I am looking for ideas for railing materials. I have a large 2 level deck that faces north. Since it faces north, I have trouble with mildew and rot. I am in the washington, DC metro area, but the shadow of the house keeps it from drying out as well as I would like (heavily wooded lot). I used Trex for the decking material and that worked out well, but it does need to be cleaned regularly because of the mildew.

It is five years old and the existing herringbone pattern railing needs painting and some areas need repair. The wife insists it be white. I used cedar posts and pre-primed douglas fir railing components.

I hate to replace the whole thing, but am interested in some options since I am going to repair and repaint in the spring.

-tom