Composite Decking VS. Wood Decks

 

 

 

Composite Decking is Maintenance Free       Inaccurate

Composite Decking is Better Than Wood      Inaccurate

Composite Decking Lasts Forever.                Inaccurate

  

For more information on Composite Decking (click)

 

March/07 Update.

The Debunk.

Composite Decking is Maintenance Free,

 

Composite Decking Manufacturers stopped using “Maintenance Free” when describing their products early on after law suits. Nowadays they refer to it as “Low Maintenance”.

They will tell you that the product will require cleaning a couple of times a year to make it look good again. (Good—not, “Like New”)

 

The cleaners leave the decking looking powdery. They are acidic and chemically strip the finish and kill the mold for a time. Green clients should be aware that to “maintain” these products it involves splashing chemicals around your yard. A good stiff brush is required to physically scrub the decking.

 

Composite Decking is Better than Wood for Decks,

 

If it is better than wood—why are they trying to emulate the look of wood. The new products are quite convincing. Big hunks of plastic with wood grain and variable colorants to emulate the look of wood perfectly. Sure, it will fade out, but when it is installed it looks just like wood.

 

I suggest that only wood is wood. Ipe or Mahogany will likely have a durability of 40 years if oiled yearly. A wood deck can be refinished every few years to look like new again.

 

You cannot refinish a composite deck—you simply replace it. 5 years from now, your composite deck will look like a 5 year old composite deck—with scratches and stains.

 

   click to enlarge

 

Composite Decking Lasts Forever.

 

When buried in a landfill—composite decking may very well last forever. They say a plastic shopping bag will last 1000 years underground, I bet the composite decking will also do just as well. Long after you have tired of your stylish composite deck, it won’t be recycled; it will go to the landfill with the plastic patio chairs and the rest of the plastic packaging.

 

Composite Decking Law Suits.

 

 Trexä has settled it’s class action law suit, and it appears that they still have mold issues. Numerous people have called prior to signing a confidentiality agreement with Trexä agreeing not to talk about it. Another Trexä client sent the photos below. Trexä is likely the largest composite decking company in the world and they have always made their decking from a mix of materials. This photo was sent by a Trex Client and he attested that it is 1 year old.

 

 click to enlarge

 

For more information about the Trexä Class Action suit try a search on Googleä or click here for a good description of the Trex class action suit.

 

Coupling Vinyl with Wood

 

Offered a strong but flexible product without as much temperature growth over time. They missed a couple of factors however. The “Pulp” wood they use is made up of fiber (small wood particles) that is of species not known for outdoor durability such as pine, spruce and bark from these trees. It’s basically the wood left over that isn’t good enough to use to make paper.

 

Since this wood absorbs moisture, then dispels it this creates a pocket within the vinyl that soaks up moisture every time it gets wet. Over time… black mold—like an un-vented shower stall and it will never subside. Cleaners may make it look alright for a few days—but it will always come back. Apparently they still have issues.

 

If composite decking contains wood it may be prudent to steer clear of the product.

 

Warrantees offered by Composite decking companies are notorious for pointing out their tragic flaws. Pool chemicals, mechanical wear, mold growth are often not covered by their limited lifetime warrantee.

 

Composite Decking Testing Methods

 

 Generally, when they test composite decking durability and color-fastness they test for the equivalent of about 6 months in the real world. Furthermore manufacturers have told me that each batch of composite decking will be a slightly different color. I haven’t personally seen a composite testing that included testing for freeze thaw stability.

 

Is Composite a Structural Material?

The simple answer is that when you can legally use it for joists and handrails then it will be deemed structural materials. Most composite hand-rails are not Building Code Legal. Most composite decking manufacturers advise to create a frame that has the joists about 12” apart, rather than the typical 16” since the materials will tend to sag under it’s own weight.

 

 We get numerous people asking for composite pergolas. Since we can’t fasten to it securely, or span more than a couple of feet without deflection designing one that works well is a challenge we just don’t see as a sound investment.

 

 

Vinyl Decking (without wood pulp—Virgin Vinyl)

 

Is apparently durable and long lasting. One of our builders says he decides which composite is good by laying it on something solid, hanging a 3” corner off the edge and giving it a good whack with a hammer. If it shatters off—Don’t use it. He sticks to Virgin Vinyl products and has had good luck. (EON by CPI is not Virgin Vinyl, we would suggest it is a PVC product classed with PVC patio furniture)

 

Virgin Vinyl composite decking does expand and contract a great deal and this needs to be accommodated by using different methods for fastening and leaving tolerances (spaces) to allow expansion based on temperature. Variance of about 200 degrees F should be standard in North America, which means up to 2 or 3“ of expansion should be expected with some products.

 

Cheap Composite Decking

 

When something is just too cheap you want to steer clear. Cheap gas will always contain water or toxic waste. Cheap composite could have any number of horrors lurking within it especially if it comes all the way from another continent.

 

Composite Vinyl Fences

 

David Makela attests that the vinyl fencing has improved over the years. If he says it is true--I believe him. However he also said he enjoys working with cedar much more, so here are some photos of vinyl composite fencing failures. UV breaks down PVC. Spray paint will be nearly impossible to remove.

 

  

 

 

 

A visit with Tom Jacques from Hickory Dickory Decks.

 

Tom was kind enough to show me around a few composite decking installations in Burlington.  The decks looked good—that’s why he’s our competition in many areas. He tells me that 90% of their work is composite decking. I offer a great thanks for his time showing me his work.

 

Being a large company with many sub-contract employees it is hard to keep a tight control on quality control so there were flaws here and there. I think their work is quite good generally.

 

Many of the decks realistically did not look 3 years old, but they may have been close. At the time of this revision we did not have disclosure as to how old exactly they were. Regardless, there were flaws in some that indicated that they were likely in the range of 3 years old.

 

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All the decks I viewed had obviously been professionally cleaned. Some of the composite decks containing wood showed evidence of mold growth and staining.

 

 

Expansion had caused some boards to shear screws, and there were quite a few joints that didn’t quite line up. Plastics expand when you heat them, and contract when you cool them. Unless the temperature is the same as the date of installation there will be gaps and/or pressure distortion.

 

  

 

Wood expands when it absorbs moisture, and shrinks when it dispels it. This factor has to be accommodated by leaving spaces or using special techniques to minimize the visibility and effects.

  

Extendex Composite Decking Plant:

 

We photographed this display fence in 2004 and we understand that the company went bankrupt and was bought out by another company.

   click to enlarge

 

The display, as you can see was listing badly. The new owners removed the display—I guess they had better taste.  The entertaining part was that their yard was fenced using steel siding rather than their own products. The steel fence is still there, but keep in mind that decision was made by the old management… not the new.

 

The new display is kept within the fenced yard.

 

That’s it for the April-2007 update!

 

Be Careful out there!

 

Lawrence W

 

Note: the opinions expressed in these articles are simply an opinion of the author. No malice is intended. If you have information or evidence of errors or possible corrections we invite your comments at plans@gardenstructure.com

 

 

 

Harvey Freeman wades into the debate. Read his opinions here:  Composite Decking part 2