impact

Normally I would agree about the "looks great 20 feet away" not being a good enough standard but I've made an exception with decking. I also have to take issue with the anecdotal evidence Rob sites about "a bad batch of synthetic decking" One example is not sound science and it's not how good decisions are made. Should I pull out the six inch long cedar sliver from my screaming nieces foot and conclude no one should use real wood for anything? (True story.)

I've broken from the 10 foot rule here because, in the midwest at least, you're just throwing your money away by using anything but synthetic for the floor of a deck. Nothing else will hold up like synthetic and whatever secondary aesthetic concerns I have over the look of it will disappear in a few years when the real wood looks real bad because it just isn't going to be maintained. Never mind the safety concerns, i.e. coefficient of friction.

If you're going to use natural wood, stick with the rails or vertical pieces of a deck. They can at least be reasonably maintained because the water will run off. Finally, in 10 years of using the synthetics, I've never had a client replace a stick of it so I don't consider that a real concern.