What's your deck made of????

[DMAN11]

Hey guys and gals,

I have another question for you. We are doing an 27' AG pool and we want to do a deck around it and next to it like alot of people here have done. I was wondering though, what is all of your decks made of. We are leaning towards wood, but we have seen different composite wood that look interesting. Trex decking seems pretty strong, and another is Eon decking that looks interesting.

Do you guys know anything about these composite decking materials? I have heard they get extremely hot, but will wood get hot too? They are supposed to all but eliminate maintenance and upkeep, but is it worth the extra costs up front??

Any and all info much appreciated......

Thanks,,,,,,,,DMAN

 

[whoozer]

Well I have some experience with both the old PT decking and trex. IMHO trex is better, keep in mind I did find that it does still have some fading issues depending on the brand you purchase. But in the long run it cracks alot less as I've seen and you usually eliminate splinters in little feet. I would always find little ones picking at the imperfections of the pt decking and it freaked me out that we had replaced it. Also with the pt I was constantly staining it.


Now if you do go with pt because of price I would suggest hand picking your wood and not having them pick the most rotten split pieces and delivering it. Also I would tend to steer away from Lowes or Home Depot for the decking itself as I have had numerous issues after the fact with the wood as it tends to bow more than the higher quality wood.

The other issue with pools and wood decking is the chlorine. Ours was stained red...big mistake. Any of the heat drawing colors for stain aren't great ideas as they are hotter but also the wear around the pool breaks down and is more apparent.

So my suggestion is to put down your wood make sure it is dry and seal it with a water resistant "clear." AC moore sells one that is kind of good but keep in mind you may need to spray this stuff 1 a year or every other depending on wear. I found that naturally greying the deck looked better in the long run and was more "wood like".


But long of the short I have had both for decks around a pool and much preferred the trex decking. Hope this helps some. :-D

[Edit: jjparrish: To include eye breaks]

 

[JohnT]

We have Trex in a medium color. It isn't as nice looking as cedar or redwood, but it is very functional. It's never been too hot to walk barefoot on, but it is hotter than wood. I really like the look of Eon, but nobody anywhere near me carries it in stock. I can get Trex within 10 miles of home in stock, so it made it much easier to get what I needed without having to wait or worrying about ordering too much.

 

[Poolidiot]

Mine is the PT lumber, If I had to do it over again I would go with either the eon or trex, I am trying to decide now if I want to bite the bullet and change it now.

 

[whoozer]

Poolidiot-its weird writing that name We changed ours and have had it for a few years. It's a pain to change but was soooo worth it. So far maintenance free.

 

[Poolidiot]

Poolidiot-its weird writing that name We changed ours and have had it for a few years. It's a pain to change but was soooo worth it. So far maintenance free.

Do not feel weird calling me that, I have been called FAR worse over my life time :? Did you go with the Trex or Eon?

 

[whoozer]

We used Trex, Eon wasn't available in my area where my house was. Mine was a tannish color but my brother in law has a light grey one and theirs is nice too.

 

[Vegasmom]

Hope you don't mind the hijack, but since this is on the subject of decks, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a product to protect Ipe. Because of where I live, I decided it was risky to go to the expense of a full blown deck, so I found deck tiles and made a pathway with them. I figure in my climate, I'll be recoating about every 3 months.

I'm looking into Messmer's UV Plus, it comes in clear, natural and redwood. I like the natural color of Ipe but will probably get more protection with color. Anyone recommend one product over another, ie..Messmer's, Penofin, TWP?

As always, any input is appreciated

 

[NWMNMom]

We have light grey Trex. I love it, best decision we made after the pool.

 

[MikeInTN]

We used ChoiceDek composite decking for both our rear deck and pool deck. Pricey, but worth it, IMO. BTW, ChoiceDek is the brand that Lowe's carries. Oh, and yes, it does tend to get rather hot.

 

[whoozer]

Not to be stupid but what's Ipe? Stone or tile? If it is stone I have a product that I use to seal my rock wall that works well I'll find the name of it and PM you vegasmom, I use it to seal my rock walkway too works well and goes through a rough winter, does need recoat every 3 years. Only suggestion is don't use something like Thompsons water seal I was lucky to get through 3 months with that stuff and have family that had trouble too.Sorry to get off topic.
I did do a refurb home and used the Home Depot stuff, I noticed a difference between it and the trex decking, it was almost like the Trex had more of a plastic component that made it cooler and less brittle.

 

[HarryH3]

Ipe is a South American hardwood. It's beautiful when kept oiled, yet can last 50 years even with no treatment. It's so dense that it won't burn and has the same fire rating as concrete. I've even read that it is the only wood product allowed for deck surfaces in San Diego these days, due to wildfire concerns.

The best Ipe treatment that I've been able to find is a product called WoodZotic. However, the guy that sells it was having serious problems with his supplier and is now talking with another company to manufacture it for him. You can find out more about it over at http://www.restore-a-deck.com

 

[Vegasmom]

I remember hearing about WoodZotic on another forum last year. I checked the website and they aren't taking orders right now. Thanks for the link, though..good info :thumright: