I want to remove the old wood decking and replace with composite. With all the pros and cons, anybody have a preference? With the pool nearby, I don't want something slippery.
Composite decking
- Thread starter Reddogdan
- Start date
I like wood but I'm an old guy. Composite is more siippery than wood but not excessively so. Composite takes lessmaintence over its useful life. Just my opinion
There are composites that aren't too slippery, but I would caution that every cheap product I have seen can get excessively hot. Trex, which is more expensive, can even be unbearable to walk on here in Illinois. I haven't researched products in a while, but there were some that were supposed to diffuse the heat. I ended up going with cedar to balance the maintenance with performance. Yes, it needed to be sealed annually but was beautiful as well. Good luck.
We (we is me! 
) have installed over 1000 sf of Choicedek Harvest Brown from Lowes over the last year and a half or so. It is great stuff. Feels good on bare feet, not too hot, not slippery, easy to work with, not too expensive. It is also 95% recycled material, has a 25 year warranty and it's made in the US in Arkansas. We used stainless steel hidden fasteners, not cheap but work great. They put it on sale occasionally.
) have installed over 1000 sf of Choicedek Harvest Brown from Lowes over the last year and a half or so. It is great stuff. Feels good on bare feet, not too hot, not slippery, easy to work with, not too expensive. It is also 95% recycled material, has a 25 year warranty and it's made in the US in Arkansas. We used stainless steel hidden fasteners, not cheap but work great. They put it on sale occasionally.
We like wood also. Last summer our granddaughter slipped on the deck and got a six inch long splinter across the bottom of her foot. We painted the deck with restore and solved the problem except we have to repaint again. Pooldv, what part of dfw are you in?
Where I live it is simple economics that often favors wood, as the price for the synthetic stuff is typically 5x the price of wood or more, and wood tends to have a 10-15+ year outdoor life around here on decks.
I'm in the process of building a deck to go around my aboveground pool. I've spent too much time of my life spraying/sanding/sealing wood decks. I also don't want to deal with splinters, so the composite decision was easy for me. My deck will have full sun from early morning till late evening, so I had to go with a lighter colored composite. I'm using TimberTech Earthwood evolutions in the Sandy Birch Color. I'm using the Camo fastening system as well, which is significantly cheaper than regular hidden fastening systems, but also allows you to remove boards individually if need be.
I ended up paying 2.48/lf for the decking, which is about 2.5x the cost of wood, but it was worth it.
The dark colored decking material looks amazing, but I bought a piece of the Trex, and almost burned my foot on a 70 and sunny day.
I ended up paying 2.48/lf for the decking, which is about 2.5x the cost of wood, but it was worth it.
The dark colored decking material looks amazing, but I bought a piece of the Trex, and almost burned my foot on a 70 and sunny day.
We don't!
It is just the closest thing to us that people have heard of. We live out in donkey country, closer to Lake Lavon than anything else.
While I love our Trex for appearance it does get hot! A lighter color probably would be better but we didn't know.
Just be aware-Do NOT pressure wash the Trex at too high a psi. It can alter the appearance some. Not a damaged look, but lighter.
Just be aware-Do NOT pressure wash the Trex at too high a psi. It can alter the appearance some. Not a damaged look, but lighter.
Nectarologist
Well-known member
- Apr 3, 2015
- 642
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Keep in mind the spacing of your floor joists too. They may be good for wood but too wide for synthetic. If so you can add joists but this will add to the expense. If you find that heat is a problem outdoor rug can help a lot.
We've had a trex deck for about 7 years. It faded pretty quickly. It is no where near as dark as it used to be. I saw that there was a class action lawsuit out there for the fading issue. They've probably corrected it since I got mine. There is a warranty but it is for materials only. Also, I do not want to paint/stain wood so I would still go with the trex. It is not slippery nor too hot.
Good things to know. I was aware of the fading problems, but it seems to be with all the manufactures. I also heard about mold issues with some.
A light grey composite deck is a great pool addition. I loved mine at my last pool.
As to price, in this area, a 5/4 x 6 x 8 foot pressure treated deck board is $4.67 and a Trex board is $17.27. However, there are lower cost composite boards as little as $13.10.
One real consideration is that most composite boards come in 16 or 20 foot lengths and most will require 16" centers on joists. With lumber, you can get away with 24" centers.
As to price, in this area, a 5/4 x 6 x 8 foot pressure treated deck board is $4.67 and a Trex board is $17.27. However, there are lower cost composite boards as little as $13.10.
One real consideration is that most composite boards come in 16 or 20 foot lengths and most will require 16" centers on joists. With lumber, you can get away with 24" centers.
I can add joists when the top decking comes off. I just don't want to jump into composites to quickly and regret it later.
2kCougar
0
- May 11, 2015
- 39
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-30 Plus
We're doing our deck with wolf pvc. It's around $3.50/ln ft. We've just started construction, so all of the boards are sitting on the patio. After a day of sitting in the sun, it doesn't get any hotter than the lumber. in fact, it's slightly cooler. It has what I would consider to be a medium grain. We looked at almost every manufacturer of pvc and composite that we could find. Trex's highest end has the most grain. It would be great for traction, but I don't know how comfortable it would be. We didn't even consider pt because of the maintenance and the splinters.
I'm on year 3 with my Trex Transcend deck. We love it. It does get very hot under direct sunlight. (light beige with dark trim), but we just wear flip flops on those days.
It can be a bit slippery when wet, but I would suggest no worse than sanded wood. We also put out some huge outdoor carpets from Costco under the sitting areas so you don't need footwear.
The only con I can suggest is the cost. As for the pros:
Almost zero maintenance. I use a push broom and warm water with a bit of soap to clean it in the spring.
In the winter, go access my bbq, I just use an all plastic shovel to dig out a path.
No annual staining etc.
No splinters. The kids can drag their feet or sit on it without worry.
It can be a bit slippery when wet, but I would suggest no worse than sanded wood. We also put out some huge outdoor carpets from Costco under the sitting areas so you don't need footwear.
The only con I can suggest is the cost. As for the pros:
Almost zero maintenance. I use a push broom and warm water with a bit of soap to clean it in the spring.
In the winter, go access my bbq, I just use an all plastic shovel to dig out a path.
No annual staining etc.
No splinters. The kids can drag their feet or sit on it without worry.
I don't know what material you have but we have several friends with composite decks and they get MUCH hotter than lumber (like ER-visit hot if you stand on it in bare feet).
We are going to build a ground level deck between our house and pool. Have you looked at IPE decking? It is used in a lot of boardwalks near the ocean. It is one of the hardest and densest hardwoods out there. It is so dense it sinks in water. We looked at composite but we are going with IPE. It will outlast anything out there. It is installed so you do not see surface nails or screws as it is tongue and groove and installed using stainless steel IPE clips. You can let it age like Teak to a silver/grey or seal it for a beautiful natural look.
