Deck Material Recommendations

[NRA4LIFE]

Redid ours with Timber Tech in Western WA 7 years ago and have never looked back. Every other year power wash and all is good.

 

[GARLICSALT]

TREX is badass, slippery when wet!

 

[grfox92]

Just finished up this PT one today.

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[B Harrison]

Composite decking is going to be hot in the sun. Wood Decking will require maintenance.

Red Pressure treated like they sell at Home Depot, shouldn't require any routine maintenance. Pay someone to re seal it every 5 years and your good to go.

Composite to Wood decking itself isnt a huge difference in cost. Where composite gets really expensive is i.n the accessories. Post sleeves, Railing kits, Stair kits, facia boards, encapsulated boards for perimeter and stairs, concealed fastener systems, thats what makes composite twice the price. I just finished a big covered deck with composite, 2 weeks ago, and spent the last week building one with Red Pressure treat. Ill try and post some pictures tomorrow. I dont have much on my phone unfortunately.

Good composite deck has always been 3x the cost of standard deck.

Some of it is 10x the cost.

We have a 15x 780’ boardwalk that is completely HDPE
The material only, is $617,ooo delivered.
Labor is $380k roughly

But that stuff is 50 year guarantee (whatever that’s worth)


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[E.Shell]

100% PVC decking is supposed to stay cooler in summer vs the typical composite decking.

It is usually a bit more expensive and the c-to-c span of the joists of your existing deck is likely too wide (assuming 16"). I think the Azek stuff I've seen calls for 12"o.c.

There are expansion/contraction considerations with the 100% pvc stuff as well.

In any case, the lighter the color, the less it will absorb and hold heat.

Another structural issue with re-working the deck boards with PVC or composite is that you are not supposed to meet two boards on one joist - not enough bearing surface. Joists should be doubled under joints (with a nailer) so the each board rests on the full 1-1/2" wide 2x.

 

[mt terry d]

Last TREX deck I put down
was 153 degrees in the sun.

 

[RadialJett]

Ipe = Alpha deck

 

[TimberRunner]

I replaced our PT deck boards during covid with Trex. Our decks (total about 700 SF) get about 5 hours of sun in the summer. I haven't found it to be particularly hot and my lab lays on it all the time.

I will never have a wood deck again.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Another structural issue with re-working the deck boards with PVC or composite is that you are not supposed to meet two boards on one joist - not enough bearing surface. Joists should be doubled under joints (with a nailer) so the each board rests on the full 1-1/2" wide 2x.

This is what I did.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Trex and composites like it are great for shaded areas, areas where it’s very humid and cool. So NorCal and Ore and Wash coast, or in the rainforest. If you live anywhere with summer temps regularly in the mid to high 90’s trex and similar composites get so hot you can’t touch them. Arizona. And Vegas and SoCal. The shrinkage and expansion is pretty drastic. If you install a 20 ft length with a 1/8” end gap in full sun on a warm day in the afternoon, the next morning that gap will be 3/8” or more.

No experience with PVC.