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)
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 Google 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.
PVC
Composite Vinyl Fences
Many Builders attest
that the vinyl fencing has improved over the years. If
what they say is true--Fantastic. However 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.
click
to enlarge
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