What Decking Options are Available for Racking?

Decking is a fundamental part of a pallet racking structure and is typically used to support storage for small and loose items, or smaller pallet sizes. Essentially, pallet rack decking is a crucial tool in keeping your products safe and in good order. The decking creates an infill between beams to prevent items from falling between beams. Much like choosing your storage system, choosing the right type of decking is an essential part of the process: ensuring that the decking type meets the storage needs within your storage space.

What Must Be Considered?

Rack decking comes in many variants, so knowing which best fits your needs means it’s vital to consider these things before making any purchases:

1. Capacity and Weight Load Bearing

Considering your capacity and weight load should always be your number one priority when choosing your decking option for your racking. The essential function of the decking on your racking is to safely store your goods for either long-term storage or picking, so ensuring that your decking can perform to its capacity and is taking the correct weight loads, prevents you running into avoidable and expensive costs.

So, considering the weight of your loads before purchasing your decking is imperative. For the heaviest load bearing, steel decking is considered the most appropriate, but equally, is the most expensive. As a great and more cost-effective alternative, timber can also be used to support those heavy loads.

2. Fire Risks

In the unlikely and unfortunate event of a fire within your storage space, different decking offers different levels of security. Decking types are made of various materials, and naturally, materials such as Steel offer extra security against materials such as wood. For instance, Chipboard material offers the least resistance against fire or whatever, whereas steel decking offers far more resilience to extreme heat.

3. Durability

When considering durability, you must ask yourself what the requirements of your storage system is. Perhaps you are looking for decking that is suitable as a long term solution, perhaps you wish for decking that is suitable for external storage, or perhaps you require something more short term to store lighter or loose products. In any case, decking options are available that cater for all these needs, so choosing the right one by considering the durability you’re requiring is significant.

4. Certified Products

At DC Space & Storage Solutions, we make your safety our top priority. By ensuring that you are choosing suppliers that are SEMA qualified, like us at DC, you are ensuring that you are receiving high-quality equipment that is fit for the job, and that you can rely on.

Popular Types of Pallet Rack Decking

Steel Decking

Steel Notched Decking is appropriate for indoor and outdoor use. As a heavy-duty solution, it acts as the pallet and shelf simultaneously, allowing for safe storage of heavy and bulky items. By securing the items on the robust steel panels, which are fixed to the beams, steel decking offers withheld strength – even when exposed to water and extreme heat.

The design of the steel decking allows for easy removal of the panel from the structure, allowing for them to be cleaned and fixed back into place afterwards.

Chipboard Decking

Chipboard decking is renowned for its durability. It’s available in many forms: normal, medium and high-density depth. This means that depending on the weight of the items you wish to store, the solidity of the boards, as well as their sizes, can be made to suit your unique structure. The sleek panels on Chipboard decks are fixed between the beams, extending from front to back, to prevent any items from falling through gaps. The smooth surface makes it an ideal option for supporting long-span shelving systems.

The boards consist of wood chippings that are glue-bound by heat and pressure, so the smooth skin of this decking makes it a suitable option for storage of items that benefit from this – such as carpets.

Chipboard decking is the least robust form of decking and has a shorter life-span, but due to it being a low-cost solution, it is perfect for cool and dry storage environments. Naturally, the wood chippings make Chipboard decking less resistant to fire and other things that can threaten its structure, such as water. In saying that, it can be treated with additional coating to enhance its strength.

Wire Mesh Decking

Wire Mesh decking is perfectly suited to smaller pallets. It also is accepted as the most cost-effective option, made of industrial-grade steel and can come in various thickness, depending on the requirements of storage for your goods. As an incredibly durable choice, Wire Mesh decking is suitable for all warehouse types – the easy to maintain system can store a variety of product type of varying weight and size, and can be used both indoor and outdoor.

Wire Mesh decking bridges the gap between the front and back beams by slotting over the beam to securely fix it in its place. Additionally, it is a sterile option of decking as the mesh design keeps the shelves dust and debris free.

In the case of a fire, steel offers the most security of all decking types – with the ability to hold its strength under the impact of heat and water. This makes it a great option for upper level mezzanine storage systems.

Timber Decking

Timber decking is a versatile decking option. It can be supplied with either open or closed slats, which are fixed securely to the beams. Additionally, it is a versatile option because of its ability to securely hold loads of varying weight and size.

There are many advantages to opting for Timber decking: durability, resilience, flexibility in size and fit, and its adaptability are on the top of that list. The quality of the timber is strong, and as such, can support heavy loads whilst offering a sturdy and secure platform to hold smaller or loose goods. This is good for drastically limiting the risks of falling stock through racks – protecting your employees and your goods.

All in all, Timber decking is a great comprehensive solution. However, worth nothing is that in the rare event of a fire, Timer decking is less resilient than other decking options, as well as if it is exposed to heat and water.

We’re here to help!

Considering Decking within your warehouse may seem a small feature, but it is incredibly significant to the efficiency within your storage space: from its performance and functionality, to issues of safety.

Let us help you by contacting us today for a free, no-obligation estimate on the services you require. From decking for your racking, to inspection and maintenance – we have you covered!