Trex is at the very bottom of the composite material,do a search on this site for a few of them.The material sold at the box stores are only a few notches above trex.

Other composites like TimberTech have a lot better track record. John

John, thanks for the response. So Trex is low-end? I had always assumed that they were top-of-the-line -- probably because they seem to have so much money to advertise in magazines like Sunset!

I remembered the brand name of the Home Depot stuff -- it's Veranda. Do you know anything about that brand?

I guess we will go ahead and (gulp) install it, since after all it's not the same as the Trex and we can't assume it will go the same way. After reading some more posts on this forum, I'm wondering if maybe what's going on with our neighbors' deck isn't the material disintegrating, but maybe mold growing on it?

Thanks again for the help!

Alice,

Trex has a problem with their boards because they use recycled plastic. When they first started all shrinkwrap & other plastics they used were not biodegradable like they now are. The problem is with recyled plastic is that you can not tell what is biodegradable & what is not. The Las Vegas landfill is full of old trex from claims they had of boards disintegrating that they had to replace. I've seen it firsthand, one of my suppliers has some old trex disintegrating in their yard. Yes it does have mold problems too.

Veranda is HD only product, one of the big composite companies makes a generic version that HD sells & calls it veranda, Fiberon I believe makes it. If you have not all ready bought & installed it I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better composite.

Al

It's bought and cut to size, waiting to be installed tomorrow. Considering that we would be out the cost of the materials and nearly all the cost of labor (cutting the boards to size, etc.), my inclination is to go ahead and install it, and if in a few years it starts to disintegrate or we have other problems, we can then have our contractor rip it out and install something better. We're also on a tight schedule with this deck -- my daughter's birthday party is next weekend and we need to have a useable deck by then!

I don't understand what you're saying about biodegradable vs. non-biodegradable plastic, deckman. Do you mean that because Trex used to be made with biodegradable plastics, that it starts to degrade over time, but that the Trex sold now is okay? Or do you mean the opposite? I'm confused.

Our neighbors have already decided to rip out their crumbling Trex and replace it with ipe wood. One of the reasons I'm feeling like going ahead with the Veranda product right now is because my understanding is that ipe is the best and most durable wood choice for decks, but you have to special-order it and wait for it to arrive, and we don't have time for that!

When all of the shrinkwrap & other recycled plastics were non-biodegradable trex did not disintegrate but now it does as the plastic companies introduced bio-degradable plastics. Most of the composite companies use fresh resin & no recycled plastics.

The biggest problems with the soft composites like veranda/fiberon is that it scratches up easily & stains badly. I think they put an anti-midew/mold agent in their product so it does not mold so you shouldn't have that problem.

Good luck with the new deck.

Al

Thanks for the info!

While researching information on composite decking, I ran across this dialogue and thought it might be helpful to Alice to share what I discovered in a July '04 Consumer Report article titled, Decking - Serious Alternatives. Admittedly the article is over 3-years old and there has probably been a lot of developments in the area of composite decking since it was written but the findings might just offer some encouragement since she is committed to proceed with the Veranda product. CR rated the Veranda Composite product near the top of the list. In fact it was the second highest rated product and was tagged as a CR Best Buy, which is quite an honor. As to whether this rating might still hold, I don't know.

Regarding the Trex product, there is all kinds of buzz on various BBS about problems with the Trex product as deckman22 states. I personally would never consider the product and feel sorry for the fellow that is stuck with it. One knowledgeable party told me that at one time Trex made a good product but it no longer available. In the CR article, Trex Deckboard is rated as #8 BUT there is a note stating the product has been discontinued and replaced by Accents and Origins. I suspect this discontinued product might have been a good viable product at one time.

Hope this is useful. If you want a copy of the CR article, I will scan it and send it along. (Eon Deckboard was at the top and Monarch Deckboard was at the bottom.)

That article is proof that CR is biased, to put Eon on top of their list. Just check the pics on their on website for proof of how much it shrinks, which is more than any other composite I've seen. It's also the most flamable of all the composites. Eon also scratches as bad as any of them do.

I'd bet money that CR gets paid by HD for a rating like that on veranda. It may be rated a "best buy" strickly on price, but no way 2nd on looks/performance. Also has fast as things move along in the composite decking industry you don't want to be looking at reports 3, almost 4 years old.

Al

Consumer Report mag is a total joke. I dont think they get paid by anyone for what they put in print but they are like 60 mins tv show Completly Liberal to the major max. They base the info on on the green mafia requests Example>>> they rated pt material over ipe because of the rain forest issues,

Al,

The article being 3-years old and likely on the front-end of the evolution of all these non-wood products likely does not reflect all that is known about these products today. The characteristics you mention about Eon may not have surfaced yet although I would like to think that CR would have tested the product sufficiently to identify such drawbacks.

