I built a deck using Trex close to 20 years ago. Made it 20' wide because I could get 20' lengths of Trex. The Trex is holding up fine. No complaints. No splinters in the kids feet ever. It was easy to work with and I used the Trex spacer tool for the proper gap between boards. Only thing I remember of significance is that one person (me) can't carry a 20' Trex board without dragging some portion behind. It's too flexible. It was a good investment.
Last edited by JohnO; 05-03-2019 at 02:46 PM.
You can do it...it’s a learned skill. 😁Originally Posted by JohnO
It is IME less susceptible to mold/mildew. But not immune. A lot of it depends on the other products used. Composite decking isn’t as porous as wood so it’ll hold less moisture, but any rails/spindles that can trap or collect water can and likely will have the associated issues.
Repairs are tough. As I said, the kits are basically paint. You can’t just buff out a scratch. And they can scratch. Dragging furniture, big dogs, etc can scratch it. It’s tougher than cedar but not bulletproof. You can touch it up and the kits looks like nail polish, but you can’t actually get rid of or fill in the scratch. I guess you could if you took a heat gun and melted it but I won’t do that for you.
Bumping this up. About to do two 12ft x 16ft sections of deck. Looked at Timbertech and I like some of their colors, a d the texture is nicer than Trex, but other than that I’m not sure about the expense.
Id be looking at the Legacy line from Timbertech, most likely
https://www.timbertech.com/product/p...cy-collection/
Vs the Trex Transcend
https://www.decksdirect.com/trex-tra...ck-boards.html
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Our cedar decks are 25 years old. I've had to replace a few boards but generally it's held up in the PNW weather. It doesn't get real cold here in the winter or hot in the summer, maybe that's why it holds up so well, I don't know. I have religiously pressured washed and stained it every two years. That's a lot of maintenance but I do it myself so no contractors. I'll work for good micro brew.
Most of the cedar around here comes from Canada. Our forests are locked for red cedar harvest and have been for awhile. The quality is starting to go down hill also. IIRC correctly it's about $1.75 a board ft. May be more where you are because of shipping. I'm only 70 miles from the Canadian border.
I prefer wood but that's a personal thing. We also have oak floors.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I'm looking at replacing a deck later this summer and trying to decide between wood and composite. Any updates to this? Have rising lumber costs narrowed the price gap? Are there any composite brands to avoid? Also, is composite any easier to keep clean than wood? I get a lot of green algae, I think, growth every spring and power washing is the easiest way to deal with that but I've been told recently it's not good for wood decking. Thanks.
Having built two recent decks with pressure treated wood...
Do the goddamn composite. Pay whatever you have to in order to get the look you want. Reasons:
1) the labor, time, and aggregation you save by using an engineered product that is straight and “perfect” vs a “natural” product that you’re constantly sorting, bending, straightening... how much is your time worth?
2) the future proofing of using an un-rotatable material when you start putting hot tubs, grills bars, and other nonsense on top of it and eventually realize “well shit, replacing the deck boards is really going to suck now!”
3) splinters. Not a major deal, but a deal all the same.
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Thanks. Do you have a recommendation for a product?
Go see if your local Home Depot has this and if it’ll work for you.
Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiberon-...G-12/202594359
I can also give a much longer response.
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That is available near me, yes. I'd be interested in the longer response, but that seems like a lot to ask. I've been trying to research the options but it's been difficult to find any online resource that doesn't seem like either a click-through review aggregator or a shilling site.
Worked for a certified Trex installer for about a year after I quit IT and was trying to figure out what to do with myself.
If you get a certified installer for Trex, you get a lifetime warranty if I remember correctly. Trex doesn't burn, it melts, which is good for wildfire prone areas.
It does get hot in direct sun.
It aint cheap, but it lasts.
There is an invisible fastener option, the Trex boards have a groove that the screw fastener hooks into, they are more expensive. You can use the "no seeum" fasteners without the groove boards and use the cheaper boards, but you have to use a biscuit cutter (the hardware kind for carpentry) to cut slots where you want to use the fasteners.
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