Composite Decking Yellowing in Sun! (Dow Symmatrix)

[Thomas G. Marshall]

A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.

It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.

The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."

Seems sketchy to me.

It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.

Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.

Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.

[marks542004]

Assuming there is a warrenty on the product I would send the company a letter confirming the salesmans comments and wait a week or two. If the stuff goes to an acceptable color then all is well, if not then you need to arrange a return,

In my opinion if this is a known issue then the customer should be advised of it. I would hate to have a half built deck that turned a urine yellow color...it would freak me right out.

[Thomas G. Marshall]

Yeah, well, they're very hesitant to spend all the energy in installing it without knowing for sure if it'll return to normal. It's been well past the week that the company claimed it would take for the yellow to "fade back to gray".

Have any of you ever heard of this "industry wide problem" with gray composites? Seems really fishy...

[taz]

Weird, I have had a trex composite deck in my back yard for over ten years and it has faded to a light grey / tan. Never would've installed it if it turned yellow.

I cannot for the life of me understand where the salesperson is coming from saying this is an industry wide problem and it is caused by the tannin within the wood fibres. Sounds like a bunch of crap to me. I would have it replaced within the warranty period or go with another brand that has a good reputation.

Regards,

TAz

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:

[Andy Asberry]

Under their "fifteen" year warranty, one of the exclusions is "variations or change in color...".

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

[Thomas G. Marshall]

taz said something like:

...[snip]...

(post converted to bottom posting to aid with interleaving) Was the Trex Gray to start with? The Symmatrix color that they are using is called "driftwood", which is just a fancy word for medium flat gray.

This has got to be crap, yes. The biggest red flag about this entire thing is that if it were truly an industry wide problem then this would have been the first thing told to the customer, or else they would have had their phones ringing off the hook ever since they offered this product.

...[snip]...

[Thomas G. Marshall]

Andy Asberry said something like:

Good point actually, but it doesn't really apply to them I don't believe because the stuff is still sitting in their driveway bought very recently. I *think* they have the ability to return it, but they're still trying to decipher whether or not this "industry wide problem" is something to believe.

[Andy Asberry]

My point was that once it is installed, there is no warranty for color.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

[EOliver]

Veranda and Latitudes both have information on their websites that say their gray decking will turn yellow or brown. They also state that they should be even in 30 - 60 days.

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:

[MDT at Paragon Home Inspection]

Composites often change color substantially as they age, for example the "gray" Trex starts out as a reddish brown and "grays" in 3-6 months of exposure to full sun, you purchase these materials based on the final result you want - in my experience the eventual result is usually quite uniform, and and pretty close to the result depicted in the manufacturer's brochures.

BTW, one thing to watch with a lot of these materials is salt applied to decks and stairs in winter conditions- some of these materials will stain baldly, the stain extends some distance into the material, and I'm aware of no way to remove it.

Michael Thomas Paragon Home Inspection, LLC Chicago, IL mdt@paragoninspectsDOTcom

847-475-5668.