Should I use TREX to replace my front porch?

[dennis thompson]

I am thinking about replacing the boards on my front porch, (some are beginning to rot), with TREX.
What do you think of TREX? Is there anything similar to TREX that you would recommend?
Is this a do it yourself project? I have built several decks but never replaced one.
Thanks

[Grant Wilkinson]

I did my back porch in Trex 20 years + ago and it still looks like it did when new, with some slight fading. You can work it with ordinary woodworking tools. Hose it down from time to time and it will last darn near forever.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I’m a great advocate of Trex and Azek. My practice was to frame at 12” on centre because I felt that the composite materials didn’t have the same ridgidity as wood the same thickness.
However in doing a porch, there may be the issue of tongue and groove fir boards so you may need to deal with matching the profile.

[Ron Citerone]

I agree with Aaron, the joist spacing needs to be considered as well as the condition of the joists. Did 2 small decks at my cottage last fall and while I planned on using the old framing, I felt it was barely sound enough and decided to reframe it before I redecked it.

[eugene thomas]

i bib my back deck in wood 3 years ago. if only would of spent allittle more would not get the pleasure to replace all 40 feet of it eventually...

[Mike Henderson]

One thing I'd like to add is that Trex is HEAVY and EXPENSIVE. I have a back deck of Trex and had a few boards fail because of a manufacturing defect. I got a check from Trex for the failures.

I agree that the framing is important. Your surface will last but you need to make sure the underside will also last.

Mike

[Alex Zeller]

I'm not a big fan of the composite decking. Had it on one house and the deck always seemed to be too hot in the summer during the day. I went with tigerwood on my current house and find I like it a lot more. It turns gray like any other wood but it'll last decades. Ipe tends to be a little on the expensive side but the other lesser known exotic wood decking choices are a similar price to Trex.

[Stan Calow]

We just did our deck with a composite material. Do a bit of looking around and you'll find several different companies making similar products, although it seems like TREX has become almost a generic name. We used a brand called Deckorator that Lowe's carries. I was surprised to find that when pricing it out, it was less expensive per BF than cedar would have been.

Do some studying on the installation as it requires special fasteners if you want the screws to be hidden (recommended).

[Ed Aumiller]

If your deck framing is over 12"OC then HIGHLY recommend putting in additional framing as most composites will sag noticeably over spans greater than 12"..

I just replaced a porch with composite and added framing to make spans 12" or less..
Have a small stoop on one place and used 16" span when replaced floor and it is sagging... will eventually need to take it up and put 12" spans on it..

It definitely looks great.

[Dave Cav]

I did a front deck with Timber Tech and it was nearly maintenance free. When we sold the house after 17 years it still looked nearly new. Pressure washed it every year or so and that was about it. On the previous house I built a conventional deck and it was a maintenance headache cleaning, staining, repairing rot, and so on.

[Mel Fulks]

For me the key word is “porch” . With a roof over it ,no drainage is needed . I would make a plywood floor. Glue down light canvas, and paint it. Except for my posts the method was probably last printed in The Whole Earth Catalogue. But it’s much older than WEC.

[Ed Aumiller]

Mel... what keeps the "light canvas" from quickly wearing out and getting holes??

Like the idea of it, but how long will it last ??
I have a porch floor that will need replacing in a few years is reason for asking...

[John K Jordan]

I am thinking about replacing the boards on my front porch, (some are beginning to rot), with TREX.
What do you think of TREX? Is there anything similar to TREX that you would recommend?
Is this a do it yourself project? I have built several decks but never replaced one.
Thanks

I built a floor in my dog kennel (10x10) from PT decking boards. After a few years it started getting soft spots. I put another layer over top to make it last a few more years. Finally replaced it with Trex 2 yrs ago. Too soon to know how it will hold up but others I've seen after 10 years looked new.

Built a side deck from PT to store my garbage cans until time to haul off the trash. After about 8 years the 5/4 decking boards were rotting on the other side of the deck from the trash cans. Could fall through them if not careful. Rebuilt the entire deck with Trex. Several years now and it looks like new. Ask me again in 10 years!

I'm getting tired of PT decking boards. On the other hand, I built a 7-level 1000 sqft deck at my last house. Instead of 5/4 decking boards I used 2x6s. Used 4x6 posts, 2x8 joists on doubled 2x12 beams. The deck is still in great shape structurally after 30 years.

BTW, those times I rebuilt a deck I replaced all the posts, joists, etc as well as the decking. This gives the opportunity to redesign. For example, we tore down our house deck and enlarged it and added a couple of levels. Took the opportunity too use 6x6 posts instead of 2x4.

Oh, Trex is definitely a DYI project but not cheap. Using their fasteners makes the job quick.

