Comparing Deck Surfaces


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Old 04-20-13, 12:43 PM
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Comparing Deck Surfaces

I am getting ready to put a new surface material and new railing systems on my existing 600 sq. foot. deck.

I've read huge amounts of promotional material from all the manufacturers/suppliers of decking, be it composite, wood, even aluminum. I've plowed through tons of "customer reviews" of many of these materials. Every material has its detractors, it seems. This one scratches too easily, that one is prone to black mold, the other one changes color, that other other one has no warranty, blah, blah, blah. It is almost impossible to choose what's best for my application using just those sources.

Does anyone know of any place on the net where there is a fairly comprehensive, rigorous test of a variety of materials by an independent testing operation? I am not a member of Consumer Reports, but I understand from reading some contractor comments that they have done some comparisons but arrived at Trex as a top performer. Based on the contractor comments, this result was challenged as Trex has its own set of problems with scratching, fading, mold, etc.

Any other side by side tests around? Please note that my post doesn't seek your personal experience with any particular material, just a suggestion where I might find some good testing of a variety of materials.
 
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Old 04-20-13, 02:32 PM
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Welcome to the forums!

I mostly clean/stain decks and only build one occasionally so I can't help much there but I do know that not all the composites work with conventionally spaced framing. Some require 12" spacing on the joists.... so that might narrow down your search some. But stay tuned, the others should be along with more/better advice for you
 
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Old 04-20-13, 03:12 PM
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Please note that my post doesn't seek your personal experience with any particular material, just a suggestion where I might find some good testing of a variety of materials
But that is really what this forum is all about. Sharing our experience and experiences.

You can search Google just as easy as we can. Use some out of the box keywords like "deck material review" or "decking comparison". Also, try other search engines like Yahoo or Bing. You likely already found there is no perfect material.
 
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Old 04-21-13, 01:11 PM
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That Is Why I Joined This Forum

I can assure you if I had found what I was looking for using Google, Yahoo, or Bing, I wouldn't be posting here...

I already have 12" spacing on the deck, so I am covered there...but thanks for pointing that out.
 
 

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