Trex decking

[railer]

Anybody have experience with Trex Transcend decking? This is supposed to be thier mold resistant line. Looking for opinions on Trex in general, and how it compares to pressure treated wood, or other composite materials. Thanks.

 

[adairusmc]

I have trex on my house, that was there when I bought it. The back porch was all gray trex, not sure how hold, but it gets bombarded by sun. The color was still good, but it was weak from all the UV exposure it seems to me - it would flex and bend between supports.

The front steps are made of the same stuff, about the same age, but it doesnt get hit with direct sunlight hardly at all - and they seem much sturdier and dont flex at all.

I am not sure how old it is, or if they have improved the stuff, but replacing the trex in the back of the house with stained redwood was one of the best upgrades we have made to the house so far.

 

[Triumph]

Sister had a trex deck installed last year. Not long enough to tell much, but so far so good.

 

[d4a2n0k]

Inlaws have it and they cannot walk on it barefoot, gets too hot.

 

[thirdeye]

Subscribing for more input. The wife and I are contemplating what we want to do about the deck we're planning to build.

 

[Gunbuster]

Have it for front and back porch steps. A little discoloration at the front (More sun) but it might also be dirt. I have not really tried scrubbing them. (Not sure if trex or another brand but whatev.)

Beats painting/staining wood...

 

[Red Squirrel]

I heard nothing but bad things about it. It deteriorates fast, gets mold, etc. Stick to standard PT lumber planks. You do have to stain those every couple years if you want to make it last but other than that it's proven and many decks are built that way.

See this: http://www.diychatroom.com/f2/trex-decking-extremely-disappointing-10043/

You can also search for trex to see other threads about it.

 

[jaha2000]

if you can afford it go nuts.
If you have a deck of any decent kind of size you will find it to be crazy expensive compared to pressure treated deck boards. I know a lot of it depends on area, but in MI trex is roughly 4 times the cost just for the boards. Plus you have to use their fancy fasteners which are quite expensive as well
If its in direct sun it does get super hot as well. The plastic does not dissipate the heat very well.

 

[leeland]

Had it at our previous home, we installed it. The cost factor back then was about 1-2 / 1-3 vs. treated lumber.

It was a huge selling point when we sold our home though.

It did get super hot in the summer in direct sun...

Mold...not on ours...the only thing that sucked was the railings, they weren't installed with supports under the bottoms (the midway points between the posts)...so the railing started to sag after a couple of years from weight.


All in all, it did fade, but I was pretty happy with the product.

 

[Humpy]

My feeling is to avoid building a deck if at all possible. A small landing with some steps down to brick or stone patio or a raised patio is a lot less trouble in the long run.

The last house I built had a significant slope in the back yard so we built a raised island patio out of masonry about six feet high and ten feet from the house which was connected with a steel and wood bridge.

 

[WilliamM2]

My neighbors have it. It was replaced once under warranty for warping, and popping out of the clips. Took forever to get the claim done. Now after two years she is upset due to what appear to be small dark spots all over it. She scrubs it constantly. They are replacing the rear deck this summer, and going back to treated.

 

[Markbnj]

I don't like it, but my impressions are based on fairly old information. It doesn't have the longitudinal stiffness of wood, so usually you want the joists closer together. It also doesn't weather well from what I have seen in the past, but perhaps they have solved the mildew and staining issues.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

did a lot of research on this last year and it seems to be a love/hate material. in the end i decided against it because of all the negatives i read and saw. Our plan is to rip out or ancient deck thats on top of an old concrete slab patio, thats cracked and sinking, rip the concrete out and put in either stamped concrete or a paver/brick patio. cost works out to be the same as a new deck. just need to do some weeding/roundup in the cracks.

 

[Markbnj]

did a lot of research on this last year and it seems to be a love/hate material. in the end i decided against it because of all the negatives i read and saw. Our plan is to rip out or ancient deck thats on top of an old concrete slab patio, thats cracked and sinking, rip the concrete out and put in either stamped concrete or a paver/brick patio. cost works out to be the same as a new deck. just need to do some weeding/roundup in the cracks.

And you won't have to refinish the damn thing every five years. We did stamped concrete a couple of years back, for two sidewalks. Make sure you work with a company that uses mix-in color. Ours used powdered color which is layered on top of the concrete. Looks great to begin with, but a) fades, and b) chips to reveal the original concrete color below.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

All fake plastic wood products are shit.

 

[mitchelt]

All fake plastic wood products are shit.

Agreed!

 

[Gunslinger08]

I had a deck built a few months ago using TimberTech Earthwood Evolutions: http://timbertech.com/products/earthwood-evolutions-tropical

Same concept as Trex Transcends - a composite core that's wrapped in a plastic shell to avoid staining and mildew. I just don't care for the Trex brand.

I agree that it gets pretty hot. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten a much lighter color decking that wouldn't get as hot or show muddy dog footprints. Other than that, I love it. Don't have to worry about splinters/insects/staining it.

 

[Brittany M]

Anybody have experience with Trex Transcend decking? This is supposed to be thier mold resistant line. Looking for opinions on Trex in general, and how it compares to pressure treated wood, or other composite materials. Thanks.

Hello, I am a representative of Trex. Trex Transcend is made with a protective shell. This shell not only makes the product fade and stain resistant, but also mold and scratch resistant. It is backed by a 25 Year Fade and Stain warranty, in addition to our 25 Year Residential Warranty. I would be happy to answer any additional questions or concerns you may have.

Brittany
question@trex.com

 

[SphinxnihpS]

hello, i am a representative of trex. Trex transcend is made with a protective shell. This shell not only makes the product fade and stain resistant, but also mold and scratch resistant. It is backed by a 25 year fade and stain warranty, in addition to our 25 year residential warranty. I would be happy to answer any additional questions or concerns you may have.

Brittany
question@trex.com

diacf

Company reps are generally allowed to come in here and answer questions about their products - without any snide comments from members.
admin allisolm

I realize you are giving me a pass on a rule here, and I appreciate that.

 

[JJ650]

My inlaws have a Trex deck and it will burn the hell out of your feet in the summer.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Pressure treated wood + leave alone for 1 year + GOOD QUALITY stain (not cheap crap that you will have to restain every 2-3 years)

This will be VERY hard to beat when it comes to bang for the buck....

 

[edro]

I seem to remember the cost of the deck was 4x as much as PT lumber.
I couldn't justify the cost.

We settled on pressure treated decking, highest quality solid color stain and white composite railing (so we didn't have to restain the railing, which is the worst part).

 

[Phynaz]

Decks are supposed to be built out of wood. Preferably good wood like Teak or good Cedar.

 

[nickbits]

diacf

that escalated quickly

 

[Kreon]

My aunt and uncle have a trex deck, and are planning another one. I'm helping them plan it.

They have been looking at the Transcend as well. In NH, the cost of the Trex or any of the higher end composites/plastics is about 4x the cost of the PT. The one they've had has faded a bit, but not in a really bad way (though I don't think its the Transcend, one of their other lines). In the design, I'm a bit worried about sagging (as most composites aren't as stiff). As such, we decided to space the joists 12" OC instead of 16" OC.