Under the deckhouses the deck planking was continuous, and a shallow bevelled score was let in to the outline of the deckhouse foundation cants, which enabled the house to be bolted down and lightly caulked or payed.

  Margin pieces could be fitted around the masts as the partners and chocks below gave sufficient foundation for plank end fastenings as well as the margin.
The treenail fastenings for deck planks were driven down into the beams and then tightened by hardwood wedges, the whole being cut off flush with the deck. The fastenings, being end grain wood, did not wear away as soon as the surrounding deck, and on an old ship would project as rounded humps until planed or adzed down. Sometimes iron spike nails were used instead of treenails, sunk into shallow drilled holes to allow for dowel plugs to seal them.

  With an iron or composite ship the decking procedure was different in principle. The strength of the deck and its contribution to the longitudinal strength of the ship was basically in the ironwork structure. The side sheerstrake and deck stringer plate and angle took the place of the wooden waterway and margin plank in giving strength, although the latter were often applied in addition. The wooden binding strakes were replaced by flat iron tie plates running fore and aft, and the whole braced together with diagonal tie plates. The deck planking itself was not so important for longitudinal strength, and the outermost planks did not need to be carried so far forward in a curve as on the wooden ship. The sharp ends of the planks meeting the curve were still cut off square for the caulking iron, but the notching or joggling was cut out of the margin plank instead of the deck planks. If the deck line did have pronounced curvature, the outermost planks could have some curvature and taper to avoid along narrow plank, but as soon as possible inboard of this the planks would be laid down in straight parallel lines.

  Varying rules are given for the length of the sniped taper and square tip for planks finishing on a curve, which are based on proportions to the width of plank, but as planks could vary on occasions from say 4 to 8 in. in width (teak planks could go up to 9 in.), this could result in too much being unnecessarily cut into the margin plank. The principle was that the square end need only accommodate the caulking iron at about 2.5 in. with the taper running from this point to the normal width of the margin. As soon as the planks met the curve at about 3Oo there was no need to square off the tip.

   The openings, hatches, etc. were bounded by wide metal tie plates athwartships and fore and aft, and the metal coamings connected to them by angle irons. A margin plank was then laid down around the coaming  in teak or pine slightly thicker than the deck and tapered down to deck level; the normal deck planking was butted against the margin with its ends fastened to the tie plate.