I wasn’t sure whether to put this here or in general discussion since it is a materials question. At any rate I’m going to put a front porch on my house with traditional 3″ T&G floor. I’ve come across this product called Tendura that appears historically accurate, is true T&G and is one of the new composite materials. Does anybody out there have any experience with this stuff?
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Dont use T&G unless your porch has a roof.
It will have a roof
I think all porches have a roof..decks are often with out.
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
SPHERE_You always were such a technician.
The follies which a man regrets the most in his life are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity. [Helen Rowland]
habit..from an old native american quote " Do not add to the world's confusion by speaking in unclear terms" I attempt to be understood and not be confusing, sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.
I'm not being piccyune , just stateing what I believe is correct. If he would flub that to a customer it could cost a job...tryin to help..that's all.
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Just as long as they dont ask me to rebuild a porshe. I'm no mechanic. Now if a porshe dosent have a roof does that make it a carrera?
Reminds of Mrs. Jones and Antonio the Painter..
She calls him an says "antonio, now I am going to visit my daughtr for two weeks and while I am gone I'd like my Porch repainted..It is white, I'd like it grey..two coats now, no short cuts! I'll pay you when I return Ok?
Antonio says " Thats-a ok Mrs. Jones, I'ma reeelly good-a at-a paintin..no problem.
When she returned she saw the porch just as she had left it..she phones Antonio..
'Allo?" Dis is Antonio..what you mean I no paint? I paint just likea you say..2 coatsa grey!!! But I have ta tella you..thatsa nota porch...thatsa MAZZARATI!!!...
ba-boom
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Shpereico,
Glad to see that Im not the only one here who likes to be specific. My kids and subs get to hear me say, "Words have meanings, listen to what I say because I say what I mean"
Tendura-
I was first directed to them by one of their competitors who believs they have a good product. The competitor makes a Trex like porch board.
I have a sample and looked closely at it and talked with there tech people. It is about 50-60% more than CVG fir but it is not going to rot.
I didn't use it because The decks I am looking at using it for are right directly out in the sun. It will not suffer from water but they void warrantee for exposed locations. The reason is that it will expand bilaterally in the heat. They have testing that indicates to them that this thermal coefficient of expansion is too great for both fasteners and for the T&G joints. If it were just one or the other, I might take a chance, but not both directions. The stuff would end up pushing itself right off the deck.
It is beautiful stuff, has a grain formed into it that does look authentic. It is just rough enough to make it safe too, which is good because it is basicly a plastic which would be slick when wet.
I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a porch with roof over.
Fir for me is about a buck a foot but I get a good 15% waste from bad grain. ( yes, I'm picky about that) I reckon the limited wastre in tendura would let me compare at only 50% cost increase or less and there is the savings in paint prep too.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Tendura. I got excited about the stuff, till the cash register rang. But on the up side, it comes preprimed, right? Is that all sides, just the faces, or what? And is it 5/4, 3/4, 1 inch, or ???
Sorry to be asking you all this, but you're the only living body on the east coast that I know of who has a piece, sample or not. Nobody in this state has any to check out, it's all special order. And you'd have to order $1,000 dollars worth of the stuff to get the full $200 rebate.
I hear ya on the 15% waste, seems the VG fir gets less and less 'presentable', and the lengths are usually longer than I need, but not long enough to cut into two full planks, and a good porch does not have 'joints' where two shorts have been paired to make a whole; just looks silly to me. Even if there's a roof over it.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
if it don't have a roof..it may be a patio..<G>
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
or a swimming pool?
Let's not get crazy here.
;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Nick- I used Tendura on my own front porch and have been very pleased with it. I found it in some magazine, called for a supplier in my area, and had my local lumber yard order it for me. They are now stocking it. Yes, it is kinda pricey, but the other (wood) porch materials currently available don't seem to be very durable. I nailed and glued it down with polyurethane construction adhesive, and the joints are as tight as the day I installed it 2 1/2 years ago.
It measures 7/8" thick at the thickest. It has rabbet grooves in the back. The top surface has color that they call a factory primer. To me, it appears an integral part of the piece. top surface only. It is very much harder than trex type materials. more like the hard composites that you see in door thresholds nowdays.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for the pics and info. Just read where it requires 16" OC. Porch I'm redoing is 24". This stuff would take some of the pain out of installing the porch floor, like futzing around bowed boards, cutting away boards missing half the tongue, etc.
Maybe next time. Thanks again.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
No, not a Carrera...
Ok, here's the rundown.
The 911 is the back Porch(e)
The 944 (RIP) is the front Porch(e)
The 911 targa is the screened Porch(e)
The 914 is the breezeway.
And the Cabriolet is the patio.....
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
I'm not being piccyune Shouldn't that be picayune? Details, details...
:)Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
The craftsman formerly known as elCid
How can anything 'composite' be 'historically accurate'?
: )
Any info on the stuff on the web? I'm planning a porch rebuild for a customer and the VG T&G fir out this way is $1.30 a lineal foot for 5/4. Maybe if I had some alternatives to present, she won't go ballistic on me.
Edit: Did the google thing and came up with, http://www.tendura.com
2nd Edit: BTW, there's a 20% contractor's rebate up to $200 back for first time users.
Edited 3/10/2004 3:02 pm ET by NickNuke'em
Edited 3/10/2004 3:23 pm ET by NickNuke'em
By historically accurate I mean't in terms of appearance, especially the width of the stock if you use the 3 and 1/8. I had the company send me a sample and the surface texture looks pretty convincing, not as plasticy (is that a word?) looking as other composites I have seen like Trex. I also like the tongue and groove which avoids the big gaps that regular decking gives you.
You'd better be a good salesman for Tendura. This stuff is not cheap (shock.) It's a special order item around here, and prices run from $14.80 for an 8 footer to $29.50 for a 16 footer. They make nosing to cover the ends, shaped as either half round or ogee. These are 8 foot lengths only, and run $8 for half round and $12 for the ogee.
A quick punch on the calculator yields a lineal foot cost of about $1.85 for the decking. Costs may be off-set slightly by the fact it is primed and ready for paint.
Not exactly a cheaper solution to VG T&G fir.
My supplier has it at 1.83 per lineal foot regardless of length. You are right about its cost, however it is completely primed and would seem to be very stable, which in my opinion is a critical factor for exterior surfaces. I love the fir but tell me where I can get some good straightgrained old growth stuff that is already primed.
I love the fir but tell me where I can get some good straightgrained old growth stuff that is already primed.
Any old growth flooring you may find will either be reclaimed, or recovered from lake/river bottoms, neither of which will be cheap. And I can't ever remember seeing it primed at all.
The biggest advantages to Tendura, IMO, are: 1) that it may last longer than the fir, so future replacement may take longer, 2) that there might be some slight savings on installation charges (installs easier the fir, though I'm just guessing) and 3) initial finishing of the flooring might be cheaper because the stuff comes preprimed. Some question factory preprimed effectiveness, however, and recommend an additional coat of applied primer, though there's nothing in writing anywhere about that.
If the client was to own the house for the next 50-60 years, I would say go for the Tendura, as they would probably save the added expense by not having to replace the flooring during that time. But most homes aren't owned that long and most home owners are looking at minimizing expenses where possible, and material longevity may not mean much to someone anticipating moving in 3 years.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
Edited 3/11/2004 8:54 am ET by NickNuke'em