O/T deck material

We are going to rebuild a deck on the house as soon as the weather warms up. I have been looking in to low maintainace material. Composite and pvc. Can anyone recommend a good brand and/or what to stay away from.The deck will be 16 by 22, I"m thinking composite deck and wood railings, as the composite railings look flimsy. We live in central Mn. so the temps run from -30 to 95F. Thanks Dale

It's kind of expensive but the Trex decking is very durable and low maintainance. They also make the railing to go with it. The next best would be pressure treated yellow pine. It will hold up well but you need to wood preservatives on it or it will develop surface cracks.

I have seen the old and newer versions of the plastic decking. I agree that the plastic railing is not only flimsy but cheap too. Search the Inet and see what is available from different makers in plastic decking. A guy I know put in the plastic decking in about 2003, cheap, ends didnt line up with the trim board. But they may have come a long way in 8-10 years with it.

I put in a Trex deck, railings and all' Subframe work is treated lumber. My decking was a new lumber color when new and with age it turned a grayish white--matches the gray siding good. I built the deck in 2000 and haven't touched it since. It can be painted or stained but then you probably would have to renew it in a few years.

The only thing I've been involved with is a product called Nexwood. I used it for the deck flooring and railings close to ten years ago and the surface texture still looks close to new. As I understand it's a combination of plastic and cellulose. Looks a little like wood and has a slightly rough texture. When you cut it it doesn't chip and shatter like plastic. You need to support it underneath well, like 12" on center because unlike wood it has no grain so it will sag easier than wood. Nexwood has cleaning instructions for stuff like wine because it will stain like wood from spills and it will fade like wood. Sweeping it off is a little harder because of the slightly rough surface.

My deck has a full roof over it so it doesn't see sunlight after about 10:00 in the morning and it doesn't appear to have faded much compared to some spare pieces I have stored away in the shed. The color I got is kind of light brown to match the western type styling of the front of my house. I liked the stuff from day one because it doesn't look like plastic and after almost ten years I still like it. As a disclaimer, there are other products out there that are just as good or better than Nexwood. It just depends what your tastes are. Jim

Not to hijack the thread, but if price wasn't an issue, would you folks use this stuff as a wagon floor or a manure spreader floor? I'm close enough to an outlet and leftovers are reasonable....

Thanks...
And sorry for the hijack.

About 6 years ago, I replaced the back deck on our house with the composite decking from Lowes. The stuffs a hell of a lot heavier then regular decking boards, stringers 16 inchs on center. Deck has held up well. It has a semi rough surface for no slip, yet smooth to walk on barefoot, no cracking, no warping, to splinters, no fading from its orignal color.

Now the bad part, unknown to us at the time the material being cranked out from the manufacturer had a defect in which after about year the deck looked like it had rain spots on it. You could power wash it off and it would be fine for another year. However its supposed to be maintenance free, no washing,no staining, no sun bleaching etc. Others who had used the stuff around the same time we did had the same problem.

We then recieved a notice in the mail that the manufacturer and Lowes were part of a class action lawsuit over this. We turned in a copy of the reciept and the tag thats on the end of the boards. 6 months later we were reimbursed for the cost of the decking boards. I could have replaced the material, however I can live with spending 4 hours once a year to powerwash the deck. Not to mention I was reimbursed for the material.

This was 4 years ago and the problem was supposedly corrected by the manufacturer, however I would use caution.

Over 8 thousand dollars worth from LOWES 4 years ago. Never had any issues with it but as the other poster said got my money back. We have power washed it one time looks like new now. I thought the brand on it was Trex But maybe offbrand but sure beats replacing 5/4 ever 4 or 5 years. Price has really came down and as a added benefit you can walk out on it in hot sun no heat.

Quick suggestion -
For the railings, look into a black or dark bronze anodized aluminum spindle system or a complete metal railing system. If you have any kind of a view, it is the least obtrusive.

Don't know why it can't be used for a wagon floor. As long as there is enough support underneath it should last a lifetime. Jim

I was given a nice deck for the removal of what I wanted on a tear down. The deck boards were "prime" "no knot" boards. I did not intend to us a deck material. Put together with a nail gun - about 25 % of the nails pulled through the boards. On 16 inch center was treated 2 x 12's. About 4 pick up's loads of wood. Story was it had not been taken care as still looked very good before I started with a pry bar-no electric to house.

May I suggest concrete. That's what I have. Zero problems and no critters crawling around under it.

My father put azteck or something over his treated wood pool deck. The treated wood dried over time split and became unsafe. He got that plastic stuff to put over it. So far it seems good.