chunkmonk

I agree with Mike . I've always been a barkside up guy. My experiences, I have herd a bunch of different things like for instance, in woodworking when your making a table top "they" say to alternate the rings to keep the top flat, kinda makes sense. In decking "old school" BPT [before pressure treated} remember the various shades of red paint/stain 2x6 {spf} decks, back when everything was hand nailed with a few Nova Scotia smiles here and there . My boss would say "just nail the outsides of the boards" or "make sure you nail the middle so it don't cup" or whatever. Only a small percentage of people would actually paint /stain the deck boards BEFORE the deck was built even then, that only lasted a few years. When it was refinished, only the top got the sealer. Here's my two cents worth. whether you put the rings down or up it doesn't matter, just like Mike reported, whatever looks good, if you remember to back prime or seal all the better. The problem I see is when the sealer /prime has broken down or weathered, the undeneath side of the deck never gets any sun , collects the moisture from the ground,framing, etc. {provided you can't climb up or crawl under to reseal} it's going to want to swell and the top side is sealed and somewhat stable, depending on the quality of the sealer or paint, something got to move, hence you have curling and or cupping. The samethimg goes for a tabletop inside your house the top is finished at the factory or factory simulated by you, the bottom is not, you will have more seasonal movement than you would if both sides were finished. Wood is wood. It's a living thing ,it's going to move