[ZTWsquared]

So with more time on my hands this summer I've decided to replace the patio stones that came with the house with a new ground level deck.

From an esthetic p.o.v. I like the idea of cedar but I also like the idea of the low maintenance and durability of the man-made composites - - but are they really worth the premium price.

Looking for input from those who have built their own deck and ideally if you've used a synthetic product.

TIA

Ken

[Flofocus]

I have a 18X12 foot deck and its a PITA to stain every year. Thats really my only complaint.

Cant speak about the synthetic stuff, would have loved to go with that but too much $$.

[ZTWsquared]

Flofocus,Jul 2 2009, 02:25 PM Wrote:I have a 18X12 foot deck and its a PITA to stain every year.  Thats really my only complaint.

Cant speak about the synthetic stuff, would have loved to go with that but too much $$.
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Yeah ... well depending on which design I go with mine will be either 30 x 12 or possibly 42 x 12 if I go the full width of the house - so maintenance could be a big issue for me.

Did you go with cedar or PT?

[GFXjamie]

depends, how long do you plan on living in your current house? i personally would go with the hardwood alternative if that time frame is shorter then 10 years. no need to go composite altho it is maintenance free but will you get your money out of it is the question. anyways good luck on the choice, im sure the composite is great but i have no personally used it on any of the many decks i have done, i generally use pressure treated as it is cost friendly.

[Flofocus]

ZTWsquared,Jul 2 2009, 02:31 PM Wrote:

Flofocus,Jul 2 2009, 02:25 PM Wrote:I have a 18X12 foot deck and its a PITA to stain every year.  Thats really my only complaint.

Cant speak about the synthetic stuff, would have loved to go with that but too much $$.
[right][snapback]290488[/snapback][/right]

Yeah ... well depending on which design I go with mine will be either 30 x 12 or possibly 42 x 12 if I go the full width of the house - so maintenance could be a big issue for me.

Did you go with cedar or PT?
[right][snapback]290489[/snapback][/right]

Thats at least 2 days of staining. :blink:

Takes almost a full day to stain my small ass deck.

I went with PT for my deck.

Freind of mine has the syn stuff, been installed for nearly 3 years now so if i see him this week-end, I'll ask for ya...

[hardk0re]

I'm building a new ground level deck also. I've decided to go PT lumber. I've seen that composite decking and after a few years in the winter/hot summer sun started to look pretty cruddy. At least the stuff they were selling 5 or so years ago when it really was uber expensive. This could also be attributed to improper installation also as with any decking.

If it is an older home where the ground has settled around your home, why not go and do a nice stamped concrete patio? Maintenance free for the most part and looks sharp. It also adds nice resale value, more so than a deck.

For our new home I was told its a potential disaster as the ground isn't fully settled yet, and I should wait another few years. But we want something now, so a ground level deck is what we will have for now.

[ANTHONYD]

i went with PT myself. Mainly because when we bought the house, we didn't have a ton of extra coin floating around.

A good friend of mine has the synthetic stuff (bought the house with it) and the deck is over 10 years old and still looks ace.

If you plan on living in the house for a long time, invest in the synthetic stuff. If you plan on moving, put in the pressure treated stuff. (Mine is 5 years old and it's JUST starting to look like it could use a stain.

[Canadian ST]

Hay Ken I would go with either Cedar or PT, the composite stuff is way too expensive. As far as I know with products like Trex Deck (one of the big composite companies) they do not make structural pieces (4x4, 6x6,2x6,2x8,2x10) so they are really only for decking, so it’s only a partial maintenance free deck.

Cedar is my favorite because you can leave it natural and when it goes gray just get a portable pressure washer (Canadian Tire $150 model) and spend a couple hours washing and it looks brand new, just use a coated screw so no rust comes out.

With PT there are two colours, the ugly dark green and a nice light green, places like Rona carry will carry both types. If you would like some pictures of the difference between the two PT colours let me know and I can send them to you.

If you give me a rough size of your deck I can email you some designs and product amounts you would need.
I have access to a program at my old work that does everything in 3D.

[Canadian ST]

I almost forgot. If you do go with composite decking stay away from the certain products with the honeycomb webbing inside. I have seen it shatter when it’s dropped and I’ve heard of people cracking it when the install it as well by over tightening the supports.

[paolo]

PT lumber is good yes. I would check your local Aikenheads store and see what size and how much you would need for a job that size

[mo_focus]

Hi Ken, I just finished mine last week. its 32X11. i went with PT bc of cost. it cost me 3000$ for materials alone and as others have said, i do not intend on living here for more then 5more years. So i didnt want to spend the money on something that i did not intend to enjoy life long.

Also one more thing to consider is the colour of the synt. stuff. Once you make it you are stuck with it for the life of the deck. Atleast with PC you can change the colour :)

[meford4u]

If it were my deck, I would use PT as a base and cedar as the decking. My parents have a fence made of cedar and that fence is now 37 years old. Yeah it needs some TLC, but if you want an option to have the cedar somewhat maintenance free, use Thompson's water seal soon after installing it, or better yet, let the cedar sit for a year and pressure wash it next year, wait a week or so for it to dry and hit it with the sealant then.

