Trex vs. wood for a deck?

[scamperwillow]

I am thinking of building a small deck in my backyard and looking for input on the value of Trex vs. wood. any experience with either out there? Opinions? Also looking for places to purchase recycled or scrap or salvaged materials.
Thanks,
Marty

[Imagery]

If I recall correctly, Habitat for Humanity has a storefront in the 1200 block of Piner Road - which sells used building materials and such.

Here it is - called "Restore".

https://www.habitatsoco.org/restore

Hope this helps you in your search for recycled materials. On the subject of Trex vs. wood, I don't have experience with Trex, so I couldn't add anything there.

[tomcat]

In my very limited experience... our 20 year old redwood deck is doing great. I clean it and treat it every other with Preservawood. It gets half sun and half shade. The part in the sun is showing more age, but is still in great shape.
A neighbor had Trex deck installed in a sunny spot about 5 years ago and it is doing some checking and cracking. He is not sure how much longer it will last before needing replacement. He has never used any treatment on it and I am not sure if there is one for this type of material.
Anyone else know about the Trex material?

[alanora]

I am thinking of building a small deck in my backyard and looking for input on the value of Trex vs. wood. any experience with either out there? Opinions? Also looking for places to purchase recycled or scrap or salvaged materials.
Thanks,
Marty

I am not certain of the brand name of material used, however a friend used some composite stuff for a deck and it is lovely yet tooo hot to walk upon barefoot. fyi.

[scamperwillow]

I am not certain of the brand name of material used, however a friend used some composite stuff for a deck and it is lovely yet tooo hot to walk upon barefoot. fyi.

Thanks for the replies folks - keep em coming. I don't want wood that has to be treated regularly - needs to be very low maintenance. But it will be in the shade mostly so will avoid much sun damage. Really mixed reviews on the Trex...hmmmm.

I am aware of Restore and also Heritage Salvage. Any other places to get salvaged or recycled materials?

[Geni Houston]

Hey Marty - we had redwood for years and very sturdy/beautiful, but it took alot of maintenance but we also had railings - much harder to clean. But for flat space - Sun Frog wash did wonders.

Don't know if you recall but we had trex steps landings put on our rock patio and they did not do well - bowing and warping in several places, but we did it ourselves

My brother-in-law had it put in next door and had to have it replace by warranty - not sure why but wholel thing was redone by contractor.

G

[scamperwillow]

Hey Marty - we had redwood for years and very sturdy/beautiful, but it took alot of maintenance but we also had railings - much harder to clean. But for flat space - Sun Frog wash did wonders.

Don't know if you recall but we had trex steps landings put on our rock patio and they did not do well - bowing and warping in several places, but we did it ourselves

My brother-in-law had it put in next door and had to have it replace by warranty - not sure why but wholel thing was redone by contractor.

G

Thanks Geni - that is good to know - oh dear, such mixed reviews and I really want to avoid using redwood if possible...

[Laurie Meyers]

I have a small area of deck that was rotted redwood, replaced it with "trex" about 9 years ago and it is great, no rot and still looks the same. I like it so much I had a horse barn built with it 6 years ago, no maintenance, no paint, no dead trees either was my understanding.

[Alfonz]

My remodeling company has built many Redwood and Trex decks. I agree that Redwood takes maintenance and is also the least expensive material to purchase. Redwood decks take one third less framing lumber than Trex or any of it's competitors. Therefore labor is less as well.
Many Trex decks hold up fine, however there have been many cases where the sun exposed surfaces are peeling away and show signs of gradual disintegration. There is no repair, only replacement. Other brands have had similar issues but Trex sells more product than anyone else thus a higher failure rate. Trex has come out with a new product option to deal with these issues and of course it costs more than the previous generations. They have laminated a PVC surface over the Trex base with the goal of eliminating the peeling. Presently we are commencing a huge deck where the owners have opted for this Trex Transcends. They have also developed what appears to be a good invisible fastener system to go with the Transcends.
All these composite decks undergo factory testing and do their best to duplicate natural weather conditions but laboratory conditions just can't fool mother nature.
When deciding which brand of composite decking to choose read their warranty info first as you may need it.
You can see multiple displays at Mead Clark Lumber.
Good luck.
Al Lustig
Al Lustig Remodeling Co.
www.the-homewrecker.com

I am thinking of building a small deck in my backyard and looking for input on the value of Trex vs. wood. any experience with either out there? Opinions? Also looking for places to purchase recycled or scrap or salvaged materials.
Thanks,
Marty

[The Owl]

I have a small area of deck that was rotted redwood, replaced it with "trex" about 9 years ago and it is great, no rot and still looks the same. I like it so much I had a horse barn built with it 6 years ago, no maintenance, no paint, no dead trees either was my understanding.

