Deck Material Selection

[Chico_SA 521]

I have someone taking measurement for some deck repair/replacement.  He warned me that their would  will be a large difference in cost between pressure treated and composite or cedar.  The deck isn't covered but does have lots of tree shade.  Very little direct sunlight for extended periods and I would be pretty good with cleaning and maintenance. 

Thoughts on pressure treated?  My old house had cedar so I was a little spoiled by that.

[g8rman95 0]

Lots of shade may make it acceptable for composite, but that shit gets HOT in the sun.  I've had plenty of decks made of pressure treated and never had many issues.  All wood needs care and the occasional replacement, but still the best bang for the buck IMHO.

[luke duke 6,412]

I would avoid pressure treated.

[utee94 15,805]

I recommend spending the extra and going with composite.  It does get warmer than wood, but it sounds like your area is shaded.  

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Ipe (Ee-Pay)  It gets pricey, but it lasts forever, takes little maintenance, looks like teak with a semi yearly coat of oil, and is considered a fire retardant material by Ca. building codes (or so I've heard), it's so dense it just smoulders....

[deadshank 24,652]

24 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Ipe (Ee-Pay)  It gets pricey, but it lasts forever, takes little maintenance, looks like teak with a semi yearly coat of oil, and is considered a fire retardant material by Ca. building codes (or so I've heard), it's so dense it just smoulders....

Smoulders with a "u"?   Must be fancy English stuff.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

1 minute ago, deadshank said:

Smoulders with a "u"?   Must be fancy English stuff.

Blimey, Tis siiiir .........

[T-shirt Sip 2,097]

I work at a local fence and deck company. We never use treated pine for decking. It’s great for the framing but that’s it. We don’t even warranty treated decking because its so unpredictable. Use cedar or composite. 

[Tailgate Jeff 3]

I'm having a 12 'x 20' deck built right now at my lake house and I'm using Trex for the deck material.  Deck will be completely exposed to the elements and gets full sun pretty much all day.  I like the fact that the deck will be pretty low maintenance. My pressure-treated wood deck here in Ohio is partially shaded and only gets full sun in the afternoon.  It needs painted every 2 or 3 years and there are always 4 or 5 boards that rot out and need to be replaced every spring.

My contractor is running the floor joists on 12 inch centers as opposed to the typical 16 inch centers because I'm running the decking at a 45 degree angle. He said that this offers better support and Trex will bow or sag if not properly supported.  He also pre-drills the Trex before screwing it to the joists.

Using Trex as opposed to wood increased the cost by about 35%.  There are a number of other Trex like products on the market that are 20-30% less expensive than Trex.

 

[Chico_SA 521]

Two Quotes so far

1st one would demo the existing 2 level 440 sq ft deck.  Small business that isn't full time it seems. He proposed Pressure Treated and using existing structure. He would be putting some decking under the 240 sq ft top level so the total new deck would be 760 sq ft plus stairs. He would use the same type pressure treated for the rail balusters.  $14,800

2nd one does not ever use Pressure Treated for the actual decking since they wont warranty it.  They are a pretty established decking company.  They will use Weston Red Cedar.  They will not deck under upper deck (400 sq feet)  but will instead put skirting between the two levels using the same type cedar.   They will also  put in a couple of BBQ shelves/bars on each level. They will used black iodized steel balusters.  They also put  edging on all along the lengths so that plank ends aren't exposed so the product seems to be a little more high end.  About 440 sq feet not including stairs.  240 on top and 200 below.  They quoted $13, 738 without demo and $16,625 with demolition and haul off.  I've pretty much decided against doing the demo myself. 

Given the materials offered and the extras, it seems like the 2nd is a much better offer.  However, is that still an unreasonably high a quote? 

 

 

[Chico_SA 521]

I’m guessing this will be what the rails, skirting, (ours will be 8 ft from top deck to bottom), and edging will look like. I like the clean look.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lat22 4,010]

Trex. 

