New Deck

[Woodboy]

I have a 10 year old deck on a mountain property and I plan to have the whole cabin stained, including the deck. The pine deck is showing its wear and it might be a good time to consider one of the synthetic materials - Trex, etc. This is an outdoor deck mostly eastern sunny exposure and has snow sitting on it 5 months a year at 8,500'.

I have Trex at my home, it's ok, but absorbs bbq. grease, etc.

Big investment to consider, but if I am going to do it eventually - why pay to stain the deck now.

Any suggestions as to material and fastening methods - I like the invisible, non-surface marring clips, but those add to the cost too.

[diamondman]

Try Timbertech

Hi,
Just completed a 500 sq ft deck using Timbertech Earthwood Evolutions decking and I am very pleased with the results. Decking material is similar to other composite decking (wood flour + PVC) but is different in that the entire plank is clad with a fairly thick layer of vinyl which is pressed with a wood grain and also is printed with fairly realistic looking color variations so that it looks more like real wood and not plastic. The decking installs with hidden fasteners which fit in the grooved planks. Not only does it go together fast but it provides for very even spacing and the clip compensates for slightly different heights of the joists and for expansion due to temperature changes. I also used their matching railing system which looks great and goes up easy after you figure out the first one.

[JimD]

I have TREX on my deck and plain PT pine on the screened in porch. Without the sun and water on it the porch is holding up well. The TREX is also holding up well. The product I used is solid, no ribs or anything, but is not as rigid as wood. They recommended 12 inch joist spacing which would be unusually narrow for wood. You might need to do some re-framing to use composite materials.

Jim

[drillman88]

The neatest retrofit/conversions I have seen from wood to composite had the screws coming in from the bottom side of decking boards. I have seen this done two ways. The first was done with pocket screws. The second after the old decking was removed they sistered a 2x2 flush with the top of he existing joists then attached the compsite decking with screws up through this into the bottom of the deck boards. If you have enough crawl space I think i would try this.
No visible fastners, no screws to rust and stain the boards, no nubs sticking up were the screws dug in.