Looking at replacing our deck with a Treks deck. Was curious to see what folks thought of the brand and the quality. We are just replacing the boards and not the railing.

We are happy with the product. It was put on a house that we are selling so we used the base model product.

Something to consider:
The original decking material was cedar, screwed into each joist. Due to the span covered by the joists, blocking was not necessary. Because the trek “floats” on the joists and is not as ridged as the cedar boards were, code called for one run of blocking. The driver who delivered the trek decking suggested putting in two rows of blocking, glad I did deck very solid.

Joists= 12’ long 16” on center
Blocking boards placed to connect the joists at 4’ and 8’

The decking was easy to cut and affix to the joists.

I’ve heard some brands and colors can be very hot in the summer sun. Worse than P.T.

I did a porch with Trex about ten years ago. It's a very good product and it looks the same today as it did then.
There are many other synthetic products available. I just did my deck with Duralife and it's also a good product.

Lame. I was expecting a Star Trek thead.

We got two quotes so far and each say everything is in good order so it will just be replacing the top deck. They will be 17 feet long with the 16 inch joist spacing. We plan on having a rug under the patio furniture to cut down on scratching. The run will provide good coverage so most of the deck will be covered. I am just looking forward to not striping and staining the deck floor. We are leaving the railing which I stain every five years and it is easy.

@46and2- I am guessing you were thinking of the deck of the Enterprise. That would be cool but I prefer the deck of a Star Destroyer.

Would it be worth it to extend your deck to 20’? Just curious, but don’t they come in 20’ boards? With 17’ sections, and 16” joists, you will have a lot of cut and leftover boards.

I’d suggest a darker color. We went with a lighter color, and although it doesn’t stain, it does need to be powerwashed to get the grime off. A darker color wouldn’t show as much.

Last summer I did our deck. Previous decking was cedar that finally gave up after 30 years.
Was able to reuse a lot of the framework but still did a major upgrade.

Looked, and tested (by soaking in water, weighing before and after) to see how the many different synthetics held up and how hot to stand on in bare feet. Did have one solid wood sample : IPE.

The IPE was the clear winner for us ... and the cost was just under the top grade synthetics. I used IPE boards with exact measurements of 5 1/2" x 3/4" x 12 ft long sitting on 16" oc joists. I corner edge drilled and screwed giving the deck face a clean look.

The deck is rock solid. Am very pleased.

And no sanding or staining ... just yearly washing.

We have a set of stairs that happens to be 3 feet. The left over from the 20 foot boards will be used in the steps so no waste. We lucked out that the deck is 17 feet and the steps are 3 feet wide.

We are going with that color because that is what the wife really wanted and I won’t have to stain the rails and spindles another color. It looks good with the cedar stain we have now.

I've done three decks in Trex. All three replaced cedar that was sketchy AF. Splinters, rot, etc.

20 years later my first Colorado installed deck still looks pretty good. Full sun, snow, rain the whole deal.

My 5 year old Texas deck looks brand new. It's a party covered porch, so it gets less direct sun and weather.

Easy to install. Cuts well. Not cheap, but I'm never, if I can help it, going to refinish cedar/pine for the rest of my natural life.

Do it once and live on it.

A deck rebuild using Trex was my summer project. By "summer" I mean that it took us all summer. A few hours here, a few hours there... brutal full sun on the deck so it beat us up pretty good. Even tried to do some work in the dark.

There are different "grades" of Trex decking to select from. We just wanted something that had some character and would not be prone to scratching. Trex is one of many brands of decking to choose from.

We went with Trex Select in the Saddle color. We went with the grooved, no-see screw clip things. When the boards are delivered, ensure that you check them all. I ended up having to exchange at least six or seven 20' boards due to fork-lift damage. Last summer supplies were very thin. Some were scratched just a bit, but for the price I was paying, they went back. My local lumber yards were totally fine with exchanging them, just took more time.

Ended up having to replace at least seven joists even though I built the first version (PT) only 15 years ago. Hot tub warped them and a couple were rotting even though everything was 12" on center. Plus ended up having to redo some blocking due to adding he picture frame look. Then needed to block more for the post railings which was also a design change from the original.

Then I got the railing kits from Lowe's (best price) and I figured out how to do the cocktail rail using the same color Trex boards. (Check those for damage too.) Then I ended up replacing the skirt... I think it looks great in this photo, just don't look too closely at the cuts on the ends of the white skirting!

Steve,

That looks great.

Is that a new GAF Weathered Wood Roof as well? (or Mission Brown)

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Steve,

That looks great.

Is that a new Weathered Wood GAF Roof as well?

Thank you. Those are the original shingles put on the house in 2004. (30-year Timberline, Mission Brown) We did have some outfit come and clean them a couple years ago.

Steve,

That looks amazing. Love the contrast with the white rails.

For those have dogs how does it hold up to urine and poop? Does it stain? There are times our dogs are lazy and do their business on the deck rather than walk down the stairs to the dog run.

We are going to go with Trek Trancend which I guess is their best so we hope to avoid some of the warping and scratching issues of the cheaper Trek options.

Not sure about pet stains, but I have not heard about any issues. I would assume pet owners would clean up after the dog within a few hours? You still should probably quickly wash the Trex with some soap and a pressure washer each year. That's what I plan to do.

I think the big difference between Select and Transcend is the color availability and the more "wood-looking" textures. Materials probably very similar. Some might be scalloped on the bottom to reduce weight? (I can't remember aa I though out the brochures.)

Some Transcend colors will scratch more easily as compared to some of the Select colors. I'm not sure if this is a huge deal, but do check on some samples as to how much the color/style you like scratches. I was just using my fingernail and I was able to scratch some of the Transcend colors. (Staff at lumber yard pointed this out to me.)

quote:

We plan on having a rug under the patio furniture to cut down on scratching.

Just saw this. Triple check that the rug will not cause an issue with the deck. I'm reading that some outdoor rugs - depending on materials - can stain composite decking.

We have a patio set, but this spring we're shopping for some furniture and a firepit for where the hot tub was originally, and a rug is part of that equation.

The only issue I had with Trex was that if you leave a flower pot on it for an extended period of time it will stain the deck. Guess how I know? Even the pressure washer would not take the stain off.

I had a deck made with Trek ( highest level line) just over a year ago. So far I have no complaints.

You may want to try Stain Solver to clean the deck of any stains.

https://www.stainsolver.com/

I put the Trex deck on the back of our house maybe 18-20 years ago & when I replaced the front porch deck I used the same thing. It gets pressure washed in the Spring, otherwise I don't bother with it.