Do you like your composite deck?

[wishesuponastar]

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

 

[mikehn]

the only thing I dont like about my composite deck is during the winter when it snows, you cant use a snow shovel to clear the snow off the deck. I have to use one of those heavy duty push brooms.

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Yes! I just power washed it today and it looks great. No splinters, fading, cracking. Not slippery at all.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

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

Cons, it is hot in the summer under sun. I have to put throw rugs down so you do not burn your feet or doggy feet.

It retains more "morning dew" if you have that issue.

I am having a hard time finding a deck box to put on railing to plant in.

More expensive.

Pros, I do not have to stain the thing which is why we put it up.

Also it does not rot.

Bottom line I do not want to stain a deck or fence.

We were told NOT to use the power washer on it, fyi.

 

[denisenh]

we power wash ours and have no problems. otherwise it is no maintenance. love it.

 

[LBIJim]

Oh yeah, love the Trex deck. Much better than the old wooden one it replaced. Practically maintenance-free. I use the pressure washer on it with no problems. Well worth the cost IMO.

Jim

 

[bdcp]

We don't have a full deck, but we do have a small deck area off our sunroom that is how we get to our brick patio. It's about 4x5 with 4 steps. Let me tell you, that wasn't cheap to do, but the wood one it replaced was splintering and warping because it got so much sun. DH power washed it last fall and it looks great. Love it because it is pretty much maintenance free and no one gets splinters. We had the railings replaced and the posts covered. The only other wood is the support underneath.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We've had ours on our front porch for about 19 years. It's still completely intact with nothing but a little grime that we power wash off. We totally wished we'd used it on our back deck, but will next time (which is soon, and we re-did that deck after the front porch. Tried to save a few bucks but in the long run was more costly. Plus, I spent many summers pulling splinters out of little feet out back ).

 

[Carina]

Sorry to hi-jack but....

Do y'all have wood structure with composite deck boards on top or do you have 100% composite decks including the underneaths?

Our wooden deck boards around our above around pool are dried out and splintery. We cant afford to do anything about it this year ( other projects higher on the list)

I am afraid to stain it, have the stain peel off and make a darn mess of my pool.

The structure seems to be in fine shape, I was thinking we would just re-waterseal it when we take off deck boards next year.

What have you all done about railings, do you make them out of composite wood, or get ready made railings.
I saw Vinyl railings on the Home Depot website, but not sure what people do about odd lengths or gates ( we have one double wide gate with just a short section on one side of it)

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Sorry to hi-jack but....

Do y'all have wood structure with composite deck boards on top or do you have 100% composite decks including the underneaths?

Our wooden deck boards around our above around pool are dried out and splintery. We cant afford to do anything about it this year ( other projects higher on the list)

I am afraid to stain it, have the stain peel off and make a darn mess of my pool.

The structure seems to be in fine shape, I was thinking we would just re-waterseal it when we take off deck boards next year.

What have you all done about railings, do you make them out of composite wood, or get ready made railings.
I saw Vinyl railings on the Home Depot website, but not sure what people do about odd lengths or gates ( we have one double wide gate with just a short section on one side of it)

You can use sandpaper on the supports and stain it. I have not stained mine yet.

My railings are all composite and was the same maker as the deck boards.

We had a custom gate made out of aluminum. I can lock in the dogs on the deck. It was worth every penny.

 

[dsneprincess]

Sorry to hi-jack but....

Do y'all have wood structure with composite deck boards on top or do you have 100% composite decks including the underneaths?

Our wooden deck boards around our above around pool are dried out and splintery. We cant afford to do anything about it this year ( other projects higher on the list)

I am afraid to stain it, have the stain peel off and make a darn mess of my pool.

The structure seems to be in fine shape, I was thinking we would just re-waterseal it when we take off deck boards next year.

What have you all done about railings, do you make them out of composite wood, or get ready made railings.
I saw Vinyl railings on the Home Depot website, but not sure what people do about odd lengths or gates ( we have one double wide gate with just a short section on one side of it)

We are just in the process of pricing this out, but our deck structure is solid and both contractors so far are going to use the underneath and put the composite on top. we are debating on the railings, as the spindles are being said to be "expensive" and there is nothing wrong with ours, although we will have to stain/seal. When a contractor says expensive, I get nervous, KWIM?

Our backup cheapout plan (we have to get painted, some siding replaced & have a smaller entry deck with NO support at all) is to cover with indoor/outdoor carpeting to prevent slivers and pretty it up.

 

[ilovemk76]

Sorry to hi-jack but....

Do y'all have wood structure with composite deck boards on top or do you have 100% composite decks including the underneaths?

Our wooden deck boards around our above around pool are dried out and splintery. We cant afford to do anything about it this year ( other projects higher on the list)

I am afraid to stain it, have the stain peel off and make a darn mess of my pool.

The structure seems to be in fine shape, I was thinking we would just re-waterseal it when we take off deck boards next year.

What have you all done about railings, do you make them out of composite wood, or get ready made railings.
I saw Vinyl railings on the Home Depot website, but not sure what people do about odd lengths or gates ( we have one double wide gate with just a short section on one side of it)

Composite it not structural and cannot be used underneath.

 

[Carina]

Our backup cheapout plan (we have to get painted, some siding replaced & have a smaller entry deck with NO support at all) is to cover with indoor/outdoor carpeting to prevent slivers and pretty it up.

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.

 

[esk]

Only complaint....and not sure if this would happen with wood or not....but during the winter, the nails popped out. Not all the way out, but DH had to bang the nails back in, and now the area around the nail head is a little rough. We're near St Louis, so not a horrifying winter, but we did get some zero degree days.

We have a wooden support structure with composite boards and railings. Mildew spots are all over...we haven't powerwashed yet, but we're hopeful that will take the dark spots out.

 

[wishesuponastar]

OP here- thank you all for your replies. Looks like we will go with composite decking. DH will be doing the work and when he rips out the old wooden deck will see if we can still use the old supports.

 

[Patch'sD]

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.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I posted earlier. Ours has wood supports and railings. I could be wrong, but I don't think the railings were available when we built our porch. (~ '95) If they were, the contracter didn't suggest them, as he had the composite decking. We added the front porch as part of an addition, and we didn't even know about composite decking then. I remember at the time him saying it was made out of old plastic milk jugs, lol. It's not even as good looking as some of the types available today; it's grey and very plain. But I've always loved it. So glad we put it on. It's very soft on bare feet, and I don't ever remember it being too hot to walk on. It's just nice.

 

[Carina]

.... So glad we put it on. It's very soft on bare feet, and I don't ever remember it being too hot to walk on. It's just nice.

Good to know, sure wish it was cheaper though

 

[Carina]

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.

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

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I posted earlier. Ours has wood supports and railings. I could be wrong, but I don't think the railings were available when we built our porch. (~ '95) If they were, the contracter didn't suggest them, as he had the composite decking. We added the front porch as part of an addition, and we didn't even know about composite decking then. I remember at the time him saying it was made out of old plastic milk jugs, lol. It's not even as good looking as some of the types available today; it's grey and very plain. But I've always loved it. So glad we put it on. It's very soft on bare feet, and I don't ever remember it being too hot to walk on. It's just nice.

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