TREX or Other Composite Deck

[LX470]

My redwood deck sustained a lot of hits from the last hailstorm.

As a result my insurance company sent me a check that may pay for a partial re-decking.

Any thoughts on replacing the redwood with composite?

I realize that I will have to throw in a good chunk of change to replace all of the decking due to the price difference between the two.

Additionally, it seems like redwood is falling out of favor due to the lack of a higher quality product.

The deck is approximately 22 years old and is in great shape disregardful the hail impacts. And yes, I have thought about removal/planing and re-installation or flipping the boards over.

[Irving]

Any deck that is 22 years old and can still be considered in great shape was made with high quality products for sure.

[SideShow Bob]

I just had my composite deck replaced under warranty. Didn?t cost me a penny on the labor either.
The deck was approximately 12 years old. Most of the boards became delaminated (?). They looked like concrete when it gets spalled.
This is Trex product. As far as standing by their product, I would recommend it.

You can PM me if you want to come by to see what it looks like compared to a wood deck.

[TFOGGER]

We used a product called Trex Transcend on the back deck. It's basically Trex with a layer of polyurethane on the outside, which stops the fading and weathering pretty much dead. It's 12 years old and still looks new, with eastern and southern exposure.

ETA: https://www.trex.com/products/deckin...g-and-railing/

[Great-Kazoo]

Go with the trex, you'll spend more up front, way less on upkeep. Plus it's much nicer to walk on with bare foot than any wood.

[SAnd]

I have a small porch/deck that is at least 30 years old. Except for some slight fading that happened the first 3 or 4 years it is the same as when I built it. It has a totally unshaded eastern exposure. The only problem I have with it is that it can get slippery when there is snow on it.

One thing I had to plan in when I built mine is that the deck planks aren't as stiff a comparable redwood. They recommended a closer spacing on the joists supporting the decking. I did that on mine and have had no sagging. That was thirty years ago so I don't know if the current decking is any stiffer. This would be something to check on if all you're replacing is the decking.

[BladesNBarrels]

Redid a poorly built early trex deck with a newer trex product about 4 years ago.
I have been pleased.
I paid a little extra to use the hidden fastener system and the snow shovels smoothly off the deck.
The joists were spaced tighter together, since all the framing has to be wood - we used cedar with a redwood stain.
Our huge redwood deck in Elizabeth required re-staining every two years. We'd start at 5:00 am and work until about 8:00 am to avoid the heat of the sun.
It would take about a week. I don't miss that one bit.

[MarkCO]

9 year old Trex on our house. Much prefer it.

I will have to rebuild some of the trim and post wraps that the builder screwed up this coming summer. They also used a cheap stringer for the stairs, I have a metal replacement I bought that will also be a summer repair project.

[LX470]

Thanks for all of the replies!

I initially built my own deck and used quality redwood with sanding and re-staining every two years. With the exception of a few boards it still looks VG.

TREX Transcend seems to be the favored one.

I was smart enough to use 16" OC framing on the initial build so going to composite shouldn't be an issue excepting for laying out a diagonal pattern.

[SAnd]

"I was smart enough to use 16" OC framing on the initial build so going to composite shouldn't be an issue excepting for laying out a diagonal pattern."

You might want to check on that. I built mine with 14 inch spacing which I'm sure is what Trex recommended at that time. Also a diagonal pattern would require closer spacing, the angle means that the deck planks are spanning a longer distance.

I don't mean to be negative but it wouldn't be nice to have any sagging.

I wish you well.