[Chico_SA 521]

Please see the post a few up.  I'm on the budget phase now.  Was hoping to get some input on those quotes. 

[boilerhorn 1,373]

I am going to resurrect this topic as I have a similar "issue."

Small deck on a lake-area condo needs replaced.  One deck company will only use pressure treated pine for the deck material.

My thoughts:

• Will have to wait about 6 months to paint (wood needs to dry)
• Unpredictable behavior during that 6 months
• Family and animals will "touch" the arsenic-laden deck for the drying period

I see how pressure treated is good for the support structure.  Thoughts?

[High Plains Drifter 11,029]

 

 They don't use arsenic in pressure treated wood anymore. I wouldn't worry about your last bullet.

[boilerhorn 1,373]

9 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

 They don't use arsenic in pressure treated wood anymore. I wouldn't worry about your last bullet.

Thanks.  Aside from composite and pressure treated pine, what would you (or anyone else) recommend for deck material?

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,874]

The last time I built one I used Redwood, but that was in 1981.

[High Plains Drifter 11,029]

On 6/21/2018 at 5:55 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

Ipe (Ee-Pay)  It gets pricey, but it lasts forever, takes little maintenance, looks like teak with a semi yearly coat of oil, and is considered a fire retardant material by Ca. building codes (or so I've heard), it's so dense it just smoulders....

 

years ago I helped build a deck for a non-profit nature center type place. They used Ipe wood. 15 or so years later, still looks good, but there is some weatherization, but it gets full sun all day long and is subject to hot summers, cold winters, etc.

BUT, its so dense and hard, its difficult to work with. And very expensive.

[High Plains Drifter 11,029]

4 hours ago, boilerhorn said:

Thanks.  Aside from composite and pressure treated pine, what would you (or anyone else) recommend for deck material?

 

I'd probably just go with pressure treated pine (although with lumber prices nowadays, I might rethink that). Accept the fact you have to stain it every couple of years, and even then you will have to replace some boards every year or two after some years have passed. The replacements won't match exactly, but that isn't something I would care too much about.

 

[boilerhorn 1,373]

Just now, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I'd probably just go with pressure treated pine (although with lumber prices nowadays, I might rethink that). Accept the fact you have to stain it every couple of years, and even then you will have to replace some boards every year or two after some years have passed. The replacements won't match exactly, but that isn't something I would care too much about.

 

Thanks for the input.  What about 2x6 cedar?  Probably similar care to PT pine, but would have to do it more frequently

 

[High Plains Drifter 11,029]

 

Don't know much about cedar. Its a lot more resilient that treated pine, so maybe not more frequently on maintenance, but I don't really know. Isn't it even more expensive than treated pine?

But yeah, either way, 2 x 6.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

5 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Thanks for the input.  What about 2x6 cedar?  Probably similar care to PT pine, but would have to do it more frequently

 

you’d want western red clear Cedar and then it’s gonna be 5/4 x 6 deck material 

[Jiggy-Z 3,432]

On 10/28/2021 at 10:18 AM, High Plains Drifter said:

 

years ago I helped build a deck for a non-profit nature center type place. They used Ipe wood. 15 or so years later, still looks good, but there is some weatherization, but it gets full sun all day long and is subject to hot summers, cold winters, etc.

BUT, its so dense and hard, its difficult to work with. And very expensive.

We did a 20' X 15' Ipe deck at our house back in 2013.  Highly recommend.  Looks good weathered and really good when I recondition it every couple of years.  For the first few years I reconditioned every 6 months.  Just a really great product.

[troph 24,781]

Ipe is great but get the thicker planks and don’t oil unless you want to do that 3x a year. I’m not kidding Texas heat will bake the fuck out of the oiled decks. Either you like silvered ipe like teak or you don’t, dark new looking ipe from oiling is a epic pain in the ass to keep. It’s also hot as fuck to the bare feet.  We are doing composite on some areas in our new house but may go with a limestone product. Not yet sure. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by troph