[Mel Fulks]

The paint. I said light canvas but if you buy heavier canvas it actually has a little ‘Cush’ that makes it last. It’s really just a “floor cloth”
glued down.

[Mel Fulks]

Trex is good for a deck . But a porch is a ROOM ...without walls. Without rain why is drainage needed ?
But the floor should have a little slope.

[Cary Falk]

I did our deck with Trex 7 years ago. It still looks as good as new. It replaced a 13 year old cedar deck that was rotten. I did oru front porch last year. It may be expensive but it is maintenance free.

[Mel Fulks]

I neglected to say that most people, these days, coat the painted canvas with polyurethane.

[roger wiegand]

So porches where I come from are open on three sides (perhaps screened, usually not) and run all or part of the way across a side of the house, in extremes wrapping all the way around. Generally relatively narrow (just enough room for a chair and room to pass), meant to provide cover for the door, block strong summer sunlight into the house, and perhaps enough space to sit and visit with people walking by on the street.

That said, I'd use trex or its ilk on a fully exposed deck. But for a porch, again depending on the style of the house, I'd use vertical grain fir porch decking (https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-4-in-x-12-ft-Clear-Vertical-Grain-Douglas-Fir-Tongue-and-Groove-Flooring-Whitewood-Board-484818/202523821), run perpendicular to the long axis to the porch (ie the opposite of typical deck construction), so that it runs rom the building to the edge of the porch with a slight pitch (maybe 1/2" over six feet) so that water tends to run off. Then paint with a good quality oil-based porch and floor enamel. At least in New England that's been how porches have been done for a long time, plenty of examples around where the decking has survived for 100+ years with regular maintenance. Putting a plastic porch on a 1-200 year old house would be right up there with wrapping it in plastic siding in my book.

The fir decking is a product I've not particularly seen in other parts of the country, but is ubiquitous here.

[dennis thompson]

In doing some research I came across a similar product at Home Depot called Fiberon. I did a comparison of four different Fiberon products ranging from $25 to $46 per board. All the dimensions were exactly the same, as were all the warranties (25 years). So is the difference in price just "marketing" or what else do you think could account for the wide range of prices?

Thanks

[Jerome Stanek]

In doing some research I came across a similar product at Home Depot called Fiberon. I did a comparison of four different Fiberon products ranging from $25 to $46 per board. All the dimensions were exactly the same, as were all the warranties (25 years). So is the difference in price just "marketing" or what else do you think could account for the wide range of prices?

Thanks

I used Fiberon on my deck 12 years ago and it still looks new. You just have to clean it

[Jack Frederick]

I have a small porch off the back of the house in Trex. I did not want to face nail/screw the stuff down. tried a number of mounting options and ended up with the Camo system. It worked very well. Seven years and the deck and steps are still in great shape. Now, this is in a dry as a bone CA and the porch gets only late afternoon summer sun.

[Gary Ragatz]

We have a Trex deck on the back of our home. Very happy with it after 4 1/2 years. Not zero maintenance, but certainly low maintenance. Ours was done with the "Hideaway" fasteners, so no surface nails/screws, except on the stairs. Our joists are 16" OC, and I cannot create any flex between joists (I weigh about 210).

[BOB OLINGER]

We put down Trex about 2 yrs ago when we built our deck. It was the most expensive of the options of this type of material. We are very satisfied. Yes, it's a little hot in dead summer - just put on a pair of sandals. I highly suggest this brand.

[Lisa Starr]

We used a product that I believe came from Azek. It is milled T&G and quite narrow like real porch floors. It was definitely a DIY project, but did require trim screws for laying it. It is great to care for, a quick brooming and it is clean, no repainting and no rot.

[Tom Bender]

I have a few failures to report on my 'mercifuly small' side porch.

Plain wood rotted after a few years. Wanted a solid T&G deck so I cut grooves in TREX and made splines of TREX. Looked good for a couple years till moisture caused the splines to swell. Also the planks softened some and the edges started breaking off. (insert bad words here)

Replaced it with Cedar, painted both sides. In a few years the paint peeled. Removed, scraped off almost all of the paint. Repainted with good primer and paint, both sides and reinstalled. A few years later that peeled. (more bad words)

Installed TREX properly. Several years later it still looks great.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a large deck done with the original Trex about 20 years ago, known to have issues with mold. It fronts my entire home. Yearly power washing and use of a chlorine based deck cleaner has kept it in check. A water side deck and two docks, all built at different times with the composite capped with solid plastic (all different brands I might add) have fared much better, just needing a power wash once a year. Except for the newest dock, all decking was retrofit requiring doubling up on joists, although I just used 2x4 material to tie adjacent boards together. I face screwed all of the decks using proper matching deck screws (not bugle head), paying attention to even spacing and just flush embedment.