"Trex" Style Decking - Any Success Stories?

[DETRoadster]

Planning deck for our new house and I'm so sick and tired of staining wood every year. I'd like to do an engineered material like Trex but it seems like just about every one I've ever seen looks like crap. Not only does it look like plastic but no matter how close you space the deck joists the decking still seems to sag.

Has anyone had good success with a particular decking brand that they would recommend?

[Murf993]

I have friends that used it and were happy for the most part. If it's in the sun it gets hot. Why don't you use cedar, no need to stain it.

[Bruuuce]

we used it on a deck here in the south a couple years ago. Still looks great, the joists are 18 or 20 inch on center. So there is some sag, but really not that noticeable.

I do like it better than the 20 yo wood deck it replaced. I would not go back. It may even be cheaper now.

Also the spacing is spot on, if you use the t bar clamps and screws. Get the longest boards you can, I used 20 foot boards and it went down quick.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Murf993

I have friends that used it and were happy for the most part. If it's in the sun it gets hot. Why don't you use cedar, no need to stain it.

Because I dont like the gray. I have cedar now with a very light yellow translucent stain/water proofer. Have to pressure wash and re-stain every year. it's a hassle. I'm tired of maintaining outdoor wood!

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Bruuuce

we used it on a deck here in the south a couple years ago. Still looks great, the joists are 18 or 20 inch on center. So there is some sag, but really not that noticeable.

I do like it better than the 20 yo wood deck it replaced. I would not go back. It may even be cheaper now.

Also the spacing is spot on, if you use the t bar clamps and screws. Get the longest boards you can, I used 20 foot boards and it went down quick.

What manufacturer/brand did you use?

[Alfisti]

I think composite decking is utterly brilliant but hideously expensive. I went with stone which was far cheaper than composite and almost regret it, already shifting and moss on it etc, but it was literally a third the price of composite.

[Drop the hammer]

I have solid trex boards on my deck. The boards Just turned 17 years old. I went with the side up that had the embossed wooden grain in them. And 20 foot long boards so no seams on my 14x20’ deck. I did not use clipable boards (that’s a newer version) so when I installed I made a jig to perfectly set the board width and screw holes aligned perfectly to the joist so all screws are perfectly aligned.
Absolutely love the stuff. It’s is extremely durable. My floor joists are on 16 inch centres so no sag at all.
I pressure wash the deck and aluminum railing once in a while and it looks just like day one.
Couple of notes: caution when pressure washing, have to use lower pressure wider tip on my 3200 psi washer as it can damage the boards if you use the finer tip and hood wand too close (not an issue with me doing it, but I had one of my kids hit it once full pressure and they market it a bit, I stopped him and got the wider fan tip into the washer and all was fine). Also if you have a bbq up on deck, spills of grease can soak in, so I use a bbq mat in front of bbq. Only an issue when I’m cleaning and debris is flying off grill.

My new house is getting the clip style trex boards agai lbs with the wood grained top. No question, I will always go this route on any deck in future.

[P1]

Had my deck completely redone with Trex Tiki Torch six years ago and it’s absolutely fantastic. You’ll love it.

[chassis]

I used Trex (brand) 18 years ago and it installed wonderfully. To the best of my knowledge the deck is still in place and doing well. Agree with using the longest boards possible, it looks better and is more efficient/less labor to install.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Planning deck for our new house and I'm so sick and tired of staining wood every year. I'd like to do an engineered material like Trex but it seems like just about every one I've ever seen looks like crap. Not only does it look like plastic but no matter how close you space the deck joists the decking still seems to sag.

Has anyone had good success with a particular decking brand that they would recommend?

I had the deck in our last house done in Ipe. I would use Ipe again without hesitation. It costs more than some other materials, but if installed properly, it last 50+ years and needs no maintenance.

The ipe wood is so dense it doesn't even float! Amazing stuff.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Drop the hammer

I have solid trex boards on my deck. The boards Just turned 17 years old.

Originally Posted by P1

Had my deck completely redone with Trex Tiki Torch six years ago and it’s absolutely fantastic. You’ll love it.

Originally Posted by chassis

I used Trex (brand) 18 years ago and it installed wonderfully.

Thanks Fellas. Seems the actual Trex brand is pretty highly regarded.

