If you let your dogs dump on your deck, whatever decking you use will look like $hit. You should have a tile deck, and you can hose it down...or just take the dogs for a walk.

steve

Ugh.
Poor dogs.

they don't suffer, believe me- they go for an hour long walk every day, they spend most of their time in the house with us and go out on the deck when they choose to through a doggie door. They are taken for short walks throughout the day to potty but if they need to go between walks they do so on the deck and we immediately clean it up. Once a week they go for a half day run with 7 or 8 other dogs, so it's not like we throw them out on the deck and ignore them.

We are just trying to make the deck look a little better, I looked at Synta restore in home depot, but I'm afraid the texture would be uncomfortable to their paws. Using a belt sander I can sand about 90% of the solid stain off but not enough to go to a transparent stain, it's just impossible to get it all off.

Composite will cost you as much as ipe. I'd go for the cheapest option, PT, and then you won't care as much if they look crappy (no pun intended).

HD and Lowe's carry PT decking. Not sure why the clerks got confused. You're just looking for standard deck boards.

If the wood's in good condition, but just stained, consider just painting the whole thing brown. You'll need to redo the flat surfaces every couple years, but you can just do an adder coat with minimal prep.

There's a 'real' lumber yard about 30 minutes from me, I think I will go there and see if they have PT, thanks =)

I looked at paverdeck, it looks great, but it appears that you have to install it over their proprietary steel framing, I found a PDF file that quotes 'average' price for materials at $16-$20 SQ ft which is more than I could spend on the deck- it's really a very big deck, like 1200 sq ft.

Fiberglass over the decking, 3/4 tongue and groove then coating of resin to seal it. Rinse off when you have to.

I just 'googled' fiberglass decking and strongwell "strongdek" keeps coming up, is that what you were referring to? I checked their website and they don't exactly have dealers, only a contact for a sales rep for California and Nevada

Here is a site where they place the "glass over the deck.
http://www.fibertek.ca/sundeck.htm
and
http://www.garagecoatings.com/Waterproof-Deck-Coating/VersaDeck/Plus-Kits/Versa-Deck-Kit.html

@CaptRandy- thanks I'm going to call our GC friend and see if he can find someone local who handles either one of those that you linked.
@DHPearson- yeah we are in a climate very much like Utah- Northern Nevada, we are at about 5,000 feet and have blazing sun on the deck in the summer and snow accumulations in the winter. Because of the dogs we wash down the deck every day, and in the winter shovel it every day. I will look into the composites again, there have been so many 'doom and gloom' postings regarding them that I had pretty much crossed them off the list, but it's nice to hear that you had a good experience with it.

I read a lot of the doom and gloom and lawsuits and whatever about composites. What it really comes down to though is the difference between "maintenance free" and "low maintenance". Any product claiming to be maintenance free is a farce. Everything needs upkeep. However, some products, like Trex, are low maintenance, meaning that they just require cleaning to keep them looking good. Trex.com has some great cleaning advice for their fences and decks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trex Deck Cleaning Guide

Lynne-I want to give you kudos for trying! I have dogs who are loved. Not as nice deck, no rugs in the house and hair everywhere, lol. I have a yard and a deck,. Like you my dogs are house bums. I have an aggressive dog next door who is very territorial and charges my fence line. I too am looking for the same. Post if you try any of the suggestions and how they worked. Thanks.

Hi Janice, I too have dogs that are loved (well one of them anyway :), no rugs and constantly vacuuming fur. I have lived in a house with Western Red Cedar porches and yes the claws left marks on the wood. Any softer wood like cedar or pine will most likely end up with tell tale marks. Personally I wouldn't do pressure treated, which 98% of the time is Southern Yellow Pine, both because it is soft and treated with some pretty nasty chemicals. A sweaty dog on a hot day lying on pressure treated material will absorb the chemicals into their feet and skin. Human feet as well.... I don't have any science to back this up, and I'm sure I just made myself a target for the PT industry, but in my book common sense dictates.... If you go on our site www.soluslumber.com you can see several hardwood decking options. Give us a call and we can talk about your specific situation and see if we can come up with a cost effective solution. Hardwoods won't guarantee no marks (I've seen dogs leave marks on bluestone), but it will go a long way to helping keep your deck looking beautiful.