Composite Decking
- Thread starter SnowMan
- Start date
Composite negatives. It flexes and distorts with sun exposure - offset by getting thicker and more rigid material. It fades in UV exposure. Offset by choosing a lighter color.
The benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
The benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
- Can fade
- Can be as slippery as wood when iced over
- I would argue it is not totally time proven--maybe all composites will break down and need replacement as often as a neglected wood deck. I would definitely not go cheap
- It is not as stiff or light as wood, so tighter joist spacing may be needed to keep the floor from sagging
- If you do hidden fasteners you will be disappointed
Unless you enjoy house maintenance, or particularly are fond of the look/smell/feel of a nice wooden deck I would not do wood ever
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"If you do hidden fasteners you will be disappointed"
Why is that? I am about to do a new deck "second floor".
They simply do not hold boards down as tight, and often need to be tightened with the hot and cold swelling/sliding of the boards.
Face screws go in easier/quicker and are tighter holding.
Generally speaking, the people that choose hidden fasteners for the perceived luxury are the same people who will be especially critical of sliding boards or soft spots on the deck, and won't be willing to tighten them themselves.
If you are willing to monitor them and just tighten as needed, then go for it.
Having done both, I prefer simple and effective, and don't think anyone notices face screws except the owner if they are color matched
edit to add that it isn't really a huge deal either way, so if your wife wants hidden you should just do it
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Agreed, however here in Florida wood does exactly both of these things too. Especially the cheap DIY store pressure treated crap. If you want a good wood deck that will last, either go with thicker wood boards treated for salt water exposure, premium wood products or a high quality composite. Cost becomes similar at that point.
Wood vs composite? Go with concrete.
Seriously though, the composite is the way compared to wood. Newer products have only gotten better. Price wise a wood deck done right looks really good, but is almost as much as comp anyways. I say go with comp.
Seriously though, the composite is the way compared to wood. Newer products have only gotten better. Price wise a wood deck done right looks really good, but is almost as much as comp anyways. I say go with comp.
I get this a fair amount.
I just finished one, 1600sq ft, all Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The thought was a nice, long lasting, sustainable product.
It's beautiful; but cedar will fuzz, and show marks, until its all uniform. Unless you treat it. Then your best bet is to stay off it while it acclimates (like a whole season), then put the shit to it. And continue to put the shit to it every year thereafter.
But, its wood. And wood is more nicer-er.
Hidden fasteners can be easily overcome with composite, and are likely the best fastening method if avaliable. The whole idea was no maintenance, and no fasteners. Most composite decking need to expand and contract; its why they don't crack, like wood. That's not to say that i haven't used many screw and plug. Sometimes it pays to read the manual.
My biggest gripe with composite, is the heat. No matter what they do to help mitigate it, with scallop cuts underneath, or lighter colors; the stuff is just plain hot.
But, its tough. And you can pressure wash it. Be aware that most composite decking companies want the builder using either composite framing, or wrapping the top of pressure treated with approved tape or the like.
I just finished one, 1600sq ft, all Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The thought was a nice, long lasting, sustainable product.
It's beautiful; but cedar will fuzz, and show marks, until its all uniform. Unless you treat it. Then your best bet is to stay off it while it acclimates (like a whole season), then put the shit to it. And continue to put the shit to it every year thereafter.
But, its wood. And wood is more nicer-er.
Hidden fasteners can be easily overcome with composite, and are likely the best fastening method if avaliable. The whole idea was no maintenance, and no fasteners. Most composite decking need to expand and contract; its why they don't crack, like wood
. That's not to say that i haven't used many screw and plug. Sometimes it pays to read the manual. My biggest gripe with composite, is the heat. No matter what they do to help mitigate it, with scallop cuts underneath, or lighter colors; the stuff is just plain hot.
But, its tough. And you can pressure wash it. Be aware that most composite decking companies want the builder using either composite framing, or wrapping the top of pressure treated with approved tape or the like.
I'm about to get a new front deck/ramp/stairs/balcony starting this Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. Hope I made the right choice by using TREX composite materials. Even went with the cable style railings. We chose to use the "Hidden" fasteners. Hope it's worth the extra $$.
$hit is pricey! Sure hope we don't regret it. Got tired of painting all of our wood work every 3-4 years. I've got better things to do.
Mac
$hit is pricey! Sure hope we don't regret it. Got tired of painting all of our wood work every 3-4 years. I've got better things to do.
