We soon need to make a decision on deck material for our new home and we have two of them to get done. One above the garage and one on ground level (not on dirt) in front of the living room.
Moisture Shield and TufBoard are two suggested by a local supplier. But info on line is a bit confusing and I was curious if anyone here has some experience. The last thread seems a few years old and neither of those products is in the mix for me. Plus to some degree I am not sure I want it to look like “wannabe wood.”
Built our deck 6 years ago out of Timbertech. Still looks great. I looked at a lot of different brands and it was by far the least plastic-looking composite.
Cedar would be unusual in NC. Most use treated pine. I grew up where Herbert lives and I see very few people using anything else. I have pressure treated pine and it looks good after 20 years. Winston Salem doesn’t have a very tough environment. If that is where he still lives.
The deck above the garage gets lots of sun exposure with its Southeast exposure, but the deck on the ground is facing Northwest and is mostly shielded by the house and to fine degree by the large trees across. But it does get very hot and humid here.
The deck above the garage sits elevated over a sloping draining sub floor.
We just built a deck using Timbertech. Looks OK, not as nice as real wood and as another posted stated it gets pretty damn hot to walk on. But the materials are warrantied for 25 years, assuming Timbertech is around that long. The deck frame is all pressure treated lumber, only the decking and fascia is Timbertech.
We used Evergrain for the floor and steps on a covered deck about 3 years ago and still looks great.
Used Cedar for tops and bottom of the railings and they look good as well.
The deck above the garage gets lots of sun exposure with its Southeast exposure, but the deck on the ground is facing Northwest and is mostly shielded by the house and to fine degree by the large trees across. But it does get very hot and humid here.
The deck above the garage sits elevated over a sloping draining sub floor.
Well, it is personal preference. I’ve always done pressure treated pine. Lasts a long time. Replacement is cheap and easy. Just clean and treat it every year. That said we use Trex at the beach, but the environment is much more hostile. Love to see pics of your build.
We just built a deck using Timbertech. Looks OK, not as nice as real wood and as another posted stated it gets pretty damn hot to walk on. But the materials are warrantied for 25 years, assuming Timbertech is around that long. The deck frame is all pressure treated lumber, only the decking and fascia is Timbertech.
This is what we have one our primary home deck, going on 10 years now. It’s a bit stained in spots under the bird feeders and where the gutter drips, but functionally good as new. Our newer vacation place has cedar, and it’ll get replaced with the fake plastic wood as soon as we can afford to (not very high on the priority list at this point). Wife thinks “we” should pressure wash & stain it, but she’s fucking high ~ the previous owners obviously tried to treat it at some point where it suffers the worst exposure, and while I’m sure that bought some extra time, once that finish goes it looks/feels worse than the untreated sections; not to mention the fact that I’m the “we” half that would end up having to do all the work, and when we visit the vacation home I want to, you know, actually relax and not take on another soul-crushing project (working on the boat doesn’t count). Given the age of the house, it can’t be more than 5 years max older than the TimberTech, but the condition/wear is no contest. Whatever the added up-front cost, the total lack of upkeep/care cost is worth it IMO.
I’m another vote for pressure treated real wood. Won’t likely warp, or get too hot and easy to replace or repair if needed. You can also stain it and power wash it and the material is cheaper and lasts just as long, and in my opinion looks much better.
You want to go with a capped product like Trex. I put in dark moisture shield at my old house and didn’t have any issues, but in my new house the former owner put in a light colored moisture shield and it gets stained. A capped product is incredibly difficult to stain.
Here it is very hot in the summer, thus dark is not going to work. Light grey/slate is the likely color, plus we are looking at aluminum decking material too. Popular mechanics likes the heat dissipation of aluminum which is counter to what one would imagine
We usually spec Azek. I’ve got some - probably 20,000 sf - going in at a wedding hall this month. If it were a commercial/retail space, I’d be behind it 100%.
Here it is very hot in the summer, thus dark is not going to work. Light grey/slate is the likely color, plus we are looking at aluminum decking material too. Popular mechanics likes the heat dissipation of aluminum which is counter to what one would imagine
You can go with a light color if you use a capped product. However, if you go light on something without that extra layer of protection it will stain and fade. I was thinking of flipping some of the stained boards over, but then the color won’t match the other boards that have seen a three or four years of sun.
