Do you like your composite deck?

[dsneprincess]

I thought of that too as a temporary solution for this year. I worry about the carpet/astroturf or whatever keeping the deck boards wet for extended periods and increasing the likelihood of rot, but I guess one summer/pool season wouldn't be a problem.

When I was growing up, my dad had on our aboveground pool deck he built forever without a problem. I don't think he ever even changed the carpet and it still looked good. I don't think it impede drying time by much if at all.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Our deck faces west and it is too hot to walk on without shoes during the summer.

So that is something good to know for people planning to use this on a west-facing deck, but I don't think it's unique to composite decking. My west-facing wood deck out back also gets very hot in the afternoon and can burn feet.

My front porch is east-facing and gets full morning sun (with no roof or overhead structure). I used to sun bathe out there, yet it never got too hot for me to walk on barefoot. So either it's different for morning vs afternoon sun, or the materials we have are different.

All I know is that for me, it's been very easy on the feet, and I wish I'd put it out back, too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

So that is something good to know for people planning to use this on a west-facing deck, but I don't think it's unique to composite decking. My west-facing wood deck out back also gets very hot in the afternoon and can burn feet.

My front porch is east-facing and gets full morning sun (with no roof or overhead structure). I used to sun bathe out there, yet it never got too hot for me to walk on barefoot. So either it's different for morning vs afternoon sun, or the materials we have are different.

All I know is that for me, it's been very easy on the feet, and I wish I'd put it out back, too.

The difference is the east vs west.

I wondered if the wood would be any different than the composite. Sounds like it is just the direction.

 

[marthachick]

Just found out you can get veneer for just that purpose, costs about 1/2

What is the name brand of this and how does it work? Our deck is only about 10 years old but has some really bad splintering going on. And we have a very active dog that keeps our deck scratched if that makes a difference.

 

[LJSquishy]

I most likely will go composite next. My Deck is in two sections, the upper section (12x16) and is thirty years old. The lower section (16x30) is about 20 years old. This year I painted it with Behr Deckover (Home Depot) at a cost of about $400. I did not want to go with the Rustoluem Restore becuase that would have cost closer to $700. I am hoping to get about 3 years out of the Deckover. I was thinking of putting the composite right over the existing decking rather than do a tear down and rebuild. Has anyone ever done this.

How do you like the Behr Deckover so far? We were thinking about using it to redo our small deck but I'm nervous to use any Behr product (currently have Behr stain on it and it's terrible, and hate interior Behr paint). Did you use it on a deck with stain already on it or completely stripped?

Our stained deck has a semi-solid stain that is really dark (Behr's Russet color) and I'd like to do something lighter, either a lighter earthy brown or even a modern gray color but I don't think we can strip off every bit of the current stain.

 

[bcla]

There's a company that's touting the supposed advantages of real redwood decking as opposed to composite. They have commercials that attempt to show redwood decks that remain in good shape for years as opposed to composite that starts looking odd. It's probably a lot of marketing. I've got a painted wooden deck, and a lot of it is starting to splinter after years.

http://www.getredwood.com/about-redwood/redwood-vs-plastic-composite/

The may be right about a specific wood like redwood, but I thought that it tends to be really expensive and still requires maintenance (like a sealant) that isn't required for composite. Also - these commercials seem to be targeted towards California, so the transportation costs for redwood might be higher if shipped longer distances.

I'm a big national parks fan and a fan of the outdoors in general. A lot of parks have gone to replacing their wooden boardwalks with composite. I've seen a lot of the replaced wood (some of these are only partially done) and frankly after years I've seen real wood starts splintering or showing signs of wear.

 

[North of Mouse]

Any pros/cons? Is it slippery? Or is it better to build a deck with real wood?
Thanks for any opinions?

Ours is now 13 years old and it is great! No worries about rotting, painting, etc.

 

[Patch'sD]

How do you like the Behr Deckover so far? We were thinking about using it to redo our small deck but I'm nervous to use any Behr product (currently have Behr stain on it and it's terrible, and hate interior Behr paint). Did you use it on a deck with stain already on it or completely stripped?

Our stained deck has a semi-solid stain that is really dark (Behr's Russet color) and I'd like to do something lighter, either a lighter earthy brown or even a modern gray color but I don't think we can strip off every bit of the current stain.

The Deckover is a paint not a stain. I power washed the deck and removed the old Semi Transparent stain, Sherwin Williams brand, which barley lasted one season. The Deckover is 4x thicker than paint and is like working with a milk shake. You have to be careful putting it on in Direct Sun as it will get a film on the top of the pan or can. You need to do two coats and it can't rain for at least 24 hours after being applied. It cost about $150.00 for a 5 Gallon Pail. You get about 75 Square feet per gallon. The Deckover has only been up for a few months so I will not know about wear for at least until next spring.

I looked at the Veneers at BuildDirect.Com. It is made out of wood powder and is about .13 inches thick. Cost for me would be about $1,000.00 It would be alot of work as you must use fastners and glue. I think I would rather go for the composite at $ 2000.00 and be done with it. The weight of the composite is not that bad compared to wood. Since I overbuilt the structure, overlaying the composite should not be a problem.