Timbertech builder board (another question)......

19 years ago

Starting to build railings out of TimberTech builder board (in redwood).

There seems to be a "coating" on the boards that is darker than the decking. It seems to match the edges of the fascia board (like a shiny dark redwood) but not the flat portions of the decking itself (sort of a pale version of the same redwood color). My issue with the coating is that its marked up a little (from transport, shipping, etc) to where you can see the underlying, "pale redwood" color.

I cut my upper and lower rail, and sanded one of them down to make it all the uniform pale color. Is this the color that the stock will weather to? My wife (and I!) like the darker "shiny" color, but since the boards are marked up I couldnt see making the rails without sanding everything down to match one color (which happens to be the pale redwood color).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

-Chris

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Comments (4)

john_hyatt
19 years ago
Chris,the color of any composite is not going to be the same. The rail system is different than the decking the decking is different from the skirting,and there are diferances in between the same material.

Sanding wont hurt a whole lot but generaly its a bad idea with composite. Just leave the stuff alone and see how it looks after going thru a few weather cycles. John
chrisexv6
Original Author
19 years ago
Well, we're at a crossroads :)

I sanded the rails for that one portion of railing. Its installed, it doesnt look half bad (the darker color is nice, but its a little glossy, making it look faker than fake composite wood :) ). I left one side of the top rail unsanded to compare. Its definitely a nicer color, but the scuffed up areas make it look not so good (mostly because they reveal a different color underneath). Ill try to get pics if I can (its dark out now).

I checked over the rest of the builder board I received in the order, and all of the boards look the same.....scuff marks that reveal the pale color underneath. So my choices arent many......get them to take back the builder board and replace it with boards that have no scuffs (unlikely, considering they are 16' sections, I wonder if they even have any that arent scuffed), build the rest of the railings without sanding the stock and hope for the best, or just keep building and sanding the stock. Since I have 2 more sets of railings to install, I think Ill not sand them and see what happens. I suppose I could always sand them later if I dont like how they weather. For the one sanded set, maybe someday Ill replace it (or it would make a nice experiment to see if unsanded boards weather to the same color).

Incidentally, if you look at the pic on this page: http://timbertech.com/Products/RailingSystems/BuilderBoard.aspx, they built the railings for the "bridge" using builder board. Note the pale, light color. Compare that to the darker, deeper color in between the decking boards. Thats what we're looking at.....the builder board looks the dark color, but when sanded (or scuffed) it looks the lighter color like is shown on the railings.

-Chris
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john_hyatt
19 years ago
I tell you Mon,,just build the thing and leave it alone. J.
chrisexv6
Original Author
19 years ago
Wheres the fun in that? :)

Railings going up tomorrow without being sanded. Will be interesting to see how they weather. Obviously they will look different than the portion I sanded, but at least for now I can use the deck/platform......the railing section can always be replaced down the road.

-Chris