All,
I am getting ready to lay down decking on an uncovered exterior deck and am torn between using a composite or a Brazillian hardwood. I do not want to use pressure treated lumber. Do any of you have any experience w/ either type of material that you would like to share?
Thanks,
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
Replies
in wood, we've installed Alaskan cedar, Ipe', Meranti, cypress, fir, PT SYP, Mahogany...... of those i like Ipe' best , Meranti second & Alaskan Cedar 3d ( which is also the same order for price of material & cost of labor )
in composites we've done a lot of Trex, some Veranda & some Timber Tech.. i still like Trex
for my own house i'd use Trex
for all of them we do face fastening with SS screws
Thanks for the reply. Do you have any feel for how the materials weather? How does the trex hold up under the elements?
Thanks,
dlb
.
The undisciplined life is not worth examining.
Well, I'm not Mike, but Ipe (especially it) and many of the other tropical hardwoods will weather quite well. Many of them don't even require a finish - they can be allowed to weather naturally. However, finishing them every few years will allow them to retain their color much longer.
Any softwood, especially if it's going to have significant sun exposure, should be treated with a protectant. I know one guy who sells cypress here in the midwest who won't even sell it to someone who's going to put it in full or partial sun - says the new-cut stuff is basically not suited for such an install.
Me, I used Garapa (aka Brazilian ash, grapia) for my deck. It was rather easier to install and work than Ipe, and looks great. Might not last quite forever, but it seems like it will get pretty close.
Jason
Ipe' & Meranti both weather well if not finished.. they get slight checking
Trex doesn't care what the weather does.
Like all of the decking .. composites & natural wood.... they all stain if you drop grease or burn them with charcoalMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
We've done 2 Trex decks in the past 2 years. The first was 5/4 and the last 2X. I wouldn't use the 5/4 again in any circumstances. The 2X looks okay but I won't install anymore unless the customer insists. I'm in south Florida and the Trex has faded to almost white, it's too hot to walk on barefooted and in my opinion looks terrible.
Did your Trex start out as the color "Winchester Grey"?I frequently hear of experiences like yours but don't remember ever observing that kind of thing firsthand. In the past 12 months, we've probably installed 1,600 SF of Trex and the results are pleasing like always.Has the 2x Trex not faded at all?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
It completely depends on your environment and what you want out of your investment. Personally having laid all kinds of hardwoods and soft, along with composites over the years, I think trex or something similar works best where I live. Your treated or stained framing will rot out before this stuff does and to me that should say it all. Sure it won't look as nice as ipe, teak, or some other poorly managed hardwood from brazil, but in time it will look better to you when you are not wasting your time and money dumping toxic chemicals over it to try and stop Mom nature from doing what she does best. If you want to have a beautiful mahogany deck, and actually see that it is mohogany, you will have to treat it with something. If not, it will turn grey over time and look like all of the other grey decks out there. Only you will know how much it cost.
Your area is the most important concern. Where I live,(Montana), we have had temperature swings of 60+ degrees in one day. Super wet, freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw, anyway you get the picture. To me, Nothing is better in building, than when you can walk away knowing that what you have just built will last a long, long time, with little or no maintenance.
Hope it helps,
John