That is true but we're talking about stuff that will be in the environment for eons and never break down into anything life as we know it can use...

[scamperwillow]

That is true but we're talking about stuff that will be in the environment for eons and never break down into anything life as we know it can use...

But it is made from recycled plastic bottles and bags that already wouldn't break down anyway......why not put it to use?

[rbulwa]

First of all, the word "Trex" has become a generic term, as there are several similar but different products on the market. I am not sure which one was used on our back porch and pool decks (we moved here less than a year ago) but it is heavy, sturdy and seems indestructible and impervious. These boards must have been installed close to 20 years ago, and show no wear whatsoever. Nails remain tight as well. I use recycled redwood (mostly purchased at Sonoma Compost at the Meacham Rd. dump, when they have usable boards) on raised beds, and even though it is redwood, it shows it's age and does deteriorate (that is why it is "recycled" after decks are rebuilt in 10 to 20 years). You may have already discovered that "Trex" is not cheap, but you know the old saying.

If you want to see the decks here before you make your decision, you can give me a call, 823-2154.

Bob

I have a small area of deck that was rotted redwood, replaced it with "trex" about 9 years ago and it is great, no rot and still looks the same. I like it so much I had a horse barn built with it 6 years ago, no maintenance, no paint, no dead trees either was my understanding.

[Glia]

Hello,
We have not used "fake wood" decking material, but we sure have checked into it because our redwood deck is failing fast and we need to replace it.

There are better "no tree" products than Trex. They look more realistic, have more colors, and are considerably thicker so presumably they do not have as much of a bending/warping problem. Allegedly they need no staining or maintenance other than sweeping and washing. If you are just doing straight boards (no fancy bending or anything like that) then you should check out these other products.

this is one place where the unnatural wood product is better than the natural version! Definitely steer clear of the redwood or even cedar.

Thanks Geni - that is good to know - oh dear, such mixed reviews and I really want to avoid using redwood if possible...

[Orm Embar]

My experience with composite wood/plastic decking in our recent rental was that it got very very hot in the sunlight. In summer we could not go out barefoot on the deck. This was really challenging when the nephews came to visit . . . toddlers do not always remember to put on shoes before running outside. Sitting and crawling was also hazardous on warm days, for it was hot enough to burn through clothing. Ours was a light grey/yellow shade, not very dark.

Nice and warm after the sun set, though, so if you are only on the deck in the early morning or later in the evening this might be a beneficial thing for you?

[scamperwillow]

My experience with composite wood/plastic decking in our recent rental was that it got very very hot in the sunlight. In summer we could not go out barefoot on the deck. This was really challenging when the nephews came to visit . . . toddlers do not always remember to put on shoes before running outside. Sitting and crawling was also hazardous on warm days, for it was hot enough to burn through clothing. Ours was a light grey/yellow shade, not very dark.

Nice and warm after the sun set, though, so if you are only on the deck in the early morning or later in the evening this might be a beneficial thing for you?

We had a very good presentation/explanation of Trex at Mead-clark yesterday. Trex has a new product with a PCV coating that eliminates the spotting/fading/ splintering kinds of things they'd had in the past. It also has this very cool tracking installation system with grooves in the sides so you don't need to put screws through it - no screw holes on top. My friend and I were very impressed and I will probably go that route. I know I don't want to deal with the refinishing issues that wood requires. They did have some very pretty hardwood though that would be lovely for those that don't mind the maintenance.

I'm not worried about it getting hot because it is in the back under trees - but that is good to know.

[Barry]

There were some posts made to this thread on Wednesday, however the Wednesday digest did not got out to many members due to a glitch. If you are interested in this topic please click the website button below (in the digest) to see posts that you may have missed.

Sorry for the inconvenience,
Barry

[artmuse]

I am thinking of building a small deck in my backyard and looking for input on the value of Trex vs. wood. any experience with either out there? Opinions? Also looking for places to purchase recycled or scrap or salvaged materials.
Thanks,
Marty

I have both redwood and trex decks. If you want a low maintenance deck go w/trex.
The product has been refined over the years and more affordable.