Originally Posted by sygazelle

I had the deck in our last house done in Ipe. I would use Ipe again without hesitation.

Thats another option for sure. I do love the idea of real wood. A dense, oily, hardwood like Ipe is certainly less maintenance. I'll consider it!

[jsf721]

I did a mahogany wood deck and it is a pain to keep looking good. Yearly PW and stain. I’d do the Ipe wood next time. The trex is nice but nothing beats the look of wood imho.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by jsf721

I did a mahogany wood deck and it is a pain to keep looking good. Yearly PW and stain. I’d do the Ipe wood next time. The trex is nice but nothing beats the look of wood imho.

Is that your mahogany deck? Or ipe?

Wood decking near a pool seems a maintenance project. A nice looking maintenance project.

[jsf721]

It is mAhogany. I did not know about Ipe when I did the project. It look like crap every winter and I need to pressure wash it and stain it every year. Wife did not like the trex look so we did Mahogany. They make much better looking trex now than they did when I looked several years ago.

Pic from today and the above link is last summer. Drastic change every year.
Don’t know why it flipped sideways.

Maintenance free is way to go. I’m $ 3400 bucks a year in maintenance between pressure washing , staining and a random repair here and there. That includes the deck you see plus a porch in front and some fencing. It’s about 5500 square feet.

Originally Posted by chassis

Is that your mahogany deck? Or ipe?

Wood decking near a pool seems a maintenance project. A nice looking maintenance project.

[The J-Man]

I built a composite deck that turned out very nice. I used a brand called Deckorators. I chose the highest end product from that manufacture. It gets less hot and has slip resistance. Three years baking in southern sun and it hasn’t faded. Still looks great and washes up easy every spring. The only downside is that it does still get hot. I’ve registered it at 170 degrees. The cheaper brands will go over 200. Too hot for bare feet and dogs feet during full sun. Also, if I had to do it over I would use 12 inch spacing on the joists versus 16. Composite materials while strong can be more bouncy than wood.

[Josh-PA]

We put in a Zuri deck with a walnut finish. It looks great and has held up very well. Its a PVC composite material with a continuous wood look finish inlay under acrylic.

https://www.royalbuildingproducts.co...caAlx2EALw_wcB

We installed with the tongue/groove style fasteners so no visibile attachments.

This pic is from the install, so its dirty and the ground was all chewed up, but it gives you a realistic idea of what it looks like in 'worst case' conditions.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

We put in a Zuri deck with a walnut finish. It looks great and has held up very well. Its a PVC composite material with a continuous wood look finish inlay under acrylic.

https://www.royalbuildingproducts.co...caAlx2EALw_wcB

We installed with the tongue/groove style fasteners so no visibile attachments.

This pic is from the install, so its dirty and the ground was all chewed up, but it gives you a realistic idea of what it looks like in 'worst case' conditions.

Looks great! How's the T&G do with getting dirt and debris caught in the gaps between the boards? We are in a heavily wooded area with a lot of pine trees overhead. Needles everywhere, all the time. I'd imagine the T&G would fill up fast, no?

[Josh-PA]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Looks great! How's the T&G do with getting dirt and debris caught in the gaps between the boards? We are in a heavily wooded area with a lot of pine trees overhead. Needles everywhere, all the time. I'd imagine the T&G would fill up fast, no?

It takes a pressure washer and/or wet dry vac very well. We have a lot of Ash and Maple trees with seed pods that get wedged between. For the most part I can blast them through with the pressure washer. Occasionally I'll have to clean them out more manually.

[Manny01]

Have you guys tried travertine or brick paver deck? Purchase plastic grate subfloors, lay the travertine on top, get a nice border. No maintenance EVER.

[CamasM3e93]

We put on a 500 square foot deck over the summer and went with Deckorator which is the brand available at Lowes. It's a synthetic with a mineral core, rather than the sawdust/synthetic mix that Trex and others use. Has a longer warranty and is less slippery when wet than Trex according to various sources. We're in our first year but very happy with it. Suggest choosing lighter tone colors because these will all bleach from the sun over time and darker colors will have a more noticeable change over time and darker colors also show pollen, dirt, debris easier in contrast. We chose a steel frame system but you can do a wood frame.