wood for deck????

[oasis1]

Hi,

We are planning on getting a deck installed for our pool fairly soon... we looked into getting TREX but the quote on materials alone (not including fastners, concrete, or labor) was near $18,000 Waaaayyyy out of our budget!!!!!! So we are looking into a smaller wood deck. The size will be 4 feet on both curved edges and 10 feet on one long side, with steps down the whole length of long side. on the curved side the deck will go to the post past the center post of curved side (hopefully that makes sense) so there will be no deck on the other long side of pool, which works out cause thats where the pump and heater are located. The contractor priced Cedar at approximately $8,000 labor included (will have a definate number in the next few days) Does that sound reasonable? Is Cedar a good wood for around the pool? I know staining/sealing is going to be a pain in the a** probably. Would it be best to do that before/after it is closed for the winter so it won't get in pool? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[NWMNMom]

I've heard good things about cedar. There are also some other materials like the exotic woods that are said to be really great alternatives around pools. We used UltrDeck composite since we did not want to deal with rot issues or annual maintenance. It was a much more reasonably priced composite material than Trex. It looks like wood but has the composite maintenance free benefit. We have had it for several years now with no complaints

 

[carterj92]

Our old house had a deck on the back of it made of cedar. I think the deck was around 12 years old. It still looked good. It was exposed to a lot of humidity and rain. We just had to paint it a few times. I think you could get cedar sealed to help it hold up against the wear and tear from the water. good luck. I know it terrible how expensive the material is but its worth it in the end.