You should plan on a good cleaning EVERY year, no matter what material you use. For perspective, how often do you wash your car?
The only moderate priced composite I saw was at Home Depot. The grain looked like somebody rolled in on with a roller.
You get what you pay for.
I went with Trex accents Gray..it's a light gray and the grain isn't fakey looking and the material isn't too coarse (I suspect the more coarse, the more chance for mildew growing).
Going from PT to composite is like going from a Model T to a Lexus!

sre, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks.

So, pressurepros & srercrer, if I understand you both, I take it composite is the only way to go. So what brand(s) do each of you recommend? BTW, we live in the northeast so standing up to snow will definitely be an issue.

Not speaking for pressurepros, but I think his comment was more approving of this statement rather than the whole post: "You should plan on a good cleaning EVERY year, no matter what material you use. For perspective, how often do you wash your car?"

Composite is by far NOT the only way to go. Many folks here have IPE or (real) mahogany in harsh environments with great results. I spend 2-3 hours a year maintaining my mahogany deck, that's all. That's no more than I would spend with composite, that's for sure. Composites, in my opinion, are a distinctly personal decision like between a MAC or PC. Wood or composites have their respective pros and cons, but in the end, some don't mind the downsides of composites. Regardless, I think we will all universally agree that there is no such thing as a "no maintenance" composite. Also, coupled with the fact that most composite companies (or their products) haven't been around long enough to know how they'll be holding up in 10, 5, or even 2 years, you'll see a somewhat anti-composite bias on this board.

The original post was all about composites, no mentioning of wood, so I responded in a like manner.
Yea, there are two camps on this board. Feel free to read past posts to learn.
I'm from the composite side...I love it (just for the flooring though), wouldn't even think of doing wood.
It's a personal preference thing.
For the record thou... I've read an awful lot of posts about wood decks with problems, some old, some new. I think I've read one composite with a problem...mold, which I suspect was really mildew....that'll grow on anything.
Anyway, I love building anything, and like to hear everybodys ideas on this forum....peace.

Agreed with the cleaning as well as the differences in quality. I personally do not like the composites, I have sen too many issues with them. I think everyone likes them (durability not so much aesthetically) the first five years. When they get mold ridden, scratched by pets and furniture and begin to fade is when the "eye sore" factor makes people regret their decisions. I know they have come a long way in composites and someday in the near future they will have products that look realistic as well as hold up to the elements.

My feeling is this.. I can build a cypress deck, keep it maintained with a quality sealer and regular cleanings for about half of what a person will spend on building and maintaining a composite deck. My cypress deck would easily last for 20+ years and in the end look better than a 20 year old composite deck.

Also, to add to Ken's point above, taking care of a wood deck really comes down to investing only several hours a year. The horror stories you hear about redoing wood decks usually are a product of someone "inheriting" a neglected deck after 3-5 years of neglect. I'm almost ashamed at how little time I spend each April cleaning, brightening and restaining my deck (2 hours cleaning, 1-2 hours staining). I actually find myself looking forward to it much like I used to look forward to washing/waxing my sports car years ago - I know how a little bit of proactive work would have such an important impact on the car/deck's finish.

That all being said, I will also confess that I have composite railings on my mahogany deck (weatherbest crystal white railing, not PVC). I have about 200 (?) spindles and that's not a job I wanted to tackle every year just to have white railings. So, it really does come down to personal preference and how much time you *realistically* have or want to spend taking care of your deck finish.

One way to get off fairly cheep is to use a soft composite like Choice or Moisture Shield and put a couple coats of finish on it,the fact that the softer composite stain up so easy makes them take finish like a thirsty wart hog, this makes a weak point a strong one. I my own self did this on my stairway treads leading down from my very own Butler Manor, two coats of twp 116.Man that was like 5 years ago with out any more work all I do is garden hose them off,in fact it works really close to what all the composite jerks say the product will do will right off the truck. J

Al, no more job with A W,, with you gone and Z gone I wonder who I will talk to over there to get a few alum balusters. J

I am just looking at railings, not decking. Are composite wood railings OK? An mold or staining? Do you have a brand suggestion? Sheila