What would you do? Hardwood vs Composite

[MrBeetle]

So… I ordered some composite decking (MoistureGuard Vision, pretty high end stuff as far as composite goes) back in April, fully expecting a 2 month delay, even though lowes said 3 weeks.

Either Lowe’s or MG dropped the ball, and I find out today that my order was likely cancelled. (Something about MG not shipping direct anymore)

The MG rep is trying to work a miracle, but I’m not holding my breath.

MG through another vendor, or something like Azek Vintage now has a 3 month lead time, because “We are backed up - should have ordered it sooner”

what would you do? Order, and have a deck of joists until the fall? Or do something like Tigerwood (for the same price) with the hassle of upkeep (but… cooler temps on the deck, and short lead time)

 

[Snoobug]

You're in Ohio so like us, it will snow.

We have a huge wrap around the house wood deck. We have to shovel snow to access the front door. Although we actually enter through a door in our garage. I have not been kind to our wood. We'll have to replace in about 5 years is my guess.

Is the composite slippery when wet? Will you have to shovel snow off it? Will it be wet from the pool? Pics please!

I want to get composite because it's more durable but I'm worried about the slip factor.

 

[jimim]

I would only go composite. I also would not use azek. I have a ton of it on my home. Hate it. Hate it. I used it cause the plant is in my back yard here. When I did my pool house I used cement board for all my beams. Holy moly night and day. And azek is not cheap. Cement board is a bit more bit for the price I think azek stinks.

 

[Snoobug]

I would only go composite. I also would not use azek. I have a ton of it on my home. Hate it. Hate it. I used it cause the plant is in my back yard here. When I did my pool house I used cement board for all my beams. Holy moly night and day. And azek is not cheap. Cement board is a bit more bit for the price I think azek stinks.

I just looked at the fiber cement decking. It looks great and sounds great. Can you tell me if it is slippery when wet?

 

[ComputerGuyInNOLA]

Take a look at a wood called Ipe. Beautiful decking but expensive. I believe it has a 50-100 year lifespan.

 

[jimim]

Take a look at a wood called Ipe. Beautiful decking but expensive. I believe it has a 50-100 year lifespan.

Click on pics to see full image. I don’t like this new way pics load.
Ipe is the best wood you can buy for decking. My buddy’s shop uses it for jobs. He mills it for contractors. Wicked expensive but only need to oil it and it lasts for years upon years. As a point on its longevity. Disney uses it for all docks and walking areas over beach club. Still looks new.

I have sapele which is the “wall version” for walls and ceilings. Ipe is so hard that’s why it’s used for floors mostly. But my sapele is awesome. My buddy ribbon cuts it and it looks awesome. Again oil only. No stain. My whole pool house ceiling and my cabinets for my outdoor kitchen cabinets is made out of it. He has a ton of it on his farm. Under cover and exposed. It’s a beast of a wood.


Wicked wicked expensive. Again there are different grades of it and also if ribbon cut more expensive.

I talk about sapele a lot here. I didn’t mention ipe cause of cost.

 

[jimim]

I don’t have any cement board for decking. I only used it for beams. Mine is slick but I painted it.

 

[MrBeetle]

I looked into cement board, at the recommendation here… not really offered anymore. The main US provider had some issues with flaking and delaminations, and I think is in class action territory.

IPE, tigerwood, and Brazilian teak are the 3 woods I’m looking at, depending on the answer from the MoistureShield rep. Tigerwood is cheaper than my current decking. Ipe is a bit more, but not out of range.. (like… 15% more)

 

[Weasel2017]

I work in the building supply industry and composite decking is a bit of a nightmare from a supply standpoint. We are just receiving orders that were placed in early Jan/Dec from multiple suppliers (Trex, Fiberon, Moistureshield). If you are considering composite it may be more of a case of what you can get not necessarily what you want. If Moistureshield does come through for you and your deck is in a very sunny area you may want to consider one of the colors that offers the CoolDeck Technology. Nothing worse than a hot composite deck you can't walk on during the hot afternoon sun ;-)

 

[jimim]

Get the ipe! Have it ribbon cut. Looks so cool. If you like that kinda look.

I have zero issues with my cement board. My buddy’s whole house is also cement board cause he wanted a real wood look for his siding vs vinyl. 8 urs zero issues but again it’s vertical surface vs flat.

 

[MrBeetle]

The composite I was looking at originally was the Moistureshield Vision / Cooldeck... but they were unable to do anything.

So, Ipe it is! Keeping the basic design as I had before... Pictureframe (including the on the steps) will be Cumaru. Interior boards and facia will be ipe. Decking to be run under the pool edging. No grooved boards - I priced things out, and looked at the differences - but I saw no reason to not go with camo edge screws. Any extra boards, we will see how many I have... but thinking I may try to do some chairs or deck boxes or something...

 

[jimim]

Just seal it with a clear sealer and u are set. I can look to see what I used. I forgot what we used down the shop. When I seal my sapele.

 

[Dukebuk]

So… I ordered some composite decking (MoistureGuard Vision, pretty high end stuff as far as composite goes) back in April, fully expecting a 2 month delay, even though lowes said 3 weeks.

Either Lowe’s or MG dropped the ball, and I find out today that my order was likely cancelled. (Something about MG not shipping direct anymore)

The MG rep is trying to work a miracle, but I’m not holding my breath.

MG through another vendor, or something like Azek Vintage now has a 3 month lead time, because “We are backed up - should have ordered it sooner”

what would you do? Order, and have a deck of joists until the fall? Or do something like Tigerwood (for the same price) with the hassle of upkeep (but… cooler temps on the deck, and short lead time)

Brazilian Ipe wood is the best. Never gets hot and never splinters. You won’t have issues within it like you will with yella wood in 2 years. Had this wood for my deck for 15 years and still looks brand new.

 

[darkrider]

You won't regret going ipe. We have a big 15'x40' ipe deck that spans the entirety of the back of our house that was built in 2009. While the uprights could use some fresh stain, the ipe looks as good as when it was originally installed with oiling every other year. I use the Cabot Australian Timber Oil, and apply it with rag, and I can do the entire deck in about 4 hours.

 

[jimim]

I sanded and oiled 7000 linear feet for my pool house that my buddy planes down for me. It takes no time at all. I sanded inbetween coats but I was in a shop so it was easy. The sapele / ipe woods are the best.

 

[CircaSurvivalist]

I know there's some Azek hate going on here, but I built our pool deck using Azek deck boards and I absolutely love the stuff! It's literally zero maintenance...if it gets dirty a rag and warm water will clean it and it looks brand new again. You don't want to leave spills on it or it will stain, but so will wood. Really the only downside (besides the cost) is that it does get hot, but not as hot as other composite decking. It's been in the mid 90's here for over a week, full sun, and I can stand to walk on it bare foot during the day it's just not comfortable haha.

I was between Ipe and Azek when building my deck and Ipe or most other Brazilian hardwood is absolutely beautiful. I went with Azek because I truly wanted the least amount of maintenance and also have a ground level portion of deck and was worried the Ipe would cup due to lack of air flow under the deck.