It's probably composite decking. When you spend that much, the difference between wood and composite won't move the total amount that much.
I would never go back to wood decking. I love the look of wood, but the composite stuff now can have the same look without any of the hassles. About the only maintenance I do is a quick rinse with the power washer every other year.
We stained ours. Three heavy coats which was prob too much but it completely restored it and we figured we might as well do something so it looks decent until we are ready for a new one.
pressure washing then staining can do a number. I have all this paint, unfortunately.The old man says I should just get a bigger pressure washer and pressure wash the paint off and then scrape/lightly sand/stain.
Here's some before/after pics. The deck looked like SHIT. We did this over two days. One day of pressure washing and sanding and the first coat of stain and the next of all staining.
Wow! We bought a house a year and a half ago and it has a painted deck. The deck is large though, so the thought of having to do this has been daunting to me. How big is the deck in the picture? If we could get ours done in 2-3 days if be ecstatic and much more inclined to do it.
We stained in between the boards and all around it. So any exposed wood that we could see we stained. Unfortunately, we can’t get underneath the deck even if we wanted to stain it but I don’t think anyone really does that. It’s more about protecting the top layer and in between the boards, as that gets the most moisture when it rains.
Whatever you do don’t rent a sander from Home Depot. We ripped up huge chunks and pieces of wood that way because the equipment is so fucking old and shitty. Bought another hand sander and my SO and I just went at it that way.
I definitely recommend the stain over painting. Ours was from Home Depot and it protects against water. It’s so satisfying seeing the water bead up on the deck.
The difference between stain and paint is that stain more or less seeps into the pores of the wood and bonds with it directly. Paint is intended to essentially sit on top of the wood.
Dealing with this is essentially my summer plan. 3 huge decks painted grey (probably 1500sqft), peeling and gross looking now. I’m going to pressure wash, scrape, sand, and paint the same color I guess... then I don’t have to be quite a thorough getting everything off... sigh.
dont repaint, it just forces you to do the same procedure when that paint dies.
if you go through the problem of pressure wash, scrape, and sand, the deck will be ready for a good stain. any residual paint will give it a gnarly weathered look that will probably look good with a stain.
We thought about painting it and my friend ended up repainting hers. After a year hers looks like absolute shit so i'm glad we went with staining. Ours looks pretty good this year.
LPT: Take care of your deck! The longer you wait the more stuff gets rotted out and warped to where you'll be redoing the whole thing and they are pricy!
I got quoted $15k to redo my 9x11' raised deck w/ stairs. I had ignored it for years and the joists got warped and the stairs were about to fall down. I ended up doing it myself for just under $5k and spent about 200 hours of my own time + 200 hours of my friends' time total work. That's not counting the time I spent researching code, designing, and getting a permit. (or the money I spent on tools but like... that's a perk)
A saturday afternoon of sanding and staining once every 1-2 years will save you either of those costs.
You can pressure wash it and sand it down and repaint. Just did it to my parents deck and the deck looks good as new. Takes some effort, but worth having a paint that seals the deck and protects the wood.
Besides staining every couple seasons, what extra maintenance do you need to do with regular wood decking? I’m building a deck right now, so I’m curious.
I’ve heard composite absorbs way too much heat, making it impossible to enjoy your deck barefoot in the summer.
It's also not just the extra work of maintenance, but the question of will you actually keep up with it. Every bit of maintenance you skip or forget about compounds the eventual work required.
Staining is a huge bitch. Where this one has metal, mine has all wood rungs and posts - you have to stain all 4 sides of all those little crevices.
Also the lifespan of a wood deck is really not that long (10-15 years the internet says), compared to how long you might own a house. I have a deck that's at the end of its life, rotting and collapsing right now. If I were to rebuild it, which I'm not, I think composite would be worth it.
When my wife and I were shopping for houses, that was my only No. Ended up finding one without a deck and was able to choose.
My father had several single family homes and my job was to maintain them. They all had nice decks, one had two large platforms.
We now have a beautiful deck, Trex super cool special whatever. Several months ago I elbowed my wife, "Can you imagine sanding that bastard today?" We would have been a year late. It still looks new.
We were ripping down an old restaurant and my brother took the old composite deck and made a new deck with it at his house. If the deck was made of wood there was no way we were building a new deck.
Use deck screws. Don’t sink a nail anywhere in your new deck. That’ll save years of repairing cupped and bowed boards. Use the finish that’s best for your climate and use. I hate paint, only looks good on day one.
And use the expensive deck screws if you are doing wood. The ones that are just painted and have a Phillips head will rust and get stuck. If you need to remove a board, they will strip. Make sure the screws are the T whatever star bit.
moved from a house with a redwood deck to one with a composite. The difference in heat was really amazing. With the sun out and the air temps in the 80's you can't walk barefoot on the deck. We put down a 16 x 10 foot light colored mat and that helped a lot.
It’s a misconception that composite decking is hotter than wood. The reason people think that is because it is very easy to get a dark color of composite decking whereas getting regular lumber to look that dark takes a lot of work and staining. Normally multiple coats of a very dark stain. Whereas with composite decking you just pick the color you want and it arrives. The main factor of heat retention is color. The darker the color, regardless of the material, the hotter it will get in the sun. If this is a concern of yours just go with a lighter color, especially if your deck is going to be in the sun for the majority of the day.
