Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - need advice on composite for deck??

im planning on getting a deck installed, and im looking for recommendations on composite decking products to use. the home depot and lowes by me only sell fiberon. any thoughts??:confused:

fatkid66,

Hopefully the below links will assist in answering your questions, I also included a couple on vinyl products, if interested. I know...there are pro's and con's to the use of these but if you are considering options, these were just put in as such.

http://www.austinwholesaledecking.com/composites.htm
(just click the product brand)

http://www.trex.com/homeowners/prospective.asp

http://www.everxdeck.com/?source=overture

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/porch/msg091934552594.html

http://www.decks.com/materials.shtml

http://www.deckandrailing.com/decking.html

http://www.geodeck.com/installdeck.html

Hope they all help, let us know!

Get out of the big box stores and go to a real lumberyard!! There are about 25 different composites on the market right now.

not only am i looking for other brands, but im also looking for recommendations from those of you who have used them, and which were found to be the best. durbility, fade resistance, slippery when wet, ease of use etc. im located in NE NJ , so the winters are cold, and the summers are hot.

I recently put down Trex around my pool. My brother recently used Fiberon on a porch and stairs.

Fiberon seemed harder and actually cracked a couple of times when we got to close to the edge with a screw. The Trex in comparison seemed softer and heavier, more flexible. Still kinda early to recommend either of them. I will say that Trex was easier to cut than Fiberon.

I purposely bought a light color Trex -Saddle- so it would fade and not be as hot in the sun, even though this color is not supposed to fade. Well I can tell you that this stuff can get very hot in the sun, I think due in part to it being made with plastic. My Trex has faded quite a bit and looks the way I had hoped and I'll know better next summer if it helped with the heat. I bought based largely on color available and because Trex has been around the longest and gives a 10yr warranty. I would be willing to go out on a limb and say you probably can't go too wrong with any of the composites out there.

I'm skeptical of vinyl decking, but do recommend vinyl fences!

I have installed about 10 Trex decks in the past couple of years. Workablity is great. Use carbide saw blades and router bits. If you are going to round over the end after you cut the board to length, do so BEFORE you install it. The top surface of Trex is convex, allowing water to run off of it easily.

Trex is heavy, and limber. Store it according to the mfgr's recommendations -- supported every 2 feet. Keep it covered. It will fade (a process that takes about 3 months). Choose the color according to what it will become, not what you see when you buy it. All of the dealers that I have dealt with have samples of both the initial color and the color it will fade to.

Because it has no grain, you can notch it, say around railing posts, and leave very small tails exposed with fear of them breaking off as so often happens with wood. You can install screws within an inch of the edge or the end and it won't split, like wood usually does.

Trex comes on 2X widths of 2, 4, and 6". Also has several widths of 5/4 stock, and 4X4 posts.

You can mix colors and/or bend it, giving ways to make your deck unique.

The key to maintaining it is to keep it clean, and don't allow items to sit on it in one spot for long periods of time.

I've spent a considerable amount of time researching the choices in composite materials. Trex, Eon, TimberTech, EPOC, etc. to name a few. Bottom line is how much do you want to pay and what do you want it to look like.

EPOC and TimberTech I've found to be more expensive and sometimes have a wood grain formed in the decking piece. The Eon product is a plastic product which is top dollar, but they look extremely sharp. Not sure what forgiveness you can have in the building process, on the surface, it seemed I would have to be very exacting with my layouts, cuts and assembly. The other traditional products seemed more forgiving.

For me, I chose the Trex product. The latest saddle color is very nice. And probably more important was that I could by railing material from Trex. With the Fiberon, I had to by a vinyl railing system and it drove my costs way up. Looking forward to getting the project done now.

Good Luck!

fatkid66 --

"not only am i looking for other brands, but im also looking for recommendations from those of you who have used them, and which were found to be the best. durbility, fade resistance, slippery when wet, ease of use etc. im located in NE NJ , so the winters are cold, and the summers are hot."

So you are in NJ?? Go to the Boardwalk and see what the used!!

(About 9 miles of it is Trex)

Lefty,

Thought they used IPE on the boardwalk in NJ?

