I do not have TREX for that reason...they have had serious problems in the past especially here in NJ where I live...in fact there was a class action lawsuit filed against them here in NJ for that very reason...claimed no maintenance decks and then gave their customers a sealant after they experienced repeated mold problems like the ones you are seeing....remember it IS a mixture of cellulose (wood) and synthetic plastics and the cellulose is still a "food source" for the mold/bacteria.....better get on the phone with Trex!!

OK guys I am not gloting here, I dont like the T=Junk Co for a lot of reasons securaty violatons added to what you see here. I havent liked them for 10 years, I dont like the way they advertise with the fake curved decks. With all that as a given I was really thinking they had learned something after the Class Action.

That picture is the same as I saw all those years ago with the first product as I was out on service calls, piting,black mold,general degrading of the material.

Moose you booked a bad bet sorry,really I am. That black mold is coming from inside the material there is no fixing it no matter what the T=junk co says back to you.It seems to be installed corectley.

Hang in there Bud! John

No response so far other than from Trex in an email telling me I should only need to clean it once/year. Verbally one of the Trex reps told me twice a year.

I am open to a blog submission if anyone has a blog they'll post this on?

Man,I would open my own blog with problems like that,no lie it would be worth it. The same Judge would probley sit on the next t-junk class action, I am thinking you will get your money back and then some.
This Co should defently stop making any kind of decking in the very near furture. John

If you want to make a bunch of lawyers rich, start a class action. I you want compensation, just sue them.

There is another very unhappy composite customer over on the deckweb only its choice decking this time. Same kind of thing with mold and degrading material. He has investagted the leagal route and came up with nothing worth while, those ol boys are just making too much $ to fight. J

Moose Man, any help going on at all??? John

Nothing. Trex is offering a "professional" cleaning in the spring (6 months from now -- I'm in Michigan!!!).
Followed Trex's cleaning instructions, spots come back within days. Let them know this is unacceptable but I don't expect any new offers.

What the...? None of my Trex decks ever showed the problem you are talking about.

Curious...

Yo,glenn, the moose is not talking about them, The Man is showing what a t=junk deck will do and has done in a very short time.Added to the mix is what the trex co is saying back to Him. J

Anyone else notice how inconsistant the problem is? Look at the four boards in the center - many spots, then the ones on either side look pretty much clean. Looks like some of those boards came from a batch that was susceptible to mold and other didn't. I'd ask them if it is a maintenance issue how come the board 1/8" away from a moldy one is apparently not having the same problem.

Excellent point about the spots/no spots. Noticed that but never really thought of it that way. Just emailed this to Trex, will let you know their response (if any).

Jdew I do remember that batch thing going out on service calls on tjunk before the class action,strange deal some of it went mold and some of it dident.

This might explain why some Folks have good dealings with the stuff like the Glenn. I really dont have a strong insite on why this is so,but I am real sure how the Customer feels when the trex junk goes bad. I am thinking if say one out of 20 gets problems like we are seeing thats reason enough for this outfit to shut down, take care of their Wallets and Fix it before they crank it up again. John

Trex has responded and they are only offering the cleaning in the spring.

Joe,its a bad deal for ya, the trex co all together is rot to the core has been and if thats what they are saying to you now still is. They have all kinds of money to put out those high $ adds with fake decks, dealing with the Customer they have a big 0 and a lot of lawyers.

As I am remembering those years ago services calls, we took a power washer out in those days. Same kinda black spots after a while seeing that we had nothing to loose I just bore that machine into the tjunk, the mold was coming from inside the material the further we went the more there was. The general degrading as well as the black holes in your photos seem to rule out cleaning and puting a finish like twp on to fix things.

It looks like trex rail system you have there,is it doing the same thing in places?

Hang in there ol son,let us know. J

Not much you can do with that Trex Deck other than scrub it down with a bleach/water solution a couple of times a year. As much money as Trex makes you would think they would put in anti-mildew agents in the mix.

The more heck you raise the better chance a getting them to cough up the money for a replacement deck. Maybe contact the local TV station, papers, ect.

al

Problem is that I have to clean it about once every week to keep the spots away.

The rail system is custom built using their 5/4" boards and 2x2s. Very time consuming but it's a nice design.

Moose Man,its a bad deal all around,we have another post up there with the T=junk stuff that I responded to on another site. Bottom line>> the t=junk boys will not stop until the last thin dime is drained from their Customers they have enough lawyers to keep them from general harm as was exposed with the class action when they dident admit guilt.The only way to stop these guys is way past the normal Persons bank roll. J

Send me a quick note with permission to use these photos in the blog... I'll put it up. I also have an article that ranks well for composite decking in google. I'm reworking it so I would like to also use your testimonial and photos within that (only your first name and location in the article).

Make enough noise and Trex will buy your silence.

L

Here is a link that might be useful: composite decking review

Lawrence my Man,Where have you been?? you would not belive the trouble I get trying to say the same thing over here. I probley did not say it as well and of course and I defently dont have the kind of resourse behind me that your out fit has.Thats a lot of hits for any web site probley more than that latest paris hilton go around.

Moose!! go for it!!!

Nice looking work Lawrence but I thought Mrdeck had the best decks in the world!! Just kidding. I am wondering why you Folks dont go with ipe on a few of those projects.

Anway Thanks again,good to meet Ya I have your site pluged in now and will be checking in to see how it goes. John Hyatt,www.deckmastersllc.com

John, Humble guy-- you are doing great things!

On our site Click Installations to see the decks--GardenStructure only shows the basic plans available type decks.

Mr. Deck, now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Actually he wasn't known for his decks, it was pergolas the he was a genius at. Trouble is much of what he built was so close to the edge that if built anywhere else, Florida, Texas, the northern States it unfortunately would have failed.

