Help me choose decking material? Nice-looking, not too expensive?

13 years ago

We're adding a deck and porch to our house here in Maine. I am having a really hard time choosing decking material!

It needs to looks great with the house, since resale is a big concern (~4 years). The house is partly painted concrete "brick" and partly shingled in pretty Maipe cedar shakes (dipped in Cabot Oil Stain so they have a nice grey-tan weathered look). We also have a natural weathered cedar picket fence. We're going for a sort of coastal New England look, and it's a fairly high-end neighborhood and renovation.

In a previous home we built porches using Trex, and liked it there. But local rep says not to use Trex in shade areas. The deck will be mostly shaded (porch is sunny).

Concerns:

1) Aethetics, as above. Definitely no pressure treated (except structural.) Resale.

2) COST!!!!! We have a very meager budget this summer due to lots of unforeseen other house emergencies :(

3) Maintenance, somewhat. I'm OK with yearly coating if needed. We do have chickens who will probably hang out on the deck, necessitating frequent washing!

4) Environmental concerns. I'm not too thrilled with the PVC for that reason, though it doesn't have to be the MOST "green" product out there.

Possibilities??

1) Trex or similar?

2) Cedar? This is cheap around here: $1.00/LF. Is it "nice" enough? Will it still look good in 4 years? Do we let it weather or stain it? Can we use a stain that is light like the Cabot Oil Stainedshingels?

3) Ipe or other tropical hardwood? (I haven't priced that locally... maybe too pricey?)

Any input welcome!

Thanks,

Stacey

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Comments (9)

Billl
13 years ago
It is really up to you as to what is "nice enough." Maybe if you posted some pics of your house, we could give a better response as to what might fit in best.

For the porch, if it is covered, I have a soft spot for painted wood. It is inexpensive, but you can achieve a wide range of looks depending on the colors you choose.

My favorite covered porch in my neighborhood has heart pine boards with a high gloss, clear finish. It looks almost like it belongs on a ship and would look great in a coastal New England theme. I don't know if that goes with chickens though.

For decking, I think the cedar would be the way I would go. It looks more casual, but hey, it's a deck. It is supposed to be casual.
weedyacres
13 years ago
Try posting this in the porches & decks forum. And post some photos too, so we can see what we've got to work with.
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A few years ago I was looking around for white oak,very good stuff same qualities as ipe, and ran into white cedar,eastern white cedar,true northern white cedar,atlantic swamp cedar, white cedar that actually is a cypress ...and on and on it went. "white cedar " seems to be about the same as Western Red cedar far as decay/bugs go. Due to transport cost one is used on the east one on the west and of course the wr trees are much bigger so the lumber has more sap wood. Go for it Stacey!!! It will help out the local cash flow.But dont expect the the long