Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Deck materials
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : Deck materials
floorman
09-05-04, 08:04 AM
Hey new house is almost finished and am looking of putting on deck after closing.What type material is best choice for this?cedar , vinyl ,p.t. wood?Have them putting 12' ledger board on before siding.Any and all help greatly appreciated :cool:
lefty
09-05-04, 10:57 AM
Floorman,
What do you tell a customer when they ask what kind of FLOOR is best??
Decks are the same thing! There is no one decking that is better than all of the others. It's a question of what look the customer wants and how much time and effort they are willing to invest in maintaining it. My preference would be a composite -- lasts longer with less maintenance.
Personally, I tend to build freestanding decks, rather than attach them to the house. The fewer holes you have in the side of the house, the less chance you will have of water damage to the house. But if you want an attached deck, and since you have the advantage of dealing with new construction, then have the ledger attached before the siding is installed. The siding installers can seal it very easily and very thoroughly.
What do you tell a customer when they ask what kind of FLOOR is best??
Decks are the same thing! There is no one decking that is better than all of the others. It's a question of what look the customer wants and how much time and effort they are willing to invest in maintaining it. My preference would be a composite -- lasts longer with less maintenance.
Personally, I tend to build freestanding decks, rather than attach them to the house. The fewer holes you have in the side of the house, the less chance you will have of water damage to the house. But if you want an attached deck, and since you have the advantage of dealing with new construction, then have the ledger attached before the siding is installed. The siding installers can seal it very easily and very thoroughly.
floorman
09-06-04, 07:09 AM
i know they have their own look and little quirks ,i guess i was wondering what those quirks were for each one.I don't like the way cedar shrinks and the maintainance of sealing and washing etc.does the same thing occur with vinyl and pressure treated wood?To what degree?Does vinyl hold up over time as it is claimed?Does it fade and shrink and warp?
Guess i should have been a little more specific.
aNY IDEA WHERE I CAN LOOK AT DECK PLANS? thanks :cool:
Guess i should have been a little more specific.
aNY IDEA WHERE I CAN LOOK AT DECK PLANS? thanks :cool:
Hellrazor
09-06-04, 07:30 AM
Cedar can be a pain if its on the south side of a house, plus it depends on what you seal/stain it with and if there is a roof. Pressure treat will shrink a bit, its most noticable on the 5/4" decking. So make the gapping minimal and once it dries out it will shrink to a more normal spacing. Composites do not shrink, but most of them seem to fade somewhat. I think the gray composites look ugly, but i dont like the gray weathered look of natural cedar either. All you need to do with composite decking is the general maintenance.. washing it off once in a while. There are more and more composite manufacturers popping up, but out of the decking i worked with and have seen, i perfer Geodeck. No idea on where to find deck plans, i draw my own. My only recommendation is, any 5/4" wood or any composites, use 16" OC joists.
floorman
09-06-04, 03:15 PM
Thanx for the input hellrazor,i don't like that look either so that is why i was leaning towards the p.t. wood.i know that will grey too but i think i can live with that grey versus the grey and the shrinkage of the cedar plus all the maintainance that goes with that.
I think i will look into the geodeck a littler further before i make the final decision on that,i went to the web site for them and there is a dealer a couple of miles from here so i'll take a look and then decide.
Wolud it be safe to assume that with this composite that i would be better off having someone else do this that has used this stuff before and not try to attempt this myself?I have built a porch or two in my day but nothing of this magnitude,not that it is huge(12 x10) but i want it to be nice and i want to keep everyone happy so it stays peaceful(if you know what i mean) :D .But i might be tempted to try this if not much more difficult than dealing with wood.I'm sure it has it's own little secrets that along with this as does everything else(just thinking out loud here)Thanx again :cool:
I think i will look into the geodeck a littler further before i make the final decision on that,i went to the web site for them and there is a dealer a couple of miles from here so i'll take a look and then decide.
Wolud it be safe to assume that with this composite that i would be better off having someone else do this that has used this stuff before and not try to attempt this myself?I have built a porch or two in my day but nothing of this magnitude,not that it is huge(12 x10) but i want it to be nice and i want to keep everyone happy so it stays peaceful(if you know what i mean) :D .But i might be tempted to try this if not much more difficult than dealing with wood.I'm sure it has it's own little secrets that along with this as does everything else(just thinking out loud here)Thanx again :cool:
lefty
09-06-04, 05:19 PM
Composites expand and contract exactly the opposite of wood. Wood will swell in the winter (when it gets wet) and shink in the summer (when it dries). Composites swell in the summer (from the heat) and shink in the winter (from the cold).
Choose the look (and the amount of maintenance) you want and go with it. There are at least 40 composites on the market right now -- probably more like 50! -- and new ones showing up every few weeks.
You install them with the same tools you would use to install a wood deck, follwing the same guidelines, except most compostites have to be placed on a substructure where the joists are closer together (16" is the general rule). Simply follow the mfgrs. recommendations.
Wood decks have been around for almost as long as there have been trees. Composites have only been around for about 15 years. Time will tell us a lot!!
Choose the look (and the amount of maintenance) you want and go with it. There are at least 40 composites on the market right now -- probably more like 50! -- and new ones showing up every few weeks.
You install them with the same tools you would use to install a wood deck, follwing the same guidelines, except most compostites have to be placed on a substructure where the joists are closer together (16" is the general rule). Simply follow the mfgrs. recommendations.
Wood decks have been around for almost as long as there have been trees. Composites have only been around for about 15 years. Time will tell us a lot!!