OT - Anyone have a composite deck?

[kelly ann]

Is it really worth twice the price of a wood deck? I really want the composite material, but DH is balking at the price. He even is suggesting that he can build the deck himself and he is not handy by any means.

What type of composite do you have? Any feedback or info to help us make this expensive decision is much appreciated :)

[Sillygirl]

We went with wood because of the price difference and I totally regret it. My husband did a lousy job of staining it and it is blotchy. And since then we have not kept up the maintenance so the wood is giving Jonathan splinters and it is green with algae - and this is only four years ago! It needs to be restained, it needs to be powerwashed and sealed. . . And there are wood wasps every summer that eat into the posts. Now I will say it is a tiny deck and so doubling the price for composite was still only a matter of $600-700, not thousands of dollars. But if I had to do it again I would definitely go for the composite.

[Jeanne]

We have the composite decking from Lowes. It functions as our front porch and since it is raised, it is installed much like a deck would be.

It is worth it IMO. We didn't want any maintenance so we chose composite over paintable wood and pressure treated wood. It's very sturdy and not at all hard to install if you are a handy person. It cuts as easily as traditional wood too. We customized our railings which was a bear. We used two different manufactures that don't go together easily so DH was met with a lot of challenges.

The only thing that has yet to be explained to me by the manufacture is why they bother to make different colors when it all seems to fade to grey.

[DebbieJ]

My neighbors have one and they love it. It's virtually no maintenance and it looks great.

I hate wood decks. My mom has one and it's such a hassle to powerwash, restain and seal adn all that stuff.


~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfed for 20 months and 6 days

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[marcywench]

DH is currently finishing our deck. It's the new Trex composite, which is fairly pricey, but looks more like wood. It's the Brasilia in Cayenne, I think (it's red.) We didn't want to have to bother with maintaining the wood. I'm really pleased with it.

As far as him building it himself...how high off of the ground will it be? There may be local building codes he'll have to comply with, as well. My hubby is actually super handy (and our deck is HUGE,) but it's been an ordeal...

Good luck!

[kelly ann]

It will only be a few feet off the ground since we don't have a basement above ground.

The deck will be about 400 Sq feet - I wonder if DH could do it himself. Even though I would not call him a handyman, anytime he does projects himself he does quite well.

I bet your deck will be beautiful!

[slknight]

We have a Trex deck and am very happy with it. It is no maintenance and feels great on bare feet. It was worth every penny imo.

[Momof3Labs]

We looked closely at composite and ruled it out because it didn't have a very long track record (at least, some of the less expensive products didn't) and I didn't care for the artificial look of it. I also heard that it retains a lot of heat, which would be an issue for us since our deck was quite sunny and DS likes to be barefoot.

I am glad that we went with wood because we sold the house a year later and I'm confident we would not have gotten back our money on the composite!

[brittone2]

We had Trex at our old house and loved it. We have wood here and I worry about splinters. The previous owner of our current home didn't maintain the wood very well and so DH had to do some serious scrubbing of mildew and major staining. It is a bit splintery in spots too so I generally make DS wear shoes when we're on it. It was a non issue w/ Trex, but if you had a well maintained wooden deck, probably not a big deal.

I certainly liked our Trex deck though. It looked nice and performed great for us. It was quite large and DH built it himself in a weekend, but he's pretty handy :)

[Calmegja2]

>We looked closely at composite and ruled it out because it
>didn't have a very long track record (at least, some of the
>less expensive products didn't) and I didn't care for the
>artificial look of it. I also heard that it retains a lot of
>heat, which would be an issue for us since our deck was quite
>sunny and DS likes to be barefoot.
>
>I am glad that we went with wood because we sold the house a
>year later and I'm confident we would not have gotten back our
>money on the composite!


***

We chose wood over composite with this house, and for the same reasons as Lori, and we are very pleased with the wood.

[MelissaTC]

My parents have it in NY. They paid someone to do it for them and he bought the composite at Home Depot. It does get really hot but their deck does not get a lot of sun so it isn't bad.

