wire them all as GFCI outlets or should I have a GFCI breaker put on the circuit? I already have 2 GFCI outlets laying around but I didn't know if wiring multiple GFCI outlets. Was one ok to do? And two would it be more of a pain in the ass to wire then just doing a GFCI breaker?

Deck boards are typically 5/4 X 6" nominal. Actual size should be 1"X 5.5"

Check your local code for GCFI.  Typically one on the circuit would suffice.  Depends on your town / county codes.

2x6 treated boards are the same as non treated

2 ways to do the gfci, I would peek around your local building department site.  You can install one at pool location and run off the line side of that to the new pond location and install another there, or you can run your wire to the new stuff off the load side of the gfci at the pool location and it will protect the new one down the line.

You can connect to the load side of the first GFCI receptacle and then use regular receptacles downstream from it.  All will be protected by that first GFCI.  Alternately you can connect to the line side of the first GFCI receptacle and then use additional GFCI receptacles downstream, and each one is isolated from the others for GFCI protection.  It's a horse apiece for installation but the second method is typically more convenient - if there is a ground fault you can reset it right at the one you're plugged into, rather than having to walk over to the first one to reset the whole string.

A single GFCI outlet should be the FIRST outlet on the circuit run, and then wired correctly to protect all downstream outlets. The instructions in the box are usually pretty clear. A GFCI breaker in the panel is better, imo. Outside outlets don't seem to last too many years.

1.  Best to measure what you have before you proceed.  Lots of people build decks.  Treated 2-by lumber was probably used almost exclusively until the last 20 (?) years or so when these newfangled products like 5/4 deck boards started showing up in the home center stores.

1988RedT2 said:

1.  Best to measure what you have before you proceed.  Lots of people build decks.  Treated 2-by lumber was probably used almost exclusively until the last 20 (?) years or so when these newfangled products like 5/4 deck boards started showing up in the home center stores.

Maybe 20 years for the plastic Trexx and similar products. 5/4 bullnose pressure treat has been around a lot longer than 20 years

Measuring is the right answer though, since the OP wasn’t clear if it was the deck surface or framing that he was asking about. 

Wiring the pond outlet to the load side of the gfci allows you to skip a lot of grief in the trenching itself. If you wire to the line side the wire needs to be buried to certain depths, has conduit requirements, etc... that don't apply if the wire itself is protected by the gfci too.  

oldopelguy said:

Wiring the pond outlet to the load side of the gfci allows you to skip a lot of grief in the trenching itself. If you wire to the line side the wire needs to be buried to certain depths, has conduit requirements, etc... that don't apply if the wire itself is protected by the gfci too.  

Good point, although to be specific: direct bury UF wire for a GFCI protected circuit, that's 120vac and 20 amps or less, still has to be at least 12 inches deep.  A non-GFCI protected circuit is supposed to be 24 inches deep.

Awesome thanks guys.

So if I am following this correctly, I can either just wire the upstream location for the GFCI which will allow me to have regular outlets at the other two locations downstream but I would have to trench 24in deep or if I wire each outlet with GFCI I only have to trench 12in deep and I can use direct bury wire rather then conduit? Am I misreading that? If I went to a GFCI breaker protected circuit, would it be the same requirements as far as trench depth? 20amp should be more then enough power for the circuit for what I would be running on it from researching the power requirements of things that might be used on it.

Sorta.  Hooking your wire up to the load side, the downstream side, of a gfci outlet in the existing location lets that gfci protect the wire itself and the downstream outlets.  That lets you use regular outlets and direct bury to the shallower depth. It means any fault including a line fault will trip that one gfci, so you'll have to walk over for a reset and remember that is how it works. If you have other outlets in the house on that same branch they would probably not be tripped. 

Wiring to the upstream or line side of the outlet means no gfci protection on anything, so deeper trench and gfci outlets at the remote location. The wire has no gfci protection, but you can theoretically have more capacity. 

Installing a gfci breaker protects everything, so back to shallower depth and no gfci outlets anywhere. Any other outlets in the house on that branch will trip too if there's a fault anywhere in the circuit, but ultimately everything is protected. 

How long has the pool outlet been under ground?  For the price of trenching out the whole thing you get a bunch of rest at night.

I was building decks with 5/4 PT deck boards 40 years ago. 

93EXCivic said:

1. 2x6 Deck boards follow the same size as regular 2x6s correct? So they are actually 1.5x5.5.

You’re getting mixed answers because you are mixing your nomenclature. 

A nominal 2x6 is a similar dimension whether it is pressure treated or not. 1.5” x 5.5”  

A product sold as a “deck board” is typically not a 2x6. It is typically a 5/4 x 6, which measures 1” x 5.5”. 

Exception:  pressure treated lumber is swollen when sold because if the chemicals that have been injected into the cells. They actually measure closer to 5 5/8” wide, but will shrink after they are installed. 

Hooe that helps. 

SVreX said:

I was building decks with 5/4 PT deck boards 40 years ago. 

Back when you were only 34 years old!

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Try again, you old fart

Because I don't have the tools or skills to do house stuff I didn't know these measurements.

Why is something sold as a 2"x6" allowed to be noticeably smaller?

Just seems strange.

z31maniac said:

Because I don't have the tools or skills to do house stuff I didn't know these measurements.

Why is something sold as a 2"x6" allowed to be noticeably smaller?

Just seems strange.

2 x 6 is the rough sawn size.  After they're dried and planed smooth the dimensions are smaller.  There's an explanation here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber#North_American_softwoods Note that for at least a century the actual size of 2x lumber has been smaller than the nominal size.

stuart in mn said:

z31maniac said:

Because I don't have the tools or skills to do house stuff I didn't know these measurements.

Why is something sold as a 2"x6" allowed to be noticeably smaller?

Just seems strange.

2 x 6 is the rough sawn size.  After they're dried and planed smooth the dimensions are smaller.  There's an explanation here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber#North_American_softwoods Note that for at least a century the actual size of 2x lumber has been smaller than the nominal size.

That makes sense, I was just curious.