Trex Composite Decking has turned black mold. I called trex and filed in there warranty dept. sent pict. also. Told to clean it with certain product and have used it before did nothing. Did it 2 more times on part of the deck and the dirt came off but the black mold looks darker now did not budge. Also tried scrubbing it didn't do much at all. Trex told me even though they have emailed me regarding my pict. after I filled out form and now said they can't find my case. Is there a class action against Trex? Anyone know how to file for it? I replaced my wood deck with Trex being told only hose it down. Then that is all I should be doing. They should have figured out something regarding a mold problem before selling this item advertise as only hose it down. Maybe the composit and wood together holds moisture and maybe that is why there is a mold problem. The new trex now has changed there is something in it to help with the mold problem. That shows there was a problem and something should of originally been added into the Trex to help with mold. Therefore they should really be responsible for replacing the inferior trex decking with the newer one. Trex was expensive when It was pruchased and installed by a deck co. I should not have to do this work 2 times a year. I should not have to pay for ilumpic cleaner and penifin also as Trex said I should use after getting off the black mold that is not coming off, I tried to scrub it also. Therefore I can't even use the Penifin. I should not have to on my hands and knees brush on the cleanser being close to the mold. I changed over to Trex in this area only to not have more work. I do not want to get this cleanser or mold into my pool which the Trex is around it. I was told to brush this on and have asthma. I also get ulcerations on my fingers and not supposed to be using these items and not supposed to wear gloves. I have other medical conditions which makes me not supposed to be doing this. Trex gives people a run around instead of doing the correct thing.

I'm about to do the exact same thing with my deck-rebuilding project. Went to Lowe's to see what's new in corrugated materials. In addition to the old El Cheapo 5-ounce fiberglass everyone's seen on hothouses, etc., Lowe's now offers a corrugated PVC material called "Deck Drain" by the manufacturer. It's around $20 for a 26" by 12-foot piece. And if that's not fancy enough, they also have it in polycarbonate (like what your DVDs are made out of). One advantage of this approach is that you can build the deck dead level and just shim/furr out the plastic underneath to get the required drainage slope. You'll probably have to use furring strips anyway as the rib spacing on the plastic might not correspond to the joist spacing you're attaching it to. The furring helps with the overall ventilation too. You'll have to fake it between the deck edge and the ledger beam that supports the joists at that end. You can either just custom-fit the plastic between each pair of joists, or use a flexible membrane between the joists to back-drain over to the main drainage plastic. (I've seen complete systems done this way. They have a funky visual appearance.)

Hey Kathy, I go out on service calls with Folks that have used man made material for decks and a few porches every few days,say 5 every 90 days, pvc product has the highest failure rate on the 180 is TimberTech,trex is very close to pvc. I am thinking we have to define Failure,,,With a choice deck project I did 6 years ago on a Condo bid the material has completly failed people are cracking it into just from walking on it this Project is 10' off the ground some of it is 30' in full sun with no more than a 16''joist span.Now that is Failure. Failure can also include how it looks and if the material was advertised to be no or low maintenanace.Black mold will cause total failure as well but not for a while. Tendura is an orphan composite in a lot of ways, its Failure is always blamed on the Contractor, a short read of the insulation instrustions and the high skill Contractor will move away from biding any thing built with it. I am at the point now and have been for a while,,, this area of composite material is a gamble,a serch on this site will show pictures of the new trex material they keep selling because they advertise in a big way even on this site and employment of some high grade lawyers. I do outdoor areas for a living, If the man made material was doing well down the road I would defently be using it in a big way as a lot of my local Contractors do. I of course have come in contact with ipe. Kathy,I also am intersted in the bottom line,like you I am involved in several forms conected with the deck business. The Skill of the Carpenter is important, money is also important. To some if the product has good info and the sales rep makes the man a good deal he is going to go for it I understand that. I am not intrested at this point in the negative slams that go on over here or geting involved in them. I know what I have seen. I am intersted in positive feed back from Folks who have a 6/7 year old man made project and how its holding up for them. Side Note>>> That choice condo project had a lot of left over material nothing was in a mult. I used some of this decking on my upstairs stair way with the Butler Manor wrap around second story deck all the treads were done with them I put two coats of twp 116 on them. I have none of the failure issues the condo has. Why is this?? I really dont know. Could be the direct sunlight on the flip side I have a big time trouble tree with all sorts of sap and bird presents, Could be I dont have near the trafic the condo hasMabey if the man made stuff gets regular finish it will hold up, but then that negates the reason for buying it in the first place, but then it is easier to just wash off composite and put a coat of finish on and it wont splinter up, but then some composite wont take finish all that well, but then some composite says it has new uv protection and wont stain up at all. With me I dont have to worry about it,when I go out on a bid I take TT product and ipe with me all the Wallet has to do is look at the two,most of the time they go with ipe.But then Man that TimberTech grouved ipe look alike is some fine looking stuff I dont like the clips they should be stainless and the grouve will colect all the dirt/leaves/ and its really high $ like all composite is now days, higher than ipe installing ipe to me is just as easy as puting TT with the clips, But then............ John

I live in the suburbs of NYC. I have trex decking, around my pool, two decks, upper and lower, three sets of trex stairs, and along the whole side of my house up to the front, pretty extensive. I had it installed 10 years ago. I used two different colors, the brown with lighter tan treads, spindles, railings etc, it's very nice looking. It gets some mold on it, in some spots, not everywhere, and some stains from the bbq, and food droppings, etc, BUT, I would rather clean my deck every year, or more often if I need to, and be done with it, even with some some stubborn stains remaining and the fading of the color, than have this much wood decking that would require so much more attention and other worries, any day. I like the fact that it gets cleaned and disinfected every year. My husband once upon a time, installed wood decking, and refinished wood decks, etc etc, and he would NEVER put this much wood deck around our house. The composite is soft and feels good on your feet, without the worry of splinters, and thats a big deal for me with children. It does get hot like sand sometimes, in the summer sun, so we keep a hose near the pool to cool off the deck, and it looks nice wet anyway. It has it's issues, but they are not even noticeable in the big picture. They are coming out with new cleaners, and now you can paint and stain it if you want. The benefits of trex, when installed properly, far outweigh the inevitable, over time, every year, and every day, issues you will have with a wood deck. We paid a lot of money to avoid the problems you have with wood decks because of my husbands experience and knowledge of wood decks, and I hope this doesn't jinx us (knock on wood) but, we are very happy with ours, we would do it again in a second. Just my opinion....:)