Composite Decking: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[Nick G. Marchione]

Hi Friends,

I want to replace my deck's floor boards with composite decking. I'm dizzy from the number of companies who provide this product.

Can any one recommend a manufacturer(s)/product(s) they have used and are happy with? In addition to the ones to stay away from?

Thanks!

Nick

[David G Baker]

When living in California I used a product called Trimax. It is not made from wood products, it is made from recycled plastic products mixed with fiberglass. Many of your composite decking materials have a 10 year warranty. Trimax has a 50 year warranty and can be used as support in place of wood and can be spaced to carry the same load as wood. I really liked it and the only drawback I found was it would get hot in the bright California Sun. It was not cheap but is a product worth researching.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Nick,
There are a lot of companies offering product these day. As per an article in Fine Homebuilding Magazine, manufacturers are also very regional. That is, companies only provide product to building suppliers in one area and not another. Trex (one of the original manufacturers) may be the exception.

Either way, you have a tremendous choice these days regardless of where area you live. There are composite products that look more like stained wood (complete with grain pattern) as well as the standard tan or gray product.

I recommend looking for a brand that has an invisible fastening system like Fiberail. I also recommend that all fasteners be stainless steel for a long lasting, nice looking and maintenance free deck (other than occasional washing). Stainless steel deck screws with #1 square drive trim heads are readily available at home centers if you choose to fasten them traditionally thru the top of the board.

The only brand I would recommend that you stay away from is Veranda. They are offered at Home Depot. It seems their boards are much thinner than product offered by a building supplier. Given that composite materials tend to get hot and sag between joists, the thicker the better...or you may need to reduce the distance between joists, especially if you run the boards diagonally to the joists.
-Jeff :)

[Greg Cole]

I've used Trex at my home. I don't care what anyone says, all the man made decking gets hot in the hot sun, including my deck here in Kansas City. To make sure there was no potential for sag in the recycled milk jug "boards" I went with 12" joist spacing. I coulda-woulda-whoulda used a hidden fastener system but simply screwed it all down.
FYI the screws for the man made decking (combination coarse thread on the tip of the shank & fine thread 2/3's the way up) work well, but predrill with a countersink style bit or the plastic will mushroom up 'round the screw heads. Stainless fasteners will be a pretty costly line item in the budget if you are building a large deck..... thats a coin toss & up to you.
I'd shy away from the thinner stuff mentioned by Jeff as well as the hollow stuff....dunno the brand names as there are 100's now.
The one other thing I've noticed about the man made decking with the wood grain pattern in it, is if you are one to have muddy-dirty shoes on and walk on the deck... it takes some scrubbing to remove the footprints. After installing a pool last fall, I scrubbed the deck three times to get the "stuff" off.:cool:

Greg

[Prashun Patel]

I have Trex @ my home. Love it. Some caveats:

It DOES need to be washed every couple years. If yr deck gets a lot of shade like mine, moss/algae can grow on it. Gentle power washing with a deck cleaning solution removes it.

Each year, the 'leader' changes. In 2005 installers prefered Trex. Then it was Timbertech. The improvements tend to be in the area of 'grain' pattern and color choices - not in durability; that seems not to be an issue.

I also went w Trex bkz it had a matching rail system; I didn't want the two-tone (brown deck and white rail) look. However, my rail appears to be slightly sagging in spots. Either space the rails no more than 4' or use cripple blocks under the rail at midspan if you go w a composite rail.

I really liked the look of those aluminum rails. But was afraid the paint'd chip eventually.

[Jeff Caskie]

I used Evergrain (http://www.evergrain.com) due to a HOA requirement. I have no complaints so far.. other than having to carry it. It bends quite a bit and from what I have read it is more flexible than others (neither a pro or con for me). I have read of people using it for curved railings and such by heating it up.. though I do not believe this is an 'approved' application. I thought it had a better fake grain pattern than most others.

[David G Baker]

The Trimax product can be used in place of wood in the support structure and in most places where wood is used as well as in some places where wood is not recommended.

[Lee Schierer]

I have the Veranda material sold by HD on my front deck. It has held up well. It is on the north side of the house so some algae tends to grow. Clean up with a scrub brush and soapy water takes care of it. It has gone through 2 winters in NW PA and I like that it doesn't get slick in cold weather. Because it doesn't absorb water it doesn't get slick with frost like treated wood. I used a hidden fastener system called tiger claws. Thet were a bit of a pain to install on long boards, but seem to work well. I really like having no fasteners showing.

[Justin McCurdy]

I have 2 trex decks and furniture, it works great and planes great. Try GRK fasteners for the decking and predrill. You will not need to countersink as mentioned above if you predrill and use the fasteners with reverse threading on the top. The reverse threads pull the "mushroom" back down into the hole. The offer both SS and coated screws. The SS are more expensive and they are a little softer. At this point I prefer treated screws. Use a corded drill for the intall, the composite is dense and will kill batteries pretty quickly. You will also break less bits/screws going the corded direction.

[Nick G. Marchione]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your time and valuable insight.

Nick