Deck Boards

[Micrornd]

We plan on rehabbing our decks this year. The sub-structures are fine and still up to local codes.
The original deck boards are pressure treated 1x with the joists on 12" centers (including the stair stringers).
We want to use a composite, low maintenance board and we have all but settled on Timbertech Azek deck boards and railing.
We haven't decided on whether to go with the Cortex or ConceaLOC fasteners.
This is in central FL, so UV, high temps, all play in.
This is going to be a "one and done" project as hopefully the rehabbed deck will outlast me.
Who has opinions based on actual usage and experience.
We read all the hoopla in the PR for different brands, now we'd like the real stories

 

[Greenman]

Composites get hotter than a popcorn fart. In direct sun they can blister your bare feet. I've had several clients request Redwood because of that.
As far as the products themselves go, they all claim to last forever with zero maintenance, I'm not convinced. With that said, I have had good luck with timbertech products. I don't like their hidden fasteners though, little bits of plastic junk that cost an arm and a leg. I almost always use camoscrews now, they work, are cost effective, and have an acceptable appearance.

 

[iRONic]

I had the composite deck built under the front porch overhang of my last house in CT because of the hot foot factor. Contractor who did the job had my wife go to another client's house where he had put in a light grey Trex product with part of it in direct sun. Scorching was the term my wife used.

OT: Are there any hidden fasteners available for cedar or PT lumber decking?

 

[Greenman]

I had the composite deck built under the front porch overhang of my last house in CT because of the hot foot factor. Contractor who did the job had my wife go to another client's house where he had put in a light grey Trex product with part of it in direct sun. Scorching was the term my wife used.

OT: Are there any hidden fasteners available for cedar or PT lumber decking?

Yup, Camo screws.

CAMO Pro Guide - - Amazon.com

CAMO Pro Guide - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I should also note there are several other hidden fastener systems for decks, camo is just my favorite at the moment.

 

[iRONic]

Thanks

 

[Micrornd]

Composites get hotter than a popcorn fart. In direct sun they can blister your bare feet. I've had several clients request Redwood because of that.
As far as the products themselves go, they all claim to last forever with zero maintenance, I'm not convinced. With that said, I have had good luck with timbertech products. I don't like their hidden fasteners though, little bits of plastic junk that cost an arm and a leg. I almost always use camoscrews now, they work, are cost effective, and have an acceptable appearance.

Redwood is not an option here on the East coast, last I looked "farmed" mahogany was cheaper.
As to temps, we hardly ever go barefoot and neither deck is in direct sun.
These are the all SS fasteners we were looking at - https://www.decksdirect.com/timbertech-concealoc-fasteners.html
The Camo's look like a possibly better alternative.
So I assume face-driven on the start for non-grooved decking or route and starter clip?
Thanks!

 

[Greenman]

Redwood is not an option here on the East coast, last I looked "farmed" mahogany was cheaper.
As to temps, we hardly ever go barefoot and neither deck is in direct sun.
These are the all SS fasteners we were looking at - https://www.decksdirect.com/timbertech-concealoc-fasteners.html
The Camo's look like a possibly better alternative.
So I assume face-driven on the start for non-grooved decking or route and starter clip?
Thanks!

Face drive the first row, and use trim head screws. Composites will form a big pimple around the screw head when you sink it in, take a smooth face hammer to it and they smooth out to an acceptable appearance.

 

[boomerang]

I reskinned a 22 year old, partially elevated, 16' x 24' deck I built onto our home that was originally done in cedar with TimberTech decking in 2016. This was in Michigan. I used their Terrain line of decking as well as TimberTech railing. I'm not 100% certain as my memory has faded but looking at their website today I believe I used their Radiance Rail line of railing.

I was able to use 16' boards so the cuts were minimal. They came a tad long so it was a matter of essentially just cutting off the ends along the 24' length if that makes sense. That's an oversimplification because the deck came out from the house on a 45 degree angle and then changed to a rectangle that was 16' x 24' so there was a bit of angle cutting where the decking met the house. It does cut just like wood.

I used their CONCEALoc fasteners. They worked OK but I had issues getting the deck boards together with a consistent gap. There are spacers built into the clips but the boards didn't want to but up against those spacers. I had to force each deck board up against the spacers before putting in the fasteners.

I did this in the summer and Michigan summers can actually be worse than the summers in SW FL where we now live. The heat might be a bit lower but the humidity is often higher. I'm getting off on a tangent but there were no issues handling and walking on the decking in the heat of the summer. My concern was the degree to which composite decking expands and contracts with changes in temperature what with the 16' lengths but that proved to be nothing to be concerned about.

On a related tangent, I was amazed at how the underpinnings had held up over the 22 year time span. The ledger board at the house looked like it was just installed and I only had to replace one joist. The stringers for the stairs were totally trashed though so I ended up having to replace all five. That was like reinventing the wheel as I had not laid out or cut stringers in 22 years.

The decking was much, much heavier than the cedar it replaced. I had overbuilt the deck initially putting the joists on 16" centers. That spacing was not an issue with the replacement decking. I did put in joist hangers and a lot of other bracing as well as installing bracing on the posts supporting the deck. At it's highest point off the ground I could just barely curl my fingers over the deck boards so I was concerned about the weight increase especially because of some of the heavy snows we occasionally got.

 

[Micrornd]

Thanks !
That's exactly the type of info I was looking for !

As to the heat and humidity, I'm in central FL but we visit relatives in Detroit suburbs once a year in the summer.
I always found the heat and humidity more pleasant in Detroit than here.
'Course I've spent over 40 years working 40+ a week outdoors here in FL.