Composite decking??? worth it

[Gary Fowler]

When I built my house which has a 12' x 44' deck, I priced out composite and even aluminum decking. It was all just too expensive to justify. I could replace the wood 4 times for the cost of the aluminum or composite. I didn't think I would live long enough to have to do even one replacement since is it totally covered and gets only minimal sun in early morning and late afternoon (north facing)

 

[Fossil Farm]

Replaced our treated wood deck with Trex 8 to 10 years ago. We love it. Sweep off mud with a broom and shovel off the snow. Other than that, have not done a thing to it. It is south facing and gets sunlight all day long. It is the "saddle" color - a light brown. It did fade some, which I expected. Used some gray Trex as an outline on a higher deck and it is still the same color as the day I installed it - but it probably needs a good washing. No splinters, no staining necessary.

I did predrill and used the screws with 2 thread types. They were steel square drive. Still not crazy about square drive screws. Seem to strip too easily, especially stainless.
Smells good cutting it with a saw for some reason. Easy to use a jigsaw on also.
It is not structural at all, so all joists, etc. will have to be treated SFP lumber.

If you are going to put it on a dock, it is heavy and will sink if you drop it in the water. Used some of the leftovers to put a couple benches on our dock. A couple pieces are still at the bottom of the pond. For a dock, for bare feet, it would be nice. It does get a bit hot if you use a darker color, but no splinters or end checking to worry about.
Weight would be the only issue depending on your dock configuration.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use.

 

[tow653]

Just built new house and put deck across entire back,part is 20x14 rest is 32x10,and built it using Timber Tech composite. It is one of the newer composites,in that it is encapsulated with a vinyl covering,and it has a texture,so it is not slick in wet weather. It was considerably more expensive than wood,but I will never have any maintenance issues,and at my age that made it worth while for me.

 

[lockhaven]

I will never believe that anything will never fail or need maintenance, when I built my house the treated wood was new. I was told get the ground contact and you will never need to replace it never need to do anything but enjoy it, not true.

 

[tow653]

By maintenance,I mean I not have to pressure wash it,stain,and seal.Built decks for a living for 20 years,and the ones that were well maintained,looked like they did the day they were finished,ones that weren't looked like crap. For first few years they need staining,darn near yearly,after a few years can get by with less frequency. My decision was to go at least "low" maintenance.

 

[Woody65]

I have probably built 20 or so PT decks and 50 or so composite decks. So I will give you my take on both. As you have mentioned, the cost difference is quite a bit. Customers that have chosen composite over PT usually are interested in no maintenance. Also, if they have young children or grandchildren, they are concerned about splinters and the chemicals added to PT wood. Composite decks are slippery when wet. In this area of the country Trex and Timbertec are the quality brands. The stuff I see at Lowes and Home Depot are not of the same quality and I would stay away from them. You can get a quality composite from a local building supply for the same price. There was a time about 8 yrs ago that Trex had an issue with mold but that has been addressed and I haven't seen any problems since then. If this is for a docking slip, I would not be against using PT. The cost would be greatly reduced and If you are amenable to changing out a warped or splintered board occasionally it might be the better of the two options. If you choose PT, definitely use the 2x option instead of the 5/4. They last a lot longer and tend to split and warp less. Hope this helps and good luck with your project.

 

[ovrszd]

if the decking boards ever were to become in rough condition, There is a product now on the market that's call Restore,
Though actually I haven't found anyone who has tried it to provide feedback, so I couldn't be sure of how long it will last or if it's just another gimmick,
I may have to try it out on my own deck to see how it does,

I covered both my decks with it last Summer. The front deck was built in 1980. Its on the South side of the house and gets baked every Summer. Boards are split pretty bad. I put on 2 coats. Almost looks like sandpaper when done. Fills small cracks and splits very well. I can't testify to it's longevity yet. I think I paid $75 per/5 gal bucket. Used 3 buckets. Don't quote me on the price though. In comparison it was just slightly higher than a premium deck paint/stain.

It's survived the Winter so far with no signs of peeling or chipping. I'm impressed so far.

 

[EddieWalker]

There are too many choices out there of composite decking material to be able to give you a recommendation because I just don't know enough about all of them. What I do know is they don't have the structural strength of wood and they need additional support. I've seen some high traffic areas start to sag with joist on 16 inch centers, even though that is what was required. If you go with a composite, be sure to overbuild with your joists closer then you would with wood, and know what the manufacturer recommends.

I really don't like 5/4 treated boards for decking. I use them often enough, but prefer 2x8's a lot more. 2x6's are better then 5/4 because they don't shrink as much or age as quickly, but they tend to curl up at the edges. 2x8's stay flat and tend to be straighter and truer at the store. I like to use 4 screws per joist on 2x8's, which also helps with strength and keeping them flat. I only use screws. There is no such thing as a nail that will remain inside the wood over time. Some of them will always work their way out. If I can, I like to wait a month or more after installing my decking, then go over it with a large, upright, orbital floor sander that I rent from Home Depot. Then stain.

Eddie

 

[Beltman60]

One Time wood protector
I used it 8 years ago down at my lake house
looks as good as new some fade not much
pressure wash every spring
going to use at my new house with 2400 sq/ft of decking

I will warn you it does cost like $350. for 5 gal.
did my 1800 sq/ft deck with less than 10 gal
but I haven't touched it in 8 years and it doesn't look like I will for quite a few more

 

[Redneck in training]

I installed some about nine years ago on the deck by the pond. So far it holds OK. There is some stuff looking like lichen growing on it making dark spots on it but otherwise there is no warpage cracking or other deterioration visible on it. I used stainless screws to attach it. Don't know if it was cheap or expensive relative to alternative stuff. We bought it in Menards on sale.