[Jeanne]

Was that literature from a few years ago when the first generation of hollow composite decking came out? I'm thinking it might have been because our composite front porch is in full sun every day and it's never hot.

The old hollow stuff does indeed look artificial and gets hot for sure as one of my IL's has it on their boat dock. It's still as perfect as it was when put in four years ago but I'm not sure what the warranty is on it. It’s not something I wouldn't want in my backyard either.

The new composites have 20 year warranties I believe and have a much more realistic look.

[urquie]

even though the price was high we love, love, love our composite deck! no spliners, no maintenance, and we love the way it looks! we would do it again in a second.

"consumer reports" did a great review of composite, plastic/vinyl, and wood decking materials in their july 2004 issue. i bet you could read it at the library. good luck.

[Momof3Labs]

No, this was the newer stuff. We put in the deck last year.

[miki]

We have a Trex deck, came with the house and is 4 years old. It's great. No maintenance except for sweeping off leaves if they don't blow away by themselves. I don't notice it getting any hotter than the walkways around the house which are concrete. I think it's a bit cooler since it's raised above the ground and air circulates underneath. We also have a boat dock that is made of wood. It's so much more work in comparison. My husband pressure washed it and my job was to re-apply weatherseal in my "spare time" during the day (I'm a SAHM currently). I didn't get very far with the sealing before summer really hit full blast so the wood is not looking great. It's rougher and more splintery than the Trex and because of all the grain in the wood, collects more dirt. Depending on your climate and the amount of wear, your wooden deck would need pressure washing and re-sealing every 1-2 years.

[vikivoly]

We have a Timbertech deck and I love it. www.timbertech.com Ours is the woodgrain finish and it doesn't look "fake" at all. It does get hot, but it is in the sun. I'm not sure if it is hotter than wood would be. Timbertech doesn't fade like Trex does. We've had ours for a year and I haven't noticed any color change. The downside to it is the mushrooms that form when you drill into it. It's not noticeable on the floor, but we used a herringbone design for the railing that exposes the mushrooms. The railing got scratched several times during installation and since you can't sand it, there's not much you can do about it.

Here are a couple pictures. Notice the "mushrooms" in the close up shot.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a158/vikivoly/192_9274.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a158/vikivoly/200_0050.jpg

[linsei]

Funny, my dh is pretty handy, but doesn't want to build our deck! We were planning on a deck this summer, but he still hasn't finnished the patio that we bought the materials for last summer. He's been working on it when he can, but finding time is the biggsst factor.

I would like a composite deck (next summer, I hope!). I want to be able to walk barefoot without the worry of splinters. Also, we don't want to have to do maintenance (see above-it probably wouldn't get accomplished). Plus, I think the composite decks look better than a regular deck after a few years.

Oooohh, I so want a deck!

Linda



http://lilypie.com/baby2/040428/1/5/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]

[barbarhow]

We have and 800 s.f. deck that DH built last summer. We love it. I would never again do wood. Not with kids-I spent an hour once taking splinters out of my neices feet after a summer day on a wood deck. I never wear shoes at home in the summer and do not notice any problem with the heat which was one of the things I worried about.
DH is working on the steps down to the yard now-Yup, a year later. We have steps down at the side door-it has been a major project to get these steps in. Now he is annoyed because I told him I want a slide down from the landing to the grass......I think I'll win this one. :-)
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[HannaAddict]

We just had one built, about 300 square feet, and we love it. We did not want the maintenance of wood. The composite products out there are far superior to the early days and while some don't look like wood and aren't trying to, some do a pretty good rendition. Fine Homebuilding magazine did an article on composites this summer, June or July issue? The number of types of composite will make you dizzy. Some are designed to fade (Trex) that is the "look" they are going for, some aren't. I found the web site www.thathomesite.com quite helpful. They have a decks forum and if you search for composites there is a lot of info. Almost too much info out there.

We've loved our deck, how it looks, etc. Heat hasn't been a problem but it wasn't over 90 this summer so we are not in a sunbelt. It feels great on the feet, no splinters and no maintenance. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I do like how very nice, very expensive wood decks look, but we wanted a good looking and utilitarian, low maintenance kid friendly deck. In-laws did a very high end deck with a composite product and it looks great too, they used a more wood-like version.

