We did Trex back in 2020. Pretty happy with the outcome overall. It does get hot but we use an indoor/outdoor rug by the sitting area.

We love the look of it.

The ends do warp which kinda sucks. But we haven’t had too much of that and I’m ok with it.

Trex says X distance for joists but I believe everyone recommends going less.

If you’re on Facebook there’s good groups for decking and construction tips/tricks and a lot of them have good info on the composites.

I think for us the trade off was power washing every few years and a little warping at the ends as opposed to PT staining. We like the look of the composite/colors better.

I am more a natural wood and dont treat it, get cedar or other decay proof wood. ipe, redwood, mahogany, cypress or cedar, I am sure there are more.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

To add a bit more, I don't think anyone (have not checked out stuff in the past 5yrs ish) has really solved the heat problem.

I wonder if you feel the need to stain and treat wood, how many times could you pay someone to come do it, vs the added cost of composite? Most people don't look at things that way, but I have since I was reading some stuff on the various gutter guards and how $$ they are and most don't work, and someone posted they figured they could hire someone to clean their gutters twice a year for many (cant recall if it was 10 or 20 yrs) for the same cost.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

I have solid stained cedar for about 22 years.
I had to replace a board last year. I’ve stained it 3 or 4 times. I use a roller. It’s in direct sun much of the time. I have an aversion to building with plastic. Nothing logical.

We did our deck in Trex 6ish years ago (can't remember).

No warping and we're very happy with it.

I'm the same way. Plastic is just so.... bleh.
But, you never have to paint/stain.
That's the main trade off.

I went PT decking and cedar railings. The decking is needing re-staining (it's been 5 years). The railing might be good for a few more. We power wash it every spring and that's about it.

I just like the look and feel of wood, but there is something tempting about doing composite decking and aluminum/glass railing next time.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Thanks. I am a DIYer, so I typically don't pay for stuff like that. However, I get what you are saying. I like the look of it, and I also really like it when it is paired with the white posts and black bars. I guess I could do a combo. Sadly, a short bit after typing this I found out that our oven isn't working right. So, I might be dropping $1k+ on something else I don't want to buy (I want to buy another bike-I know, taboo on here).

So. I am hoping to get it done this summer. Fingers crossed.

We re-surfaced the existing 12x16 deck at our shore house in NJ two summers ago, using Trex (their line that's one up from their basic offering, I think?) keeping the existing joists. My BIL and I did all the work ourselves, used Camo brand hidden fasteners. After tearing up the old boards and railing, we put joist tape down to hopefully prolong the life of the joists.
So far it's been maintenance-free except for just hosing it down and using a deck scrubber at the start of the season. No warping issues at all.
Heat-wise, doesn't feel any worse than the grey painted wood that was on there when we bought the place, but we ended up using a mid-grey vs the darker brown we really wanted, specifically for that reason as the deck gets good sun from about 8am to 2pm. Pretty sure the colour was Foggy Wharf.

We're building a 6 or 8x10 front porch/deck this year and plan on using the same materials, although it will be new construction to replace the basic set of steps that's on there now.

My deck is 60' by 12' and covered in Timbertech. 9 years and no warping. No fading either as some is covered and some is not and there is no difference between them.

Yeah, I rarely hire anyone for a job. But that's the point. Paying more for a material with poorer attributes except you don't need to do maintenance is in the end, paying someone to do the work (just the manufacturer, not the handyman), so the true comparison, is going with the better material that needs maintenance and paying for the maintenance not sure how that cost comparison comes out.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

We did trex about 4 years ago and it’s been great. We have to shovel decks and that beats up stain/ paint a lot. No such issues with the trex. (We only did the lower deck due to cost and the upper deck that’s still wood has aged a ton in that time and needs to be re-done).