Mac
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Cable is great for the visual. Youll still need to adjust one, a time or two, throughout its life. Likely a good one on all of them after the first month in use.
I can usually price out around $150/ft for materials. A lot of the places in my AO are close to the ocean, so the manufacturers reccomended an "electro-plated" coated version. Last one was a 1600sq ft deck, with 10 strand railings with decking top, about 3000 lineal ft, 6 days for 2 men labor time hanging
...mine is just under 3k lineal foot in total for 3 separate projects, and he figures 9-12 days w/3 guys, depending on weather, to get it done. Did I mention, the $hit is pricey?? Mac
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Brick pavers over a concrete base. 99% maintenance free, no fading. No critters to live under your deck. Really hard to do on a second floor.
Mac,
I did my front and back deck 6 years ago. Trex with the hidden fasteners, you will be fine. I have had no problems and never retightened the hidden fasteners. Do make sure they wrap the tops of the joists with the approved tape on all the joists.
I just went through this. My 9 year old deck, started rotting from the inside out, despite me doing all the things to keep the wood and prolong its life. PT is shit these days.
Started tearing it down and was going to rebuild myself until I found out it was a much bigger job than I had time for. Anyways got a local decking company to come out and not fully rebuild all of it, just the parts that needed full replacing, a retrofit, if you will. Went with composite and some fancy hand rails with drink rail width stuff on top. Metal ballisters. Almost went with cable but thought the metal might hold up better. All the structural stuff like the joists is still PT tho! Shit cost me $24,000!!!! I was pissed. $50,000 to rebuild completely but again I didn’t have the time.
7 guys were out here almost a solid 2 weeks to get this retrofit done. Size is roughly 30’ long x 15’ wide. Regardless I hope this shit lasts. It looks good. Getting the real wood stuff restained with a solid stain this coming week. That’s gonna be another $2000! Shit is super expensive!
Before all said and done I’m going to be spending $100k getting this house back up to par and it’s only 9 years old!!!!!!! Stuff is getting ridiculous.
Point in all this is, either go full metal or composite if you can! If I could get structural composite, which they do make, I would have gone that route but I also didn’t want to spend $100k on a damn deck.
Started tearing it down and was going to rebuild myself until I found out it was a much bigger job than I had time for. Anyways got a local decking company to come out and not fully rebuild all of it, just the parts that needed full replacing, a retrofit, if you will. Went with composite and some fancy hand rails with drink rail width stuff on top. Metal ballisters. Almost went with cable but thought the metal might hold up better. All the structural stuff like the joists is still PT tho! Shit cost me $24,000!!!! I was pissed. $50,000 to rebuild completely but again I didn’t have the time.
7 guys were out here almost a solid 2 weeks to get this retrofit done. Size is roughly 30’ long x 15’ wide. Regardless I hope this shit lasts. It looks good. Getting the real wood stuff restained with a solid stain this coming week. That’s gonna be another $2000! Shit is super expensive!
Before all said and done I’m going to be spending $100k getting this house back up to par and it’s only 9 years old!!!!!!! Stuff is getting ridiculous.
Point in all this is, either go full metal or composite if you can! If I could get structural composite, which they do make, I would have gone that route but I also didn’t want to spend $100k on a damn deck.
I finished up doing two decks with Trex about a year ago. Replaced 20 year old 5/4 Cedar, which got cleaned and re-stained every 2 or 3 years. A LOT of maintenance (and it still rotted out).
That all went away with composite. But you know what the biggest benefit is (besides Trex not rotting over time) ? Trex is pretty much silent. It doesn't go "creak, crunch, snap, crackle, pop" when you walk across it. It sounds and feels solid. I didn't realize that until I walked on the newly laid Trex. It's now a huge deal to me.
I'll never do/re-do another deck with anything but composite. Composite is cheaper, easier and much more enjoyable in the long run.
That all went away with composite. But you know what the biggest benefit is (besides Trex not rotting over time) ? Trex is pretty much silent. It doesn't go "creak, crunch, snap, crackle, pop" when you walk across it. It sounds and feels solid. I didn't realize that until I walked on the newly laid Trex. It's now a huge deal to me.
I'll never do/re-do another deck with anything but composite. Composite is cheaper, easier and much more enjoyable in the long run.
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My neighbor used the plastic wood stuff about 10 or 11 years ago. It came out great and looks just like it did when he put it in. It gets San Diego sun from sunrise until about 3pm when the house shadows the deck.
If you go with composite, you might think about supporting it with 12" o/c joists. In the sun it has a lot more displacement/give than PT.
If you're doing it yourself, spend the $30 and buy a laser like this:
Makes it easy to level and plumb.
If you're doing it yourself, spend the $30 and buy a laser like this:
Inspiritech Self Leveling 360 Green Laser Leveler Kit Cross line | eBay
Self Leveling 360 Green Laser Leveler Kit Cross line for Ceiling Wall Construction. Condition is "New". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.
www.ebay.com
Makes it easy to level and plumb.
I did read about the 12” center thing. Of course, it was AFTER I bought all the decking. It was a rehab and adding 12” centers wasn’t practical. So, I went ahead and laid down the Trex on the existing 16” centers.If you go with composite, you might think about supporting it with 12" o/c joists. In the sun it has a lot more displacement/give than PT.
If you're doing it yourself, spend the $30 and buy a laser like this:
Inspiritech Self Leveling 360 Green Laser Leveler Kit Cross line | eBay
Self Leveling 360 Green Laser Leveler Kit Cross line for Ceiling Wall Construction. Condition is "New". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.www.ebay.com
Makes it easy to level and plumb.
To my way of thinking, 16” centers were just fine for our needs. I can see where if someone was putting a lot of weight on the decks, 12” centers would make sense. We just didn’t need it.
Yep. They are going to wrap the joists and overhang supports. They sound like they know what their doing. We met with the contractor at the supply house, and discussed what we wanted and what would take place. Sooo I feel confident with what I need done and how long it will take. I'm having a 20'x20' porch, w/ramp done (getting rid of the stairs), and a set of stairs for a slider door, and a balcony. Not real big projects, I just want to get rid of the painting thing, and the wood is over 20 y.o..
We've been trying to get these 3 projects done for the last 2 years. Trying to find a contractor to get this done, was like pulling teeth. There was a time when I would see 3-4 remodeling/construction trucks running up and down our street, a couple of times a month. After covid, $hit got scarce. Was a time I would have handled this stuff myself, but now it would take me 5x longer to get it done. Sucks getting old!
Did I mention...this $hit is pricey!!
Mac
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My 5/4 cedar looks exactly like that, rot and all, after 15 years of zero maintenance. The frame and joists are fine. Used Pressure Treated 2x6 16" OC
Yeah, the deck in the pic is one that I'll work on next spring. It and the last two I did all had 20 to 30 year old 2 x 8 pressure treated joists, 16" O/C. All the joists were/are fine, no replacement necessary.
Looks like you were going for that old-timey rustic look. Nailed it!
other than cost, not much downside with composite. you can minimize cost by using PT for structure and most of the railing, other than where you actually put your hands. def follow the spanning and especially gapping/spacing requirements. lighter colors hold the heat less. just pressure wash every year or two, horizontal surfaces get dirty.
I used the Trex hidden fasteners. They maintained spacing really well and over about 18 feet, I had zero gap "walking". As I laid the new boards down, I kept measuring from the newest board's leading edge to the framing's finishing point and it came out exact, square and parallel. I did have to rip the final/finish piece and radius the ripped/final edge, but that was easy.
Anybody do some of the heat-n-bend curvey decorative stuff with the composite boards?
I've got 1200-ft^2 of PT 2x6 and am thinking about doing something fancy with the replacement.
Most of the current deck is 25 years old. I'm replacing several boards a year, solid deck stain is only lasting a couple/few years, and the framing is going in a couple spots. I get some snow and 360 days/yr of full sun on the south side of the house. We live outside
I've got 1200-ft^2 of PT 2x6 and am thinking about doing something fancy with the replacement.
Most of the current deck is 25 years old. I'm replacing several boards a year, solid deck stain is only lasting a couple/few years, and the framing is going in a couple spots. I get some snow and 360 days/yr of full sun on the south side of the house. We live outside
It's beautiful and everyone probably envies it and you. But, I'd never build that. For precisely the (maintenance) reasons that you've listed. I'm a square and rectangles kind of guy.
No, but that is beautiful! But I am with the above poster, for my time and pocket book, I’m more of a square and rectangle guy. I bet that deck would have cost $120,000 to get built by the guys that did mine. I mean not really but I bet it would be pricey and a good bit more than the $24k I just paid them to fix mine.