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[Jeanne]

Did you try hitting the mushrooms with a hammer? They all went down on ours.

[BillK]

My wife and I have a large wooden front porch (but painted not stained) - pic below:

http://scully.svol.net/oj/private/frontporch.jpg

We considered the composite / vinyl combo when we did our 2nd story addition/front porch and went with wood due to the cost. We're very happy with the result but let me tell you - I spend about 4-5 full days every year repainting all the white and gray and it's a huge, tremendous pain in the a$$.

A couple we're good friends with just built and wanted to do something similar to what we did as far as their front porch goes - and asked me about wood. I told them they were insane to even consider it over the composite decking / vinyl. They did go with the composite/vinyl and honestly from a distance you can't tell their front porch from ours. Sure once you're up close you notice that the railings are vinyl and the deck is composite - but they won't have the constant battle with upkeep that we do.

Anyway - hope that helps in your decision. But as I told my wife - the next big addition/renovation we do may just be tearing off our front porch and redoing it all in composite/vinyl.

[Jeanne]

Bill,
That is beautiful! What a great job you did. I can imagine the work that went into that for sure! Ours is an old house that we put a second floor onto so we are still under construction for certain projects.

Below is a picture of what we used composite for. Just wanted to show you what a determined person can do with composite. My poor DH!

Please ignore the landscaping and unfinished part of the renovation. We tore out the vinyl railings and replaced them with composite. And because I didn't want the thick balusters of the composite, we found a manufacture of spindles in Aluminum that mimic wrought iron. My DH had a heck of time customizing it but he did it and it now looks like it belongs. We have to repair the columns, paint them black, seal up the sides of the steps, build a few curved retaining walls to terrace up to the porch on the one side, re-landscape the entire front area, and order a head piece for the door, order a wrought iron window box and shutters for the windows, etc...


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/29122.jpg

[NancyJ_redo]

Kelly Ann - I don't know much about the wood vs. composites (other than what I just learned reading above ;-) ), but I saw someone mention that they bought their composite at Home Depot. Just wanted to tell you that you can get a 10% off coupon for HD or Lowe's to help with the costs. For both of them I believe you just go on their website and go to the mover's section, put in your info as a "new mover", and they'll either email or mail you a 10% off coupon. It was several months ago that I did it so I don't remember exactly where to go on the website, I just remember it was a little hard to find on there, but it's there. Hopefully that can help offset your costs.

Good luck with your decking!

[HannaAddict]

Your husband is amazing. We are "challenged" to say the least on home improvements and had to hire someone. I love your house, the stone, the design of your stairs and deck. It looks great. Wow.

OT: I assume you contracted out a second floor? How long did it take? Did you live elsewhere? This may be in our future at some point, that's why I ask. Thanks.

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[HannaAddict]

Bill,

Your house is charming, absolutely lovely. The porch is amazing. I love it! So, same questions as I asked Jeanne about second floor additions . . . was it worth it (sounds like it was) and any tips to throw out there?

Again, love your porch. And, if you do decide on composite someday or move and start over :) , they have some much nicer railing systems than in the past and they come in white too.

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[HannaAddict]

We only had one of those mushroom divets on our deck and the contractor filed or sanded it and used some covering that dried and covered it (it was on a post between the stairs and house so my husband hadn't even noticed it). Not a very good description of the repair I guess, but maybe the manufacturer could suggest something.

Your deck is lovely and you have a more elaborate railing system than our basic one, so I bet that's why we don't have any of those mushrooms. (The one we had is from them misjudging the hole they drilled and it came out other side.)

Your girls are beautiful too.

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[Jeanne]

Kimberly,
Thanks! DH is quite handy.

We did have a contractor. We put on a second floor and blew out a wall on the first floor for a total add on of 1800 sq feet of floor space not including the attic.
It was worth it to us because it was cheaper than moving believe it or not! We had virtually everything we wanted expect space. I will say that we loved our contractor and are still friends with him so that made all the difference in the world. We did not know him before the build but since then, we see him socially and also call him for all kinds of advice on projects we are still finishing on our own. He even lends us his tools. So this is probably not the norm for most people.

