Hi, can anyone give me some non-wood decking alternatives that I can use in my home? I dont want to use wood for outdoor decking because of the maintenance costs. However, I want something that imitates the natural look and feel of wood.
There is a non-wood product just for you , I believe it's called Trex . Not cheap ...
In addition to Trex that someone else mentioned, Azek is a similar product I have used before and like. Also, look at LockDry, an aluminum product. Although it is meant for decking, I used it as flooring on a pontoon boat and love it.
Generic name, composites. A composite of wood fiber and plastic. Lasts forever and looks a lot like wood, only better.
There was a retired rabbit, who had his back deck made out of Trex. It was very expensive, and got nearly no use. He was complaining about the cost, to his neighbor (who had a big family). The neighbor loved his back deck. It survived race cars, pogo sticks, and endless play. The neighbor said "Silly rabbit, Trex are for kids!"
outdoor wood decks look pretty but concrete is a much better alternative....
basically zero maintence for a lifetime
If you had a day job I'd tell you not to quit it ...
Strangely, I don't feel that way.
Maybe because the concrete patio on my house was made of big 4x8 sections of concrete with 2x4s separating them. I don't know how old they were, but when I got here, they were seriously out of level with each other.
After breaking them up with a jack hammer, and all the other work I replaced the patio with pavers. To me, pavers really do give you a lifetime of service. Even if they go out of level, lift them up, level the sand, put them back.
When you need to build up in the air, concrete (or pavers) is not an option. That's why I have a deck and a patio.
We call it recycled wood as a generic term. Apparently you have to be care ful how you use it. We built a couple of small pedestrian bridge decks fro m it. The material holds up, but it has buckled and warped badly. I don't know why this happened; my suspicion is the coefficient of expansion is la rge and we had too much restraint built into the structure. Or we got a ba d batch, I dunno. Either way I'd advise talking to somebody who's used the exact product.
Sigh. My best humor, and it meets with resounding groans.
Some people are just sticks in the mud. Others are just plain a-holes, and... :-)
Some products contain recycled wood, but others do not. Trex contains wood. Azek does not and is, therefore, less apt to grow mold and algie. (All if it, however, gets dirty and then stuff can grow in the dirt). Neither Trex nor Azek is structurally strong. Regular treated lumber is usually used for the structure with Trex or Azek added for looks. Both products sag if not supported well. Both can look great after many years of use, but nothing is perfect.
Which am.... oh, wait, nevermind. Forget I asked.
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