We had concrete decks designed for our house. They're poured onto corrugated steel sheets just like those you see in high rises. Might be interesting to see what that would cost compared to PT and composit. Tom

Sniffdog did post on that forum, but didn't receive an answer to his/her question yet. I'm looking for the same info and hope that someone out there may be able to help us out.

Thanks!!!!

I can't tell you whether it is worth the extra $$ to you, but I can share how we made our decision.

Our last home had a large cedar deck. It was beautiful, but the maintenance was so high that DH hated it and I resented the amount of time that it took. We lived in a wooded area and it was shaded a lot of the time. Moss grew and had to be removed. Boards rotted and had to be replaced. We pressure washed and coated it regularly to no avail.

When we were designing our house, we had a exposed aggregate front porch and a trex deck in back. Because we knew we wanted trex, we made the deck only as large as really necessary. It's not as pretty as the old cedar deck, but to my eyes it's more beautiful because it doesn't need maintenance. As we age, that issue will become more and more important to us. The new deck is partly covered, but since it's all one deck, we kept the material the same.

In your case, if the price is prohibitively expensive, you could go with PT for now, and plan on replacing it further down the road. Or if you have several separate decks, perhaps use composite on part of the areas.

I would go with the trex deck. that's what we're going to do even though it's so expensive. I always remember my then three-year-old niece getting a terrible splinter in her bare foot on my mom's cedar deck a few years ago. It was heartbreaking to hear her cries. That alone is worth the cost of trex decking to me. I don't want our kids, when we have them, to get splinters. (Or me, for that matter! I'm a kentucky girl so I love to go barefoot!)

Maintenance is the #1 reason that we went with composite deck material on our second floor deck. Maintaining a ground level deck is one thing, doing so on the second story is just something I didn't want to have to figure out. The first floor patio (under the composite deck) will have a stone surface.

A friend of mine considered a trex-like product for her deck, but she said she was totally scared off when she heard that it stains pretty easily and that if it gets stained, it's darn near impossible to get the stain out (think red wine). Any comments on this aspect?
Thanks.

beware,
I'd read this as well. We barbecue (think grease), drink wine (red and white) and otherwise actually USE our trex deck.
In addition, last summer I had several bird droppings (deep purple from eating blackberries). I followed the instructions (scrub with hot water and a little bleach).
The stains are gone. I think the stain issue is overstated.

For composite decking, I'd stay away from Trex. The newer one may be better, but the last one had lots of problems. Timbertech, Tendura and others are all better. These decks really do well in covered applications as well.

In my opinion, if you are going for a wood look, then go with real wood - whether thats Cedar or Ipe. If you want a painted deck, then go with one of the composites that you can paint like Tendura or others.

I think I can answer your question. We have a rear deck and full length front porch. The rear deck is not covered and gets full sun/rain exposure, the front porch is covered and gets minimal sun/rain exposure. It's been two years since we finished the decking on both(both PT lumber) and I just re-coated the rear deck, but it still looks OK, but should have done composite there, didn't because of $. The front porch looks like it did the day I coated it still. Composite is a waste of many on covered porches/decks that get minimal sun/rain exposure in my opinion, based on our situation.

We decided to add a very large covered front porch and back patio on our current house. We went with concrete. It was not much more than PT wood. We also went with metal railing, so no maintenance there.

We have sold our current house (in 2 days, due in part, large part, I believe, to our porch and patio) and are getting ready to build. Our house will include a basement...we will be using concrete for our front porch, back porch and ground level basement patio. I can't imagine going back to wood now....

jcal

thanks for the input, it sounds like you have a very similar situation to what i have. The only uncovered deck that I will have is a 14' x 14' area, and I can suck it up and deal with that for a few years.

My plan is to have the builder screw down all of the boards to make it easier for me to replace them down the road. I will go with PT boards with the goal of keeping them for 5-7 years. By then, there should be more data on today's top selling composites as well as newer products (hopefully cheaper). I can replace the deck boards with something else - if that becomes necessary.

I have seen the Timber Tech product on several decks and it looks great. I just cannot justify the delta cost in my situation.

Thanks to all for the inputs.