The addition took 8 months due to weather. It ran past schedule by 3 months because of snow and rain. We did not have to move out save for one week. All the work for the second floor was done above our heads while we lived in the house. This was possible because the house has an 18 inch thick poured concrete foundation and the stone walls are also 18 inches thick. The roof was removed and the second floor built with most all of the load resting on the walls. We took a vacation when they tore out an exterior wall in our living room. That was messy for sure.

I was pregnant through the entire renovation too. And our oldest was 15 months when we started the project. We did have one two month period that was bad. When you renovate like this, you are bound to find problems. When they tore out the living room stone wall, they discovered that our beams were rotted so they had to sister in new beams alongside. So we walked a plank across the house. This was not fun with an 18 month old. I should also tell you that I worked four days per week so I wasn't home all day while this was going on.

Feel free to PM if you want more info.

[BillK]

Thanks for the compliments Kim and Jeanne.

Kim,

Yes we had a contractor do the 2nd floor addition. When we bought the house it was a 1.5 story cape cod - we had the contractor pretty much slice off the half story and add the full 2nd story and the front porch. The second story is actually slightly larger than the first because it hangs out over the front porch by about a foot. I'll try to dig up a better pic of the entire thing and post one.

But yes it was definately worth doing - however - we had the first floor completely done when we decided to do the 2nd story so we had to seal off the stairwell to keep the dust and dirt out. It was funny awaking everyday at 7am to our contractor's hammer. But in retrospect it would have been smarter to have done the 2nd story before we had the whole first floor remodeled.

Much like Jeanne - we found LOTS of things that needed to be addressed since it was such an old home to begin with (we were young dumb first time homebuyers and probably shouldn't have bought the place considering what all needed to be done!) - and we did run into a lot of extra expenses - but overall we're happy with it and would do the same thing again. The biggest reason we bought the place was the fact it's less than 1 block from our elementary school and public park. :)

Found a pic of the whole thing - I wish I'd have had a digital camera back when we first bought the place - it literally looked like some house out of "Silence of the Lambs" or something. My wife cried the day we closed on it. :o

http://scully.svol.net/oj/private/wholehouse.jpg

[kelly ann]

Thanks for all of the responses...and Bill has a beautiful house!!

At this point we do want composite, but it will cost $15K for a 380 sq ft deck :( Ouch! Does that seem expensive?

[BillK]

Thanks Kelly and wow - that seems like a lot to me for 380 sq. ft. Have you gotten more than 1 bid? I'd get at least 2 - preferably 3 if it were me.

[kelly ann]

We got two bids around the same price. There are a couple more folks I need to call though.

[HannaAddict]

That is almost twice as much a square foot as we paid. We called about ten contractors, ended up with three written bids from licensed contractors that had all been referred to us. All the bids were within $500-1,000 and some of the difference was in the types of railing style they proposed doing. The composite ended up being a bit more than our contractor thought, but he didn't charge us more and honored his bid, just said he was surprised himself and that he could you can make a mint doing wood decks versus composite! We picked the bid we did since he had done a lot of work, including fine carpentry for a friend and we'd seen his work and we liked him.

Check out the prices people are paying a square foot on thathomesite.com for a bigger sample.

(Our deck was really simple, a big rectangle and all one level. But we have two wider than normal gates and stairways and they had to cut out part of the slope. Just in case yours has a lot of levels or is super tall and needs lots of structural work.)

Kimberly
3/18/04

[vikivoly]

Jeanne,
I'm not sure if he tried hitting it with a hammer or not (we had a contractor do it). The mushrooms are in the railing, not the flooring, so it would be nearly impossible to hit them with a hammer now.

[vikivoly]

Kimberly,
Thanks for the advice. You're not supposed to sand the railing because it will scratch, at least that's what the manufacturer said.

Thanks for the compliments on the deck and the girls. :) Because of our railing, the mushrooms do show more. They aren't visible on the straight rails.