Lefty,

From what I have read and through Builders Product magazines, they are using Ipe - Ironwood not Trex unless you seen something that I didn't. What was used there before?

For those that do not know what Ipe is, here is the scoop and I have attached a link;

Ipé (pronounced e-pay) is an exotic wood species which provides beauty, strength and durability Most decking materials look attractive when first installed but the true measure of a quality decking material is how long it retains its appeal. A wood's density determines its durability. Ipé is twice as dense as other wood species and up to five times harder.

Consider the Atlantic City Boardwalk. After 10 years of testing, the city is replacing the entire boardwalk with Ipé. Here's why:

"Compared to the costs of constant repair and replacement of other decking materials, Ipé decking is more cost effective. With the casino traffic, we were replacing the pressure treated pine every seven years. We project the Ipé decking will hold up for 25-30 years"
-James Harrington, Jr.
Senior Inspector, City of Atlantic City, N.J.

http://www.ironwoods.com/residential.html

Hope this helps!

MeffaDawg and Doug --

Quoting straight from a Trex brochure

"Trex products have become the material of choice for many of America's landmark locations: Mount Rushmore, thje Grand Canyon, Disney World, Alantic City Boardwalk. and the Everglades National Park..."

Maybe there is a difference between the New Jersey Boardwalk and the Atlantic City Boardwalk. I don't know -- never been there.

This same brochure goes on to say that Trex is the only wood and plastic composite that is listed with all 3 major building code agencies: BOCA, ICBO, and SBCCI

This brochure has a copywrite date of 2002.

lefty,

I guess we're both right, New Jersey has Trex and Atlantic City boardwalks have Ipe. I didn't know that the two were different areas, so I assume that Atlantic City will be replacing their boardwalk with 25 years or so while New Jersey will still be doing fine, right?!

Sorry for the misunderstanding on which boardwalk.

fatkid66, you live there, straighten me out. Are there 2 boardwalks in NJ? One called the Atlantic Boardwalk and one called the New Jersey Boardwalk? From what Doug is telling me, it would seem that way. Sorry for any confusion my ignorance on the subject of NJ boardwalks may have caused.

The fact remains that Trex was chosen for use on about 9 miles of a boardwalk in NJ, as well as the other public locations I posted earlier. These are all a lot higher traffic area than the deck in your backyard will ever be.

Who cares, there could be 5 boardwalks in NJ. What matters is people seem to agree that Trex is a good product, including me.

I think I got us off track by mentioning that I thought the boardwalk in NJ is decked with IPE. I found the following online:

Trex decking has a track record of showing no damage or deterioration in installations that include the Florida Everglades (installed in 1992), New Jersey's Spring Lake boardwalk which spans 2 ½ miles along the oceanfront (installed in 1993), the Presidential Trail at Mt. Rushmore and many more. In New England, there are Trex boardwalks at the Cape Cod National Seashore, Carson Beach in Boston, Misquamicut Beach, RI, and in Westport, CT. And, tens of thousands of residential decks were built with Trex decking this year along with marina docks and boat slips.

Ipé is the finest quality decking material available. Consider the Atlantic City boardwalk. After ten years of testing, the city replaced the entire boardwalk with ipé. Here's why:
"Compared to the costs of constant repair and replacement of other decking materials, ipé decking is more cost effective. With heavy casino traffic, we were replacing the pressure-treated pine every seven years. We project the ipé decking to hold up for twenty-five to thirty years."
- James Harrington, Jr.
Senior Inspector, City of Atlantic City, New Jersey

yada yada yada..............

I vote for Trex when choosing a composite, and almost ANYTHING but P.T. for a real wood deck. Don't get me started on why I can't stand P.T. decks.

MeffaDawg,

You and I are on the same page and in total agreement on this one.

to all,
re: NJ boardwalks.
due to the fact nj is all coast line on east side, there are many many boardwalks all maintained by their respective towns. atlantic city @ 2hours away from me is one of several. spring lake is a mega bucks area so that just figures. i will definately have to take a drive one weekend and have a look around at the shore. (dont go much to the jersey shore, i prefer Ocean City, MD). thanks again for all of your input!:D