There are several products designed to help persuade bowed deck boards into alignment for fastening, but none is as elegantly simple as the Deck Wedge. The thickness of the 6-1/2-in. long U-shaped wedge tapers from about 1-5/8 in. at the striking surface to about 1/4 in. at the point and is backed up by a 3/16-in.- thick steel plate. Designed to fit over a deck joist, the steel plate has beveled edges set 1-3/8 in. apart, just enough to slice into and grab the faces of the joist as the wedge is hammered into place. The wedge can be whacked to whatever depth is necessary to close the gap between deck boards, but it has a maximum 1-1/4 in. of travel. Driving the wedge too far will make it difficult to fit the claw of your hammer under it for removal. The angled face of the Deck Wedge is nonmarring, so it can be used on hardwoods and synthetics alike. I can testify to the durability of the striking surface; I beat it forcefully and repeatedly on a recent ipé decking installation, yet it shows little evidence of use. It’s $30 well spent for a tool that has no moving parts and very little learning curve, that weighs less than 2 lb., and that takes up almost no space in my kit.
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