Anyone have experience with composite decking?

forgop · 04-17-2011, 11:32 AM

Seems as though Trex and a number of other companies producing composite decking are paying out in class action lawsuits for material that people just cannot get rid of the mold/mildew (whatever it is) due to the wood content in it. I've read a number the DIY's/gardenweb types of forums where people have run into the "big box store" materials in this segment and it's only a matter of time before the material seems to become brittle or have the mold/mildew issue that they can't seem to shake. Perhaps a lot of it has to do with the conditions (shade/sun) and such, but I'm just quite leery of taking a plunge of sinking $3k into something that seems to be a nightmare to a lot of people that have purchased this type of stuff. To get the much higher end that seems to have better reviews, I'm up to $5k+ just for the decking, not even getting to rails/benches and that's going to be too much.

The one thing I've been researching a bit but haven't received pricing on yet is Azek, which is all PVC. Not subject to the discoloration, scratching, and mold you'll get with composites. Yes, it's PVC or whatever and won't look as nice as wood, but still delivers the maintenance free results I'm looking for.

04-17-2011, 11:32 AM	#1
forgop Not a puffer Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Duane Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 2,869 Trading: (40)	Re: Anyone have experience with composite decking? Seems as though Trex and a number of other companies producing composite decking are paying out in class action lawsuits for material that people just cannot get rid of the mold/mildew (whatever it is) due to the wood content in it. I've read a number the DIY's/gardenweb types of forums where people have run into the "big box store" materials in this segment and it's only a matter of time before the material seems to become brittle or have the mold/mildew issue that they can't seem to shake. Perhaps a lot of it has to do with the conditions (shade/sun) and such, but I'm just quite leery of taking a plunge of sinking $3k into something that seems to be a nightmare to a lot of people that have purchased this type of stuff. To get the much higher end that seems to have better reviews, I'm up to $5k+ just for the decking, not even getting to rails/benches and that's going to be too much. The one thing I've been researching a bit but haven't received pricing on yet is Azek, which is all PVC. Not subject to the discoloration, scratching, and mold you'll get with composites. Yes, it's PVC or whatever and won't look as nice as wood, but still delivers the maintenance free results I'm looking for.