I am about to replace a large amount of exterior decking around my house. The structure is good but the deck boards are in bad shape. My plan is to use a synthetic deck material. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations on the different brands that are available?
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I used "Evergrain" by Epoch on a deck last summer and loved the stuff. I have been a real wood kind of guy until i used this stuff. This product has a wood grain pressed into the surface that actually gives the product a look of wood. I used the cedar color that matched up very well with the cedar 6x6 posts that I used. This product is also very slip resistant which cannot be said of some of the other products on the market. It has UV inhibitors in it and it holds its color very well. I used penofin on the posts and the colors matched well also. They also make a full compliment of other products (1/2" skirt board ballisters, and 2x4) to give the project a good finished look.
Do you have a website for this, or an 800 number?
and do you know if they have a T&G decking in the arsenal?
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found this on google....
http://www.epochwood.com/
Thanks for the information. I will go to their wed site. Any other brands that people like?
Have had Trex on my 12 X 40 deck for the past 3 years & have used it on other projects. So far it"s been Great! Trex is the leader in sales of Synthetic decking material, so that must mean something!
We like our Trex, but it does have some idiosynchrasies that you should be aware of. For one thing - it gets HOT. It soaks up the sun and throws the heat back to you far more than wood does. Also, it can get very slippery when wet. When bringing it home from the store it was a little wet from the rain (stored outside), and even though it was tied down tight it slid right out of the bundle when we stopped for a light. It is still slippery when it snows. It doesn't stay wet long from the rain, but if it did, I imagine it would be slippery. Lastly, Trex is bendy. We felt that we needed closer joist spacing to support it and feel solid.
aimless,
Did you use the 5/4 or the 1 1/2 thick trex? I used the 1 1/2 on 16"oc and do not have that problem. Holds the weighit of a Colorado Spring snow. Like the Wet one we got today!
Very pretty snow. We got that as rain a few days ago.
We used 5/4" because that is what they had in stock, and it seemed much more flexible than 1" dimensional lumber (the closest comparable size I can come up with) to me. And that stuff is pretty heavy. I can't imagine slogging around 1 1/2" stuff at 6 months pregnant like I did with the 5/4".
Aimless, Thanks. That is just the type of feedback I was looking for.
Tom
That's not a Deck it's a Snow Job.
Where are you at? State? Who supplied it? What was the lineir footage cost? Please.
Edited 4/23/2004 8:24 pm ET by Clay
I live in KCMO, I bought it here locally at a specialty lumber yard Schuttes. You might look into your local Home Depot I think that they can get it. I know that they can get "EON" decking and its more scarce than Evergrain. 12'x5x4 cost about $20 locally, but the stuff is great especially when doing patterns. Every piece is the same width and thickness which makes the whole project go faster and most importantly look great.
I second the vote for Evergrain. We put it down on a deck last summer and it looks great, does not get hot like the Trex, and has wintered very well. It's 5/4" thick X 5 1/2" wide. Expensive though, but I guess all the composites or plastics are. If you amortize the cost over the number of years it will last and the small amount of care it needs then I guess it isn't too bad.
The porch material you asked about is made by Tendura. You can see their products on their website at Tendura.com. My son sent for a sample and it's really nice.
Hope this helps.