Having a deck builton our townhome

[krunchykrome]

I've had deck companies come out to our house all week and provide quotes for a 16x12 wood deck. High was close to $5K and the lowest quote was $3K. I ended up going with a reputable company who initially wanted $3,650. I talked them down to $3,400.

I'm told that I have to maintain this deck annually. Tell me how you maintain your decks (if you do any maintenance at all)

 

[GenHoth]

Strip, Stain and seal. PITA

 

[Newbian]

Try some plastic wood:

Linky

Resistant to rot and easier to take care of and doesn't look all that bad or at least when I worked with some it didn't.

 

[slag]

you were told wrong. Pressure treated wood/planking needs no yearly maintenance. If you wish, you can stain it with a quality stain every 3-5 years, but aside from hosing it down every once in awhile to get rid of leaves and dirt, there is no yearly maintenance.

 

[Mojoed]

ya, what Slag said above is true.

Try Deck-Tek.

We recently had a 16'x16' deck built and used the stuff above along with treated 2"x10"s with a 12" span. I insisted on it being overbuilt like this and I'm glad I went with it. The deck is incredibly solid.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: slag
you were told wrong. Pressure treated wood/planking needs no yearly maintenance. If you wish, you can stain it with a quality stain every 3-5 years, but aside from hosing it down every once in awhile to get rid of leaves and dirt, there is no yearly maintenance.

I won't say yearly, but with a semi-opaque stain (most common type) you'll probably want to hit the horizontal surfaces every other year. This is no big deal.

Still, if I had a choice I'd go with plastic wood decking.

http://masterhandyman.com/colu...s.cfm?pubdate=20080426


http://masterhandyman.com/down...s/DeckCarFastnEasy.pdf

 

[Muadib]

When my gf put a new deck around her pool 2 years ago, that plastic wood was very expensive. It was more than double the cost of the pressure treated wood. Has that changed?

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: Muadib
When my gf put a new deck around her pool 2 years ago, that plastic wood was very expensive. It was more than double the cost of the pressure treated wood. Has that changed?

Only double? That's not too bad. When I rebuilt the upper deck on my dock, wood was much cheaper than it is now and the plastic was 4-5 times as expensive. When you consider the maintenance, double isn't bad at all.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: Muadib
When my gf put a new deck around her pool 2 years ago, that plastic wood was very expensive. It was more than double the cost of the pressure treated wood. Has that changed?

Only double? That's not too bad. When I rebuilt the upper deck on my dock, wood was much cheaper than it is now and the plastic was 4-5 times as expensive. When you consider the maintenance, double isn't bad at all.

It probably was what you are saying. I didn't see the price myself, I just remember my gf going on & on about it.

 

[vi edit]

If you're going to be there for a while, another vote for Trex/composite decking.

No stain. No rot. No termites. No splinters. No warping. No cracking. It's nice stuff.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Newbian
Try some plastic wood:

Linky

Resistant to rot and easier to take care of and doesn't look all that bad or at least when I worked with some it didn't.

Yep, this is on my front deck and it's awesome stuff.

 

[Bignate603]

My grandfather had his deck made out of this impoted wood that is basically indestructible. It's so dense that it sinks in water, requires carbide bits to drill through it, you can't drive a nail through it, is immune to termites, and it doesn't really rot. I don't want to imagine how much that cost though. I'm sure the wood cost an arm and a leg and the labor must have been ridiculous to actually cut it and put it together.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: vi edit
If you're going to be there for a while, another vote for Trex/composite decking.

No stain. No rot. No termites. No splinters. No warping. No cracking. It's nice stuff.

This

I guess you're going to get opinions all over the map on this one, but anyone who says he doesn't do yearly maintenance on a wood deck doesn't care what it looks like.

Ours needs to be either scrubbed using elbow grease in conjunction with a deck cleaner or power washed. This has to be done yearly. I re-stain/seal the deck every third year. It really needs it every two. I built our deck out of cedar 15 years ago. If I had it to do over, I would do it using composite materials.

I would highly suggest using composites of some sort on any horizontal surface. Decking itself, railing tops, stair treads etc. The finish holds up extremely well on any of the vertical surfaces on our deck but the horizontal surfaces weather very badly. Water, snow, sun all take their toll on it. For continuity, you may want to use composites for the railings, etc. too.

There is no wonder product you can put on horizontal deck surfaces that is a do it and forget it solution. They last two to three years tops. If I wanted, I could let the cedar weather to a silver-grey color and cease re-staining it. It would still need a scrubbing every year.

