Can anyone share their opinions on what their favorite composite, deck marterial is? Consider features like looks, workability, availability and price. I know there are alot of materials out there and compareing is hard because the materials are spread over all the retailers. Would be nice to have one location so comparing would be easy.
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I had heard that some (all?) are extremely hot in the sun. Any comments on that aspect?
I recently built a 10' x 10' balcony, using Trex products. I went with the Trex accents line (I am pretty sure that is what it's called - it's the one that looks like wood with grain, etc.). I used a dark brown border and used a lighter brown on the inside of the balcony.
I compared a ton of products, and I decided on Trex for a few reasons. One, Trex has a very good warranty, and from what I heard good customer support. Two, I like the solid composite boards, instead of the ones that are hollowed out. This allow me to rip, miter and even use a router on the boards with no problem. The only problem with a solid composite board is that it's quite a bit heavier then it's wood counterpart.
On a side note, I used the dark brown Trex for the railing, and instead of using their recommended rail system, I used colored aluminum spindles, and it looks fantastic. I have had several people comment on how they prefer this look b/c it breaks up all of the Trex.
On another side note, I would not use Tiger claw deck fasteners. I originally tried to use these, but with such a big area, I found these to be terrible. I ended up ripping them out and using "trapeze" screws instead which worked very well.
I hope this helps, but if you need anything else.
I came across your message from last year while doing a search in Breaktime. As it happens, I'll being starting a Trex deck for a client in the near future and am considering using the Tiger Claw system instead of the DeckMaster which I've used before. What didn't you like about the Tiger Claw? Too time consuming? Didn't hold the material? Or something else? Thanks.
What I didn't like about the system is a few things. One if you are doing it yourself, it's time consuming to do it. I was using 12' boards, and I would fasten one end, then I would try and fasten the other side and it would come out. Second, even when I did fasten them, I found that the dense composite material didn't allow for perfect spacing b/w the boards. I found that using regular composite screws (which I would highly recommend) with a spacer provided a much more consistent space.
On the other hand, the composite screws I used were only available in tan color, so it depends on your client's deck board color choice b/c some colors the screws look very nice and others it's quite noticeable, despite what they say.
Let me know if you need any more information, or anything else I can help you out with, please let me know.
Thanks for the info. I've used the composite screws and had good luck but in this case my client wants a hidden fastener system. The DeckMaster system only works well if you have access below. Is this case I need a system that installs from above since part of the deck is above water. Trex only recommends DeckMaster and Tiger Claw. Were you using the TC-3 fastener which is supposed to be for composite decking?
I used the Tiger Claw system on a trex deck, but only once. In order to seat the tiger claws we had to drill the decking and the use a sledge to seat the things.
Thanks for your feedback. Were you using the TC-3 fastener which is suppose to be for composite decking?
I used the Tiger Claw system on a TimberTech deck once. Never again.
Very difficult to use, especially with longer boards (16'). I had to pre-drill everything... and this was in hot weather with the Earthwood boards (dark color) so they were pliable but that didn't seem to help much.
This was the only time I have used a hidden fastener system so I can;t compare to others but I know i'd try something else before I'd use Tiger Claw again.
http://www.petedraganic.com/