I did find a note in the article stating that the overall score for each product was based mainly on maintenance, strength and appearance. Other factors like slipperiness, resistance to mildew growth and cracking was also considered. There is no mention of shrinkage, flammability or susceptibility to scratches which is where your concern lies.

Fully agree that using 3-year old data for selection is not wise but when the decision has already been made and cast in concrete it might help to know that at least some reputable organization gives the choice high marks. <:>I have followed Consumer Report for years and purchased product after product based on CR's recommendation and on the whole found the choices to be very good ones. Consumer Report takes no money from any manufacturer or advertiser and is an independent testing facility -- and I believe it. I imagine they can make mistakes but for someone like myself that has to trust someone for independent advice I fully accept that fact, trust their advice and use it regularly.

BTW: The Eon Deckboard rated is a 100% plastic product with wood grain finish and not a composit like the Veranda Composite. It is a relatively expensive item ($440/100sq ft in '04) that apparently did not make CR's Best Buy based on cost since there were a lot more good choices that were cheaper.

Bill

Bill,

I hate to say this, but you sound like a CR sheep, following whatever they say as gospel. You say their test is based partly on appearance. Well, how much those boards shrink & how much they scratch have a lot to do with how a deck appears.

If they rated veranda as second then they should have rated fiberon, weatherbest, oasis, & premier right there with them since they are virtually the same thing just made by different companies. The only difference is the embossing pattern & maybe a slight change in the dye colors.

BTW, I'm aware Eon is a plastic product without any wood flour like composites have. The characteristics Eon had then are they same as they are now. Pity CR didn't do a good job of testing, they might have learned something. Probably just read a bunch of literature. It shrinks bad so it looks crappy, it's made with a plastic that burns like crazy (important to know since a lot of folks put grills on decks), & since it's some sort of veneer finish when it scratches (which it does easily) there is no remedy. Yes, I know it's expensive junk, my point exactly. No way they should have rated it close to the top in their comparisons of composites (even though it's not a composite) .

I understand you were just trying to make Alice feel good about her purchase & tried to paint a rosey picture. However as a decking professional with years of experience in lumber sales & deck building I thought she should here the truth not some old garbage CR spewed out years ago.

Al

Al,

Being a happy sheep in another area, I accept your categorization of being a CR sheep. <: having subscribed to cr for well over years and following its advice on a lot of different products it has proven worth me so i trust findings. can understand where decking professional like yourself might discard based your own personal experience. if the subject was electrical my experience lies discount too.>Regarding the rating of various products made by the Veranda manufacturer, I found none that you mentioned on the list of 19 options except Weatherbest Premium SP, which was #6 onthe list (Veranda Composite was #2). Possibly they were left off because they were the same as the Veranda product; CR does that at time.

The ratings encompassed wood, composites, all plastic and aluminum. Thus, you can see why the Eon was included. Other all-plastics included were CertainTeed, Brock Systems and Carefree Xteriors. Rough costs per 100 sq ft for each option was even included which was helpful too.

Many folks criticize CR as being biased but having followed the publication for years and applied the recommendations with success, I remain a firm believer in it for the average person who is not knowledgeable in all the goods we consumer-homeowners have to consider buying.

With that said, I will withdraw from further dialogue on this matter and leave it to you experts. I greatly appreciate all your comments deckman22. They have been most insightful. I wish you were near by to take a look at what I am trying to accomplish and advise me on the best low maintenance solution. Thanks.
Bill

Consumer Reports: For certain items, their advice is good (things like digital cameras, cordless phones, some appliances, etc.). The advice seems unbiased and reliability data is gathered from consumers. But for things like cars, I believe the editors have a strong bias against US manufacturers and the "scores" in their ratings include subjective categories like how the car feels and its styling---things that don't mean a hill of beans. Somehow, someway, an imported car (typically Japanese) will always "perform" the best in their tests, even if objective data like 1/4 mile times and braking distance is better on the domestic. The overall score ends up lagging if the GM product is "long in the tooth" or has "shiney plastic on the interior trim" or other nonsense. Honda somehow does everything perfectly as far as CR is concerned. It cracks me up to read their ratings of wine and ice cream---things that they have no business rating since it's all a matter of personal taste. Then for something like a mattress---part of it is comfort but part is price and how well it's made---they seem to have no opinion at all.
Decking? Well, I think they pretty much admit that they don't know it all. I evaluated a bunch of them for a deck and screened porch I'm having built. For a variety of reasons, I wanted composite on the deck portion instead of wood (wood in the porch). In the end, I settled on Fiberon Professional Series with the slots to accommodate hidden fasteners. The contractor I hired seems most comfortable with this particular material as he has specified it many times before and seems to have satisfied customers. I liked the darker brown color enough to go with it. I tested it against the Fiberon "Tropics" which looks nicer to me, but I didn't like how easliy "Tropics" scratched. Pro Series took harder keying before showing gauges. Also, he gave me a better price on Pro Series. One material I liked is Pro Cell which I guess now is called Azek Deck. It's lighter weight and I think all plastic with no wood fill. The colors were a little light in shade---like pastel---but the material was nice looking, like painted wood. Evergrain was nice, but not reversible. I heard good things about Geo Deck, but didn't like the look as much as the Fiberon, and it didn't feel as substantial. I might regret not picking the Azek Deck because over the long haul, it probably ages better than the Fiberon, but I do think the Fiberon is a good product in its own right. "Veranda" is made by Fiberon and appears to be the same product but with the HD label on it. Fiberon is 2nd to Trex in Sales, but has not had nearly as many issues reported as Trex has.