Here's what it looks like after a Michigan winter. I just took these.

Deck1
Deck2

On the far left in the Deck1 picture is a band where the deck is noticeably cleaner and lighter. That's the portion of the deck that is shielded by the overhang on the house. That's what it will look like after a good scrubbing or power washing. Would you want to spend time on the dirty part?

Decks require maintenance.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
My grandfather had his deck made out of this impoted wood that is basically indestructible. It's so dense that it sinks in water, requires carbide bits to drill through it, you can't drive a nail through it, is immune to termites, and it doesn't really rot. I don't want to imagine how much that cost though. I'm sure the wood cost an arm and a leg and the labor must have been ridiculous to actually cut it and put it together.

Probably Ipe although there is another species with nearly the same properties. The name escapes me now.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: Bignate603
My grandfather had his deck made out of this impoted wood that is basically indestructible. It's so dense that it sinks in water, requires carbide bits to drill through it, you can't drive a nail through it, is immune to termites, and it doesn't really rot. I don't want to imagine how much that cost though. I'm sure the wood cost an arm and a leg and the labor must have been ridiculous to actually cut it and put it together.

Probably Ipe although there is another species with nearly the same properties. The name escapes me now.

I looked up Ipe, I think you're right.

 

[Jadow]

My dad has a HUGE pressure treated deck, and other than a power wash about 10 years ago, hasn't done any maitenence on it in 20 years. It's in fine shape.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Muadib
When my gf put a new deck around her pool 2 years ago, that plastic wood was very expensive. It was more than double the cost of the pressure treated wood. Has that changed?

No, that hasn't changed. Plastic is still much more expensive; it was the main reason we decided to stay go with pressure treated wood

 

[DrPizza]

I'll ditto the composite deck - looks much nicer, much longer.

Why are you hiring a contractor vs. just building it yourself? Building a deck is more-or-less a wonderful beginner's project. The only part that is of much challenge at all is where/how it attaches to the house. If you're worried about expense, I'd think that you could buy the necessary tools, plus the materials & save money over the contracted price.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'll ditto the composite deck - looks much nicer, much longer.

Why are you hiring a contractor vs. just building it yourself? Building a deck is more-or-less a wonderful beginner's project. The only part that is of much challenge at all is where/how it attaches to the house. If you're worried about expense, I'd think that you could buy the necessary tools, plus the materials & save money over the contracted price.

I having a company build it because it's a deck on the second floor and I just dont trust my handy-man skills at that height

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'll ditto the composite deck - looks much nicer, much longer.

Why are you hiring a contractor vs. just building it yourself? Building a deck is more-or-less a wonderful beginner's project. The only part that is of much challenge at all is where/how it attaches to the house. If you're worried about expense, I'd think that you could buy the necessary tools, plus the materials & save money over the contracted price.

not a bad idea for handy people. its the kind of thing my dad has done before...but i cant cut or draw a straight line with a ruler, so i wouldnt bother.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'll ditto the composite deck - looks much nicer, much longer.

Why are you hiring a contractor vs. just building it yourself? Building a deck is more-or-less a wonderful beginner's project. The only part that is of much challenge at all is where/how it attaches to the house. If you're worried about expense, I'd think that you could buy the necessary tools, plus the materials & save money over the contracted price.

I having a company build it because it's a deck on the second floor and I just dont trust my handy-man skills at that height

Good enough reason.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I'll ditto the composite deck - looks much nicer, much longer.

Why are you hiring a contractor vs. just building it yourself? Building a deck is more-or-less a wonderful beginner's project. The only part that is of much challenge at all is where/how it attaches to the house. If you're worried about expense, I'd think that you could buy the necessary tools, plus the materials & save money over the contracted price.

I having a company build it because it's a deck on the second floor and I just dont trust my handy-man skills at that height

There goes my suggestion of a brick patio.

 

[AlienCraft]

We re-did the deck at our Auburn, CA home with composite decking and it is incredible. #1. No Splinters
#2. No rot
#3. No Stain / Paint / pressure cleaning

That alone is worth the extra cost, ESPECIALLY when you consider the value added to the home.

Do it now or do it later, just do it.

 

[Jeff7]

My biggest problem with our deck back home: paper wasps just loved building nests on it. It's always loads of fun to walk out and have the vibration disturb a small nest underneath the boards; nests under the steps are the worst, because they can fly out very quickly to sting an unsuspecting ankle.