I have installed many composite decks over the last 20 years. There have been a few different brands we have used over the years. Trex was one of the first brands that I am aware of an It is the most common one we these days with hidden fasteners. One thing I would recommend is to choose a light-colored deck. Unless your deck is in the shade the dark brown decks will absorb too much heat and move and cause problems. A few years back I put down an Azek deck that was a dark brown almost black. Most of the deck was in the shade except one end and the outside couple of rows. Azek had a neat fastening system with plugs that looked great. Two years later we get a call back. the outside boards were coming up as if they were not attached. The boards had expanded so much in the heat that it sheared off the screws.

I had to do some rebuilds due to flood damage. I considered the trex board, but didnt like the grooves on the bottom. Just went PT all around. Now Im not sure on my next step, I kind of like the natural red wood look and dont think I should lay tile. I wont do a post porch roof, thinking just a simle awning attached to the house. This project took longer since I found termite damage on some the house frame

We redid our porch last summer DIY. Our porch had old tongue and groove pine that had rotted out, so we decided to just avoid that whole issue possibly repeating itself by going with TimberTech PVC decking. I got several quotes for various companies and ended up going with Lowes because of veteran discount and cheap delivery cost.

Yes, the instructions do call for 12" on center instead of 16", and the forums I researched (I do a TON of research says SWMBO) said you can get visible "waves" and/or bounciness by sticking to 16" and not leveling your joists. The fix I chose was to put cross bracing between the joists about a 3rd of the way from each end. I did spend a lot of extra time making sure the substructure was perfectly level across multiple joists because high & low joists will easily telegraph through the boards as waves. I used a long level, then planed down the high joists and screwed 2x4 or 2x6 (whatever I had available) boards to the low joists to essentially "raise" them. The extra work was totally worth the end result. After one summer of use, the porch/deck looks awesome with no waves or bounciness.

Prepping was where the PIA was. Installation itself was easy. You will want a chopsaw with a blade specifically for PVC decking for best results. Because the decking lasts so long, they recommend stainless steel screws, which are a bit more pricey but easy to use. While I would go with a clip or invisible system, they have a screw and plug system that does a nice job of making screw holes almost invisible if/when you screw from the top of the board.

The deck is hotter than a wood deck and there is visible expansion and contraction along the edges, so pay attention to your gaps. We have not found the added heat to be a showstopper, but we are in Michigan so not a lot of days over 90 degrees.

Some of the unexpected items that went with going PVC was 1) no salt during the winter; they recommend calcium chloride (not a huge deal), 2) no metal edged shovels (will scratch) 3) no dragging furniture (scratches) 4) no rubber backed mats or rugs.

Would we do it again? Very much yes. Not having to do upkeep beyond powerwashing and still have the deck look brand new is worth the downsides, which I think are accurate, but not to the point of being negative/showstoppers.

Trex for decks as well. I think we're coming up on 9 years with the first deck and 6 years for the second. No issues whatsoever. Most surprisingly for me, is the colo has held fast. The CO sun is no joke, it destroys pretty much everything left outside, over time.

Composites are not indestructible. They are subject to scratching and gouging. We bought a plastic snow shovel just for the decks. Our builder warned us metal edged snow shovels cause most of the damage they see and repair.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

1/2 our house has concrete deck, built to last. Neighbor had his 2 of his houses done, the carpenter used timbertek said better than Trex

I'm in the same boat, have 2 decks with PT that need replacing. I did a side porch (10x12) a few years ago with Trex. We hate it. Its hotter than hell in the summer and slippery as hell in the winter and well just looks plastic. So I will be using either Mahogany or Ipe which are a pita to install (you have to pre-drill the holes and seal the cut ends) but looks and feels beautiful under foot. YMMV

In 2010, I built some stairs (6'x9', three levels) off some sliding glass doors using ipe. I believe there are a total of 168 pre-drilled, countersunk screwed, and plugged (with ipe plugs), and seventeen years later not a single plug has moved and the boards are intact. I've used cleaner and brightener on it two or three times, and the wood comes back very nicely. Made a jig for drilling and used a homemade drill press and managed to not break any drill bits.

In 2010:



In 2017 (not sure what animal left those prints):

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"Go yell at an M&M"