Thanks Angel, I get a little on a rant with things that just dont add up. I am a Contractor I deal with positive no bull$hi$ facts, I have to my business depends on completly well done/long lasting projects, We do what we say we are going to do. There is no he said she said thing comprised in my product.

Composite is in major flux right now, they are all buying out each other with yearly fixes in the mix combined with the high color glossie pictures in all the major rag mags that promice everything short of 65 virgens in the after life.

Some of my Wallets want composite no matter what when this happens I go with TimberTech for a lot of reasons

Nothing to do with decking>>> GM has made a 200,000 mile car/truck,with normal upkeep,for a good 20 years its just that no one knows it. Rags like cr have made sure this happensThe green mafia has done more to cripple this Country and several others than drugs/crime in a Business/get on with your Life nature. John

I selected ipe because I didn't trust composite longevity and didn't buy into the "green-ness". If ipe and other fast growing hardwoods have no value in the marketplace, then it is easier to continue slash and burn subsistence agriculture - the trees aren't saved, just burned. I also like the fact that ipe is class A fire rated.
As for pick-ups, if I ever needed one, it would be a Silverado in a heart beat. But like probably the majority of truck purchasers (most aren't tradesmen), I don't need one at all. If I could get the truck I wanted, it would be a flat fender 1950's Power Wagon - hey, it even has 'decking' in the bed.....

Yeah, I've had American cars over 100,000 miles without major mishaps and have found routine maintenance and parts to be far cheaper than the imports I've owned. I'm not saying to buy one over the other---my point is that people should look at the cars, drive them and see what the best deals are and go with what they like best rather than count on a magazine to advise them which car is best---especially when it's become obvious that the magazine has some sort of agenda that penalizes domestic products for some reason. The "Green" factor doesn't influence me either. There's a whole lot of money to be made in this country because a sucker is born every minute. This latest thing is very disturbing to me and without getting too political here, what I sense is that we're in the midst of a brain cleansing so we all buy into the "fact" that our actions are causing climate change. Once that's "established" (by politicians, not scientists mind you) you'll see usage and disposal taxes imposed on everything, along with new surcharges. The money will be forked over to the United Nations to be redisributed to poorer nations that are suffering as a result of "our wastefulness." Watch and see. And by the way, I totally believe in being enviromentally responsible. Recycle what you can, combine trips, turn lights off when you're not in a room, save water, etc. My point is not that we should ignore conservation---but it's that the people trying to force it on us have a whole other unrelated agenda and they're the biggest offenders of all with private jets, huge mansions, etc. What does this have to do with composite? Well, I say evaluate the decking materials you're interested in and don't let "global warming" or "rain forest responsibility" affect your decision at all. Pick wood if you like it, pick composite if you like it. Presumably, this stuff will be hanging off the back of your house for at least the next 20 years and hopefully more. If it can't be recycled, we'll blast it into space or something. People far smarter than I am will figure it out. Meanwhile, hey, maybe get a planking that's reversible and flip it over after 20 years!

Last side note I promice>> 98 3/4 ton Silverado with the 350 I bought it new put 200,765 hard miles on her. Total work truck puling a 16' tandom with 4000 lbs normal. The top end finally let go but I drove it to my local wrench who installed a GM crate motor and bang bang this truck is in Service with the tranie still shifting hard with no slip

OK, I have to admit that I made a big mistake.

I had a 95 3/4 ton Silverado. I pulled even heavier trailers then John. I also live at 2000 ft. and regurlay had to pull the trailer up the hill from sea level. Anyways, in 98 it was bugging me with little electrical problems. So I sold it to one of my employees for what I owed on it (half the bluebook) and bought a Ford.

That truck is still going with 350k miles and very minimal maintance. My Ford, I've replaced the tranny and rearend, plus I have a lot of those electrical problems that I had with the Chevy.

Mark