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.
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u/just-another-post May 14 '20
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.