Trex composite decking

[richopian]

Hi all,
I know its not a direct hot tub question, but I'm planing on building a large new deck with one purpose to be surrounding my new tub.

Any opinions on trex decking (or other composite deckings) from anyone.

FYI, Trex decking is a composite decking material - made of recycled wood and plastic. Naver meant to rot, warp, no need to stain, etc

cheers
Rich

[SpaNE]

I think Trek is a good product if you like the look.  Get your dealer to show you some samples and see for yourself.  Trek is only one manufacturer - there are dozens to choose from.  Good luck.

[H823Putt]

I built a deck around my pool this summer using a composite decking material called Portico. It is the same as Trex but a lot cheaper. I think I paid just over $2 a liner foot.

Here is a link to a post about it.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1161616631/9#9

[SugarBear]

Had our deck rebuilt with Trex this past year.  It is down just about a year now and we love it!  I no longer have to pressure wash the deck every year and then stain and still end up with splinters.  It was worth every penny!  As others have stated, there are other manufacturers that are cheaper and look just as good.  I actually had gone on their web site about a year ago and they had a promotion at that time.  I submitted my contractors invoice and they sent me a check for $200, which was nice but only a drop in the bucket to the overall cost.  Check the different manufacturers web sites for promotions.  Good Luck!

[bwbski22]

I feel that nothing beats the look and feel of real wood.  we just put down a lovely mahagony deck with a cedar railing.  and im sorry there will never be any plastic deck on my property.  

[richopian]

I agree, nothing beats the look of wood, especialy mahagony; however I have to be practical and when you have lots of rain, and sun you have lots of maintenance. The Trex decking will be virtually maintenance freel; whereas the wood deck will need regular, power washing, staining, etc.

In 15-20 years hopefully my Trex or other composite deck will still be good; whereas the wood will deteriate (or require huge amounts of effort to prevent deteriation)

cheers
Rich

[PotomacG]

I have my tub sitting on a Trex deck and I love it.

One thing.  Trex does get dirty/moldy and a pressure washer is not recommended.  There are special washes and special sealers made for composite decking materials.

Maintenance free?  Only if you don't give a crap about how it looks in a few years.  

Splinter free, bug free, lower maintenance?   You bet.  

[Vinny]

I have my tub sitting on a Trex deck and I love it.

One thing.  Trex does get dirty/moldy and a pressure washer is not recommended.  There are special washes and special sealers made for composite decking materials.

Maintenance free?  Only if you don't give a crap about how it looks in a few years.  

Splinter free, bug free, lower maintenance?   You bet.  

I have to agree!

I used Timber Tech decking and it is very low maintenence but it is not maintenence free.  I have washed it down twice in the 1 1/2 years it has been down. I do have trees and most of the dirt/mold is from the leaves after they fall and sit on the deck. I use a bleach solution and a decking brush and it comes out looking like new.

There are some things that I don't care for but I've never owned a wood deck and maybe it's the same with wood, it also may be the Timber Tech decking. It was also the first time using this type of material for my friend and I and I'm sure that we definately were at the bottom of the learning curve - another minus.

It also can get hot in the sun, again I have trees so it's not at all bad but I think all composites have that problem. It's great in the winter as it de-ices itself rather quickly.

All in all I would use composite again.  Any other questions, just ask.

[spahopeful]

I can fully endorse Trex.  I built my trex deck in 1996 and have done absolutely 0 maintenance!  I have had no loose boards, loose screws, knot holes, slivers, cracks etc.   I see no signs of wear or deterioration.  I have some extra boards laying in soil under my deck and they show no signs of rotting, so I fully expect the deck surface to last longer than me.  The deck also has a nice feel when walking barefoot on it.  

[patty]

We added onto an existing pressure treated deck using "ChoiceDek" decking.  Bought ours from a lumber company, but Lowes sells a sister product.   It's not cheap but worth every penny!

First addition we put on 4-5 years ago and we LOVE it!  As others have said, minimal maintenance.   (Love it even more when we sand/stain the pre-existing pressure treated every couple years!)  Our most recent addition is was for the hot tub.   Its 2/3 away around our pool & the texture is great.. not slippery like the pressure treated stained deck.  Planning on replacing the PT boards w/ composite next year.

Friends had built using Rhino decking and it got really hot (to the point it burned my feet walking on it.)  When we shopped around we tested the heat factor.  CHoice does not seem to get as hot as some of the others.. Our deck is gets direct blazing sunlight until 2pm and it's never been too hot to walk on.  Something to keep in mind...  

[tony]

I used a composit decking called Fiberon.  As was mentioned, it is not maintenance free, but certainly reduced maintenance.  Washing is required to keep it looking new.  It is very easy on the feet (no splinters) which is important to me because it surrounds both my hot tub and pool.

[PVM]

We installed Trex a year ago and love it !!  After having a wooden deck on our former house, I decided to go with composite decking on our new house.  Now that I have a larger deck, 16x24, I felt the initial higher cost would be more than recaptured over the life of the deck, and not just the $.  I just don't have any extra spare time for maintenance on a wooden deck.  I'd rather be relaxing with my family. I chose Trex over the rest of the ones I looked at (most mentioned above) because it was a solid board, not just a U-shaped piece of material.  I know some of the others mentioned are also solid boards, but IMO Trex just looked and felt stronger.

[txwillie]

Went to a party at a friend's house. He had just redone his deck with Iron Wood. Great looking. Supposed to be rot and bug resistant. Not sure how it compares with Red Wood or the composites $ wise.

http://www.ironwoods.com/

[Drewski]

Hi all,
Any opinions on trex decking (or other composite deckings) from anyone.

A few things...

Trex (and other wood/plastic) decking have different thermal properties than wood. It gets HOT and stays hot longer. Keep this in mind if you have a full sun exposure 70% of the day and want to walk on it with bare feet.

If you are a DIYer, be VERY careful to EXACTLY match the spacing specification for Trex boards, especially on butt ends in full sun exposures. Plastic/wood products expand and contract more and this is directly related to their sun exposure. The spaciing specification is dependent on the install AND expected temperature. If you space it incorrectly, you WILL get warping.

At times and in the right conditions, Trex can be more slippery than eel poop on linoleum. Watch texturing and steps.

Finally, the "undiscovered" potential of this product is the ability to install it in a non-linear fashion. Look at some of the install galleries available to get some ideas. If you are paying the extra $$, you mine as well get what you pay for!

Good Luck....

Drewski