He was doing such insane laminations with steel brackets that they would have blown apart from frost in the northern climates, and wind would have taken care of them in Florida.

I'm not sure how well they lasted but in the interest of preserving the genius that is Mr. Deck, it'd be nice if they lasted a long time.

I was always honored he didn't harshly critique my designs the way he did others on his site. I spoke to him a couple of times and found him a fascinating guy. He must be in his 60's by now.

John, we should talk about what you are doing in Oklahoma...

Use the toll free number anytime you have a few minutes ok?

L

Good Talking to Ya Mr L,,looking forward to the next chapter of the article.

Moose, hang in there Man. J

L,

Not sure how to email you, but yes, you absolutely have permission to post. Please contact me at moosefruit@gmail.com for any add'l details.

Good to hear you got in contact Joe, mabey you will get some action from the trex mafia but most of the time they just give the rotting material a cleaning and sell the Wallet a sealer. Mabey the Lawrence article will push T=Junk to pay up and give you what you got coming.

One thing I have to say about trex,they know how to market, all those glossy full page adds with decks imposed with the comp that dont exist and a full fleet of lawyer guys armed with street sweapers lock and load. Its no wonder the adverage Wallet belives them. J

Same issue with spots on a Trex Winchester Grey deck. Started occuring within 6 months after being installed...actually before we even moved in as this was part of a new house construction. We are in coastal South Carolina right on the ocean. Oddly enough it occurs only in the areas of the deck exposed to full sun. The covered areas of the deck do not have the spotting. I have pictures, but do not know how to post them. We have tried cleaning with a bleach, soap, water solution...slight improvement. As this is a vacation home, we are not there all the time (perhaps 3-6 days a month). Some vacation...let's go clean the deck for fun. Until I saw this forum, I thought it had something to do with being on the coast because everything there seems to require twice the maintenance as inland. I plan to contact Trex via email and will let you know if I hear back from them. In the meantime, I am going to try and use something called Corte-Clean and see if it works.

Chlorine Bleach or Sodium Hypochlorite (active ingredient in Chlorine Bleach) based deck cleaners that the uneducated recommend may appear to quickly remove mildew (white in color) and mold (black and other colors) fungus from Trex and other Composite Decking. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) DO NOT RECOMMEND Chlorine Bleach for Mold (Mildew is a species of Mold) remediation on porous surfaces such as Trex and other composite decking.

The reason for this is that Chlorine Bleach does not remove or kill the roots (mycelium) of the fungus, but actually waters them. A few weeks after you have cleaned a deck with chlorine bleach or sodium hypochlorite based products you will notice the mildew or other mold fungus growing back in greater numbers, especially after additional moisture comes into contact with the deck. It will make the problem worse and harder to remove the next time the composite surface becomes unsightly.

In addition, Chlorine Bleach products reek havoc on the rest of the deck structure shortening the life of the entire structure. It is highly corrosive to any metal including structural connectors or fasteners (screws) holding the deck together. It shortens the life of the pressure treated lumber supporting the deck. This could lead to liability issues for the owner of the property and any company who recommends its use.

PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY DESTRUCTIVE. It is shocking that Trex and other composite manufacturers do not follow the recommendations of the EPA or OSHA and recommend one of the most TOXIC chemicals known to this earth but sell their products as ECO FRIENDLY.

Hi Moose--

I posted the photos on the article about composite decking--there are other interesting photos there as well.

Lawrence

Here is a link that might be useful: Composite Decking vs Wood Decks

Moose: Just out of curiosity -- did they come clean the deck last spring? What has happened since then?

Yes they came out to clean the deck. They killed a bunch of bushes in my landscaping in the process. But the cleaning did remove the spots. However, some came back. I emailed Trex about this and never heard back. I just don't have the time to mess around anymore....they must be happy - they win.

Thats a bad deal Moose,them boys are really stonewall experts ghesssss.

I was thinking a coat of finish like twp would help after the mold is cleaned off but the way the t=junk is rotting on top that might not help. Thats all I can think of.

Sorry Man, John

Latest update: the spots look absolutely horrible again now that the snow has melted off the deck.

Moose ghesssssssss after two years trex has done nothing for you??

trex announced last november they were seting aside $45 million to pay for defective decking made in the Fernley Nev. plant. Learning from the class I am thinking probley saves some lawyer fees.

John

They cleaned it once but it really did no good...was a very short term solution. The spots are back.

I've heard from a few users that have had the same issue. Feel free to contact me if you want to swap war stories with Trex's complaint dept.

moosefruit@gmail.com

Dammmmmmmmm. I hate those guys. Hang in there Moose!!

J.

I started a blog because of this.

See the post here:
http://momsfork.blogspot.com/2008/04/beware-of-trex.html

Not sure if Trex will care, but I've got nothing to lose and hopefully can save a lot of people from this garbage.

I had trex brasilia installed in my front yard on a stairway, and it has been great. Because of that, I redid a 2500 sq ft deck around my pool in trex brasilia, and I have these black mold spots everywhere! I am so upset I don't know what to do!!!

Patrick:

Please contact me. We are forming a group of people who are having the same issues and hopefully as a collective we can influence Trex to correct these problems for everyone.

mooosefruit@gmail.com

-Joe

Joe (moosefruit):

It seems I found this forum a year to late :(

I am having the exact same dark spots all over a Trek Brasilis deck I had installed (three tier - 2000 square feet). I originally thought that it was dirt/etc -- however upon searching of some sort of cleaning agent -- I found that it seems to be mold.

I am not sure if you are still pursuing building a collective to influence Trek - however I would LOVE to be apart of it.

Should I eamil you - or you can email me at antoniobizzieri@msn.com

Best regards,

Tony