I'm in the planning stages of a deck, and was hoping to get some opinions from people who have been there, done that.
The deck will be mounted to the back of the house, and will have areas for eating/relaxing and will also partially encircle a 18x33 above ground pool. I'm unsure of exactly how big it's going to be, but I think it will be between 700-800 sq ft by the time it's all said and done. The deck is on the south side of my house, with no shade at all during the majority of the day. My siding is "clay" colored, so the decking/stain will have to be some sort of brown/cedar color.
It will have a PT wood frame, and I'm going to use some composite/vinyl type material for the railings, but I'm not sure about the decking yet. I'm using some sort of hidden fastener system regardless of the type of decking. My options:
1. 2x6 PT. Cheapest option, probably strongest too. Downside is the knots and the maintenance. If I go this route, I'm going to put a roundover bit on the router and round the edges off so it looks like decking.
2. Prime grade PT decking boards - My Lowes has some really nice decking boards, and I'm leaning this direction. 16 foot boards are about 16 bucks, and there are very few knots. The maintenance will suck, but I don't mind pressure washing and restaining a flat surface. Spindles for the railing, on the other hand, suck.
3. Some sort of composite - Price is a big issue. I can swing the Trex @$40/ 16 ft board, but not the Azek PVC @80/ board. The Trex is the Enhance line, which is capped, so that should decrease/eliminate the mold issue, but I'm not convinced the cap won't separate from the core. I'm also worried about heat retention. In full sun, it's going to bake, especially if it's darker brown. Then there's the fading.
Thoughts? What's on your deck? Would you do it again? I know of the old Trex mold issues, but I think that has been fixed with the new stuff. I hope.
The deck will be mounted to the back of the house, and will have areas for eating/relaxing and will also partially encircle a 18x33 above ground pool. I'm unsure of exactly how big it's going to be, but I think it will be between 700-800 sq ft by the time it's all said and done. The deck is on the south side of my house, with no shade at all during the majority of the day. My siding is "clay" colored, so the decking/stain will have to be some sort of brown/cedar color.
It will have a PT wood frame, and I'm going to use some composite/vinyl type material for the railings, but I'm not sure about the decking yet. I'm using some sort of hidden fastener system regardless of the type of decking. My options:
1. 2x6 PT. Cheapest option, probably strongest too. Downside is the knots and the maintenance. If I go this route, I'm going to put a roundover bit on the router and round the edges off so it looks like decking.
2. Prime grade PT decking boards - My Lowes has some really nice decking boards, and I'm leaning this direction. 16 foot boards are about 16 bucks, and there are very few knots. The maintenance will suck, but I don't mind pressure washing and restaining a flat surface. Spindles for the railing, on the other hand, suck.
3. Some sort of composite - Price is a big issue. I can swing the Trex @$40/ 16 ft board, but not the Azek PVC @80/ board. The Trex is the Enhance line, which is capped, so that should decrease/eliminate the mold issue, but I'm not convinced the cap won't separate from the core. I'm also worried about heat retention. In full sun, it's going to bake, especially if it's darker brown. Then there's the fading.
Thoughts? What's on your deck? Would you do it again? I know of the old Trex mold issues, but I think that has been fixed with the new stuff. I hope.
