Composite Deck In Calgary

[Ace]

So i'm looking to build a composite deck, and the only downside I can find is that people have serious issues with mold and mildue. Given our super dry climate here i'm hoping there are no concerns if using the composite in Calgary.

Anyone built a composite deck, what are your thoughts now. Are you happy you did it. Which brand did you use?

[SeoulFire]

I do not have any information to add other than that I eagerly await an informed reply - I am currently weighing my options/costs for a deck.

[Pinner]

Wouldn't a regular spruce deck last 15-20 yr's if stained ? Time for a change after that long anyhow and alot less expensive.

[Komskies]

Here's my post from a thread Ducay made about building a deck.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...53&postcount=7

[redforever]

We are just in the middle of replacing our old deck. We are going with composite and have gone with Trex Transcend. We got all the supplies at Lumber King.

[Clarkey]

How does that composite decking product compare to cedar pricewise? If the cedar is cheaper or even just marginally more expensive I would go with that.

[Shazam]

Composite is murderously expensive. Much more expensive than cedar.

[zamler]

Anyone done decking or other project using Ipe?

[Tyler]

Things that look nicer than wood are often more expensive than wood.

[Bownesian]

Originally Posted by zamler

Anyone done decking or other project using Ipe?

We did our interior flooring in ipe and built custom risers for our staircase. It's an extremely hard wood so everything you do with it is harder - sawing, drilling, sanding whatever. If it were me, I would make sure that you don't need to pre-drill every screw before I ordered IPE decking.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

How does that composite decking product compare to cedar pricewise? If the cedar is cheaper or even just marginally more expensive I would go with that.

Very expensive, about twice so in fact.

However, our old cedar deck was 20 years old and needed some of the planks replaced anyhow. Everytime we had the decks and gazebo repainted, it cost over a grand anyhow, and we had to restain etc every 4 or 5 years at the very least.

So we are hoping the composite drastically cuts down on the maintenance.

[Dan02]

how do a couple of gallons of stain and a twofour cost over a thousand dollars?

[Methanolic]

Why are you building a deck out of Composte ?

[VladtheImpaler]

A friend of mine got a composite deck built for $3,700 all-in (that is materials + labour - he did no work himself). "Standard" size and shape. Hope that helps for pricing info.

[shane_c]

I've been thinking about the composite wood lately as well. I was at a garden/landscaping store on the weekend and couldn't believe how much they were asking for the composite adirondack chairs. They were in the $350 range. So the woodworker in me started thinking that their may be a profit to be had depending on how much it costs to make on. Usually it's around $100+ or so with cedar.

The other reason I'm drawn to it is because it just took me 3 years to finally get my deck stained.

Summer 1: I clean the side step, rear deck, and basement landing. I begin to stain it and only get about 1/4-1/2 finished and then it rained for about 1.5 months and then after that there were no dry spells long enough to dry it out.

Summer 2: Clean the deck and pressure washed the part that was stained the previous year. Then it rained for about 1.5 months and then after that there were no dry spells long enough to dry it out.

Summer 3: Clean the deck was able to get everything stained once and two coats on the parts you walk on. Now I'm waiting for a dry spell so I can go back and do all the railings and spindles.

I'll have to look into the mildew issue though but I'm thinking it would be easier to pressure wash that stuff off then to spend 3 years trying to get a deck stained and having it look awful the whole time.

[Flacker]

I built a large deck using Timbertech (www.timbertech.com), and while expensive initially I couldn't recommend it more.After a hard winter, with a dog running all over it with muddy paws, a quick hose down and it looks like new. It will never need paint or stain. If the right hardware and materials are used it will last a lifetime.The key question would be, what is your time worth? The cost is quickly justified when you factor in the low maintenance of the product.Good composite looks better than natural wood.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I know a lot of folks who have used various kinds of composite decking and just about everyone thinks it's the greatest stuff in the world.

If you're really concerned about mold/mildew, I wouldn't be. Just as an example, when we built the dock at my folks cabin, we used composite decking for the top. So after ~7 years sitting ~ 1 foot above a lake, and getting wet all the time, we haven't had any problems with mold or mildew.

[Northendzone]

one thought i had while reading this thread would be that you would really want to think about the layout of your deck - if the composite lasts for a long time, you would not want to start disliking the layout of the deck after a couple of summers.

[Ace]

Originally Posted by Flacker

I built a large deck using Timbertech (www.timbertech.com), and while expensive initially I couldn't recommend it more.After a hard winter, with a dog running all over it with muddy paws, a quick hose down and it looks like new. It will never need paint or stain. If the right hardware and materials are used it will last a lifetime.The key question would be, what is your time worth? The cost is quickly justified when you factor in the low maintenance of the product.Good composite looks better than natural wood.

Which timbertech board did you use?

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Dan02

how do a couple of gallons of stain and a twofour cost over a thousand dollars?

We have 2 large decks, the one in the front measures about 40' x 15', the one in the back is 2 levels, top level is about 15' x 15' and the bottom level is a bit larger, but is hexagonal with built in benches on one side and a hexagonal gazebo is attached to that as well.

Add in 3 flights of stairs and railings to encompass 6 of the 8 sides.

The front deck faces south, so factor in snow and heat and chinooks and you have a surface that needs touching up twice as often as the back deck. And you can factor in a couple of dogs as well. The cedar surface simply does not hold up under those conditions.

So it is NOT a couple of gallons of paint. And we do not do the work ourselves. You can easily run up $1000 with the amount of decking and outside living area we have.