COMPOSITES

Your deck can be bid with composite decking, the popular "maintenance-free" product that is available from an ever increasing number of manufacturers. Here are some of the features these manufacturers tout in their literature:

1. Maintenance Free
   Well, kind of. Cleaning would be maintenance, and they recommend that. And of course, the deck has to be built right to be maintenance-free structurally.
2. No splitting, warping, rotting, decay
   No one has to worry about rotting or decay in one of my decks. Treated lumber simply won't rot, and cedar won't either if built properly. So the benefits of composite can be narrowed to splitting and warping. Splitting refers to long openings along the grain of the wood. Most vulnerable to this is posts, since there is more depth to the annual rings of the wood. Warping is sometimes a problem with 2x2 spindles on both cedar and green treated decks, but it is very easy to replace a spindle. Most of the time, other warping is due to improper use or construction using green treated wood.

So one has to ask what is more important; getting a bigger deck for the same price, or getting an upscale look with LESS maintenance (not NO maintenace).

Also, I have found that this materials gets dirty faster than wood, but cleans up better. Its thickness is not as uniform as one might expect from a synthesized product. Its available in lengths up to 20 feet.

There are new brands of composites coming out nearly every month, it seems. I can't really keep up with it. Many cities have a list of acceptable brands, and there are online testing reports for most good brands. I cannot recommend composite over cedar; that's too broad a question. Cedar has the distinct advantage of having been time tested, and down the road it will sure be easier to match it up if alterations are needed or if damage occurs.

There are also many railing systems on the market that are very good but expensive; these include metal frames, glass insert panels, cable systems and more ( I will place links to these soon). BUt most of those you may have seen are simply decorative and not appropriate for a deck rail unless the deck is within 30" of the ground.

The picture above features composite decking with wood rail system and aluminum spindles.