Patent ID: 7409803

Claim:
A deck system comprising: a plurality of boards operable to extend across a plurality of laterally spaced joists, each of said boards presenting an upper lip and a lower lip, said upper and lower lips defining a pair of longitudinally extending grooves on generally opposite sides of the board, said lower lip having a thickness “E”; and a plurality of generally T-shaped fasteners each operable to rigidly couple to the joists, each of said fasteners presenting a generally solid base including a lower joist-engaging surface for engaging the joists and a pair of protrusions each having a bottom surface that is spaced vertically upward from and substantially parallel to the joist-engaging surface, said bases presenting waist portions defining generally uniform gaps between said boards, each of the protrusions extending generally perpendicularly from a vertical axis of the fastener, each of said protrusions further operable to be received in a respective groove of a respective board in a substantially complemental fashion, wherein an average vertical distance “F” is defined between the joist-engaging surface and at least a portion of the bottom surface of the protrusion, wherein said at least a portion of the bottom surface of the protrusion is closer to the waist portion than to the distal end of the protrusion and “E” is at least 1% greater than “F” along said at least a portion of the bottom surface of the protrusion, such that the joist and the at least a portion of the bottom surface of the protrusion cooperatively exert a compressive force on the lower lip when the joist-engaging surface engages the joist and the protrusion is received in a respective groove of a respective board in a substantially complemental fashion.