Trex decking

Mar 01, 2004 7 Replies
M

Greetings all, I am in the planning stages for a residential deck with dims app 12' x



18'. My question is about Trex decking. What are the opinions of this product? I was looking at using cedar, but after going to a home improvement show and seeing Trex up close, I am starting to lean towards Trex. I'm especially concerned about how durable it is and how it holds up to the temperature swings of the midwest. Summer can go well over
90F and winter goes under 0 easily. I realize there are mandatory gaps you have to use during construction and Trex isn't structural. Has anyone had a bad experience with the stuff??? TIA Mark
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A

Go to the Groups page of

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and search archives for info. People have discussed it before. It has to be put up right with plenty of support and the joists have to be perfectly aligned or it will show.

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N

We have Trex on a finger dock, installed about 3 years ago. Florida, full sun all day. Looks great. No signs of deterioration. Don't know how it would perform in cold/snowy weather, or in a shady location where mold might be a problem, but seems it would be easier to clean than a regular wood deck. We have a friend who has a larger dock constructed with Trex decking, and it also is fine. 10 years old? They let a hack with a pressure washer clean it, which seemed to pit it in places and removed the nice grey weathering, but no other signs of deterioration. Our condo's main dock was replaced 7 years ago with ??PT - it is cupping, splitting and splintering.

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R

It will withstand the weather extremes but will bleach out. This can be corrected by applying Penofin's Knotwood.

Look into CorrectDeck instead of Trex. It is almost 5x more resistant to bending. Modulus of elasticity of Trex=175,000 psi, CorrectDeck is

850,000 psi. I used Trex once, a mistake I won't make again.

RB

Mark wrote:

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R

It is extremely flexible. Even placing it over 2x10's on 16" centers dips between the supporting structural elements are visible. I now have cedar planking and am quite happy with it.

RB

Mark wrote:

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R

Mark,

Have you considered Ipe? When I built my deck 3 years ago, I priced all the alternatives, and Ipe was the same as the manufactured products. Took a little more to install, but the results are outstanding.

You can let it weather to a silver, or clean it every couple of years and use Penofin to restore the natural reddish brown color.

No splinters, no checks, no creaks, dense as hell, and added value to my house. And, nothing but compliments from friends and family.

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