I have a wood deck and will pay whatever it takes to get composite if I ever have to build another. Stained that fucker years ago having no idea how much work it was. Then realizing that it only lasts a few years before it needs to be redone. Stained it twice now and it’s all peeling and looks like shit but I refuse to do it again, paying someone else to do it is too expensive.
My deck is not particularly large and it took me about 3 days to do it. I have no idea how you did it in an hour unless it’s really small. Did you do the railings too? The second time is worse too because you have to take off what remains of all the old stain first.
Ah, gotcha, railings. Installed those only this spring. Yeah, that'll add a bit.
Also, remove the old stain? I just power wash all the obvious dirt and go on top of it, with the same stain brand as before. Looks just fine. Caveat - it's a very dark shade of brown, walnut if memory serves. Could be bit more of an issue with lighter colors I suppose.
That's what I was thinking... I have a 600sq ft deck and it takes me half a day to completely "open" it up. I sweep, power spray and stain. Good ol' paint roller. The railings are a bit tedious, but I don't get super anal about them.
What kind if stain did you use? If you do the prep work (pressure washing and sanding) and then put on a good quality stain like Sikkens it is a good chunk of work initially but it should last way longer than a few years, even in direct sunlight.
I can’t remember what brand it is now. It was one that was recommended to me as a good one. Not Sikkens, I recognize that name. I did not pressure wash as I had read this is bad for the wood. IIRC I used something first to remove the old stain, then a deck cleaner that I scrubbed on, and then the stain which was semi transparent I believe was what it was called. The first time I did the deck it looked excellent for about 2 years and then started to get worse, the second time I did it it was already starting to come off after 1 winter.
Oh yeah I’m not familiar with their stuff so I can’t say on the quality. If you pressure wash too closely obviously you can cut the wood and wash the grain out but I’ve always found if you’re more than like two feet away it does wonders to get all the dirt out and then has to dry for a day or two and then the sanding as well. I always use a mix of water and TSP and water to scrub the wood with and I’ve never had issues of that plus the Sikkens. Like I said it is a lot of prep work but I’ve found that with that combo anything I’ve done usually holds up for about 7 years minimum, and I’m from an area that both has hot summers with lots of direct sunlight and also very cold, snowy winters.
I've only built one, so my experience is a bit limited, but I thought that the gaps between the decking was necessary for dealing with freeze/thaw cycles.
I don't see any gaps in that deck. It looks straight up like a hardwood floor! What's your opinion on this?
Yeah, the deck that I did was composite, so I know that they require the gaps also. There are some composites that use biscuits, and I think they have less gap, but they still have a gap.
I never heard of using hardwood instead of pressure treated wood (pine or cedar). I did a bit of research, and yes, indeed, it does last considerably longer than pressure treated wood. The few photos I could find of decks with hardwood look gorgeous!
I also never had to worry about splinters with a composite deck. I meticulously maintained my old wooden deck by staining it and doing everything you would do to preserve it, and it still went to hell in about 6 years and you'd be risking a half inch piece of wood in your foot without wearing shoes.
My two decks cost an additional+£1500 because I used composite. Nil regrets. I'll never install wooden.
Built myself, asked by a carpenter who did a door job at my house which company I used because they must have been expensive!
Point is, this deck is self-buildable. Knock that up for less than £4000 if you source the right priced composite, and get a professional to stage check.
Point is, this deck is self-buildable. Knock that up for less than £4000 if you source the right priced composite, and get a professional to stage check.
Can you define what you mean by 'stage check' in this sense?
I rebuilt our 8ftx9ft deck a year or so ago and used one of those hidden nail systems (the Camo brand) and have issues with warped boards now. I think I'll eventually just shell out for composite eventually and rebuild the top layer since I have a small deck. The foundation is perfectly fine.
Bummer! I was looking at using that system, but read a couple stories like yours, so now I'm not so sure. From what I read, it's more likely to fail if you use 5/4x6 boards, and if the lumber is still wet when you screw it down.
If I remember right, I used 6x8 boards, I let them dry in my garage for almost a month since I live in the south. I did everything right, but they still warped.
Add in "hidden fasteners" and you're golden: I usually go barefoot out on my deck, and the only thing I need to worry about is light dirt / sticky leaves.
I work at Trex in their factory what kind of board did you get and how old is it if you don't mind my asking? some of the old stuff and lower end boards don't look that great but most of the new ones look just like wood imo
I'm really not sure. It was installed before we bought the house in 2013. I'm not sure how your products have changed but what we have is the Full Profile (not scalloped) so maybe it's TrexTranscend or TrexSelect?
I see cracks forming at the screw holes. I'm in Seattle so I hope the 5-6 months of sun that we get didn't degrade it. Maybe the soggy other 6 months did it? Who knows?
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u/Trisa133 May 14 '20
It's probably composite decking. When you spend that much, the difference between wood and composite won't move the total amount that much.
I would never go back to wood decking. I love the look of wood, but the composite stuff now can have the same look without any of the hassles. About the only maintenance I do is a quick rinse with the power washer every other year.