I would stay away from the new stuff. Looks good but it hasn't been proven yet and if I know you, your not a gambler with the wife's honey do list.

[reldridge]

A buddy of mine just built his with a PT frame, spruce decking and steps, and cedar railing and trim. It looks good with the multicolour, and once the spruce is stained, it looks pretty close to the cedar. The spruce was cheaper than the PT and cedar, and can still take some abuse if it is kept sealed/stained.

[ANTHONYD]

paolo,Jul 2 2009, 06:48 PM Wrote:PT lumber is good yes.  I would check your local Aikenheads store and see what size and how much you would need for a job that size
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Awesome.

[dBlast]

Cedar is beautiful when brand new:



But after a winter without stain (I ran out of good weather to stain after building deck):





But the upkeep is labour intensive. It is 3 day job to pressure wash, sand, and stain that has to be repeated every couple of years to keep it looking like this:

[ZTWsquared]

ANTHONYD,Jul 3 2009, 08:55 AM Wrote:

paolo,Jul 2 2009, 06:48 PM Wrote:PT lumber is good yes.  I would check your local Aikenheads store and see what size and how much you would need for a job that size
[right][snapback]290506[/snapback][/right]

Awesome.
[right][snapback]290540[/snapback][/right]

^^ LOL Anthony ... but you never know - I might have missed that step (the part about figuring out the size and how much material I'd need) and just gone straight to digging holes and pounding lumber LOL.

Does Aikenheads still exist ... IIRC they were bought by Home Depot like a thousand years ago. In any event, they wouldn't be on my top ten list of places to buy decking material.

**

Bryan you are dead on the money in terms of where my priorities are LOL - this is more about keeping my wife happy than saving money or anything else for that matter - which is why I was considering the synthetic stuff in the first place - it was her suggestion.

Having said that I think I'm shying away from the vinyls or composites the more research I do ... there's the class action lawsuit against Trex, the biggest manufacturer, for making s***ty product and false claims ... and although there seems to have been some significant technical improvements in vinyl in the past couple of years, it's still too early to tell how well it will stand up over the long-term.

At least with wood you know what you're getting (for the most part) and you know what it will take to keep it looking good for decades to come.

Having said that I'm also now going to consider the possibility of using one of the exotic woods for the decking (PT for substructure FTW) like one of the Ironwood species like Ipe, or Cumaru, or even going all out and using number one clear cedar which isn't much less expensive.

Thanks for everyone's input ... if I do something unusual I'll take pics and post them up.

[ZTWsquared]

dBlast,Jul 3 2009, 09:53 AM Wrote:Cedar is beautiful when brand new:

Beautiful deck ... that's big enough to have a Focuscanada.net meeting on ... hey Kev, maybe a change of location for a Massiv Monday - you can save your gas Vince..

Also: may I assume you go the wood through work :lol: ... and if so, can you hook me up ? ;)

[paolo]

yeah my dad still calls it akienheads, that word stuck in my head for the last few years now.

[ANTHONYD]

ZTWsquared,Jul 3 2009, 10:01 AM Wrote:

ANTHONYD,Jul 3 2009, 08:55 AM Wrote:

paolo,Jul 2 2009, 06:48 PM Wrote:PT lumber is good yes.  I would check your local Aikenheads store and see what size and how much you would need for a job that size
[right][snapback]290506[/snapback][/right]

Awesome.
[right][snapback]290540[/snapback][/right]

^^ LOL Anthony ... but you never know - I might have missed that step (the part about figuring out the size and how much material I'd need) and just gone straight to digging holes and pounding lumber LOL.

Does Aikenheads still exist ... IIRC they were bought by Home Depot like a thousand years ago. In any event, they wouldn't be on my top ten list of places to buy decking material.

**

Bryan you are dead on the money in terms of where my priorities are LOL - this is more about keeping my wife happy than saving money or anything else for that matter - which is why I was considering the synthetic stuff in the first place - it was her suggestion.

Having said that I think I'm shying away from the vinyls or composites the more research I do ... there's the class action lawsuit against Trex, the biggest manufacturer, for making s***ty product and false claims ... and although there seems to have been some significant technical improvements in vinyl in the past couple of years, it's still too early to tell how well it will stand up over the long-term.

At least with wood you know what you're getting (for the most part) and you know what it will take to keep it looking good for decades to come.

Having said that I'm also now going to consider the possibility of using one of the exotic woods for the decking (PT for substructure FTW) like one of the Ironwood species like Ipe, or Cumaru, or even going all out and using number one clear cedar which isn't much less expensive.

Thanks for everyone's input ... if I do something unusual I'll take pics and post them up.
[right][snapback]290550[/snapback][/right]

i had a friend use some sort of exotic wood on his porch. It looks absolutely stunning. I'll see if I can get a hold of him to see what it was he used exactly. I know he got it locally too!

[meford4u]

Hemlock can be used for exterior woods and is available here. I used it for the flooring on the interior of my home and many a person have been blown away.
It is a hard wood and is very good against insect damage.
It was used as the post and beams in older barns.