Composite Decking?

[trjones87]

thinking about looking at composite decking to replace what we have currently. ive got roughly 464 sq ft to cover. prices i saw online at home depot were $27/12 foot (.5 ft wide) boards. did the quick math and realized that was pretty expensive. Does anyone have experience with composite decking? know any alternative maybe less expensive routes?

[Raypo]

Factor in if you do wood all of the maintenance (wood treatment) and life. Composite is the way to go, but its high.

[trjones87]

quick math ended up at just over 1700 before taxes

[100%TtId]

Choicedek or Trex will last a lot longer than regular treated wood and it looks better, won't split or splinter, and much less maintenance. Be sure to use ceramic coated or stainless screws.

[Mudslinger]

Composite decking like Trek and such sold at Home Depot and Lowe's will have a lifetime warranty on residential installation. It is harder to work with, very heavy and will break on 16' length if not carried right and takes special screws to install. We have used it several times and it really looks nice when done. Not hard to cut, but makes a big mess when cut and you need to watch when you pick a board up to carry to make sure it does not snap. It comes in a lot of different colors also. Also laying straight over floor joists, the joists need to be no further apart than 16" cetners and if layed on a diagonal across floor joists, the joists need to be no further than 12" centers. Redwood (next best alternative) will be about 1/3rd cheaper and if you use a high quality stain or wood treatment, redwood will last a long time. Using a high quality stain, preservative or wood treatment the first 2 years you should not have to treat again but every 4 or 5 years. I personally would use Redwood unless the deck were to be built around a swimming pool area. I personally do not really like the look of the composite and it can get really hot in the direct sun unlike wood. That has been our observations and experiences with it.

[trjones87]

thanks mud, thats some thing i was wondering about. we have 2 dogs outside so keeping a nice finish on anything wont be the easiest task.

[dozer]

I've been using valu-plank from TimberTech for years. It's about $4 a square foot for the material. Keep in mind it has to be on a minimum of 16" centers. Pm if you have any questions. Been working with composites since Trex came out.

[Atfulldraw]

I won't ever buy treated decking lumber again.

It's expensive too, and the quality sucks nowadays....

[Casey]

I put a deck in with it about 12 years ago. I made some mistakes and the thing was a headache.

My suggestions:
Make sure you leave a gap between the planks. I did not and mine swelled and heaved quite a bit.
Leave the screw heads exposed. I thought it was cute how they would completely disappear into the plank and you could tap the displaced material down and have it look like there were no screws. Given suggestion 1 above, you want to be able to easily find and remove the screws.

With all that said, I'd use it again, in a heartbeat, but would install it better.

[DonBon]

When we have used it in the past,the deck boards worked great but the railing systems are junk.The biggest down fall is that the decks get real hot in the sun.With that being said for complete deck replacements I prefer cedar or redwood.IPE is also hard to work with and doesnt take stain so it greys quickly but lasts forever just for more info.As far as which composite decking I like the choicedeck because it has grooves on the bottom that helps with evaporation of water staying between deck boards and joists.

[trjones87]

Wish I could just color rhino line it