It probably won't get any cheaper. It might get cheaper in terms of inflated dollars later, but in real dollars - doubtful. It takes petroleum to make a lot of artificial products and if you believe that petroleum prices will go down in the future then fine, but I doubt it. Also, since these products are comparable to wood, and since wood isn't cheaper - then I doubt this will get cheaper. .

If you do PT wood or even composite decking, I think one thing people neglect is that the underside is not properly done. For instance if its deck over another deck, is it properly waterproofed ? Are stringers being used that give it adequate ventilation, etc. I think people think just putting PT wood or composite over any old patio structural framing member will do, and its just not that simple.

skagit goat man and jennymama,

Would you mind telling me more about the concrete deck option? I posted on the decks and porches forum, but no one seemed to have any information there on concrete (just composite and ipe mostly).

What product did you use? What was the cost per sq ft? How did the cost compare to PT or composite? Any drawbacks that you can see? What type of handrails did you use (aluminum? steel tubing? wrought iron? other?)

Thanks so much! -- Micah

In my area, people don't usually use the composites for covered spaces. We are dry, but at this elevation the summer sun is punishing. A covered cedar deck will last at least 30 years round here, so it's hard to justify the up-charge for a composite.

Concrete decks aren't common here either: too hot in the sun, way too cold during the very long winter. Still, I like the idea of a deck which won't get any cr*p under it and no worries about staining from the barbecue.

Yes, more on the concrete deck option please! I've sworn off outdoor wood forever. We have a very large, high 2-story deck in a lake/woods/harsh sun situation and the PT is rotting and warpling like crazy. I like Ipe, but it's a rainforest product, which is troubling.

Is it possible to have a high, large concrete deck? What do you use for supports?

For my 2nd story deck, we're using 'Lock Dry', which I learned about here.

My builder ordered a sample [after I sent him the link] and is very impressed with it.

I am a little worried that it will get too hot on the feet, since it's aluminum...

Here is a link that might be useful: Lock dry

I've lived here in Hawaii with PT decks for the past 14 years (4 different houses) and there was absolutely no way I ever considered installing it in my new house. The upkeep is tremendous, and as someone already pointed out, unless all sides of the boards are properly sealed (or painted, which is the preferred method in Hawaii)you still end up with horrendous mold, mildew and dry rot problems.

Admittedly, my need were fairly specific: I have a young daughter with disabilities, so I needed a decking material that wouldn't give off splinters nor would it get hot enough to burn her feet. I also breed service dogs, so I needed a product that wouldn't scratch up from doggie toenails, wouldn't stain from puppy accidents, and could be hosed off every day without causing any degradation of the product.

I spent a lot of time on the GW porches and decks forum, and in the end I went with ipe. I had the same misgivings about its rainforest origins as another poster, but it was just the best product for my needs. My original intention was to let it go gray, but now that I've seen how gorgeous it is, I'm probably going to take a stab at keeping it up, at least somewhat.

You can try to be careful where you get your ipe from. I lived in Brazil for a couple of years, so I'm pretty cynical about the organization they have to protect the wood. But I just couldn't get around the fact that it was the best available product for what I wanted.

Summer

I have a deck and i put sealer on it after 67 years well i then tryed psinting it every summer i have to repaint is it because i used sealer can i lay composit deck over yhis im tired of cleaning and repainting every year whats my options pleas help

6or 7 years when it was ready

In my climate (Syracuse NY) PT wood is a huge maintenance item - at least it is if you care what it looks like. I have had to sand the finish off of my decks 2-3 times in the lat 10 years in order to re-finish them. And my stairs are ready to be done again. If the exposed deck is on the 2nd or 3rd story with another deck below that complicates refinishing because any chemical strippers used will drip down to the surface below and possibly do damage. My next deck will be composite.

Thanks for info

Interesting discussion, particularly zone8's comment about the shaded deck. I always imagined that would require less maintenance than our full sun deck. ;) We have a wood deck in full sun that has to be recoated every single year. Now our porch is also wood, but covered. The only area that looks slightly worn are the steps there which get more sun of course. No mold/mildew issues, just gets a good cleaning 1 or 2x a year.

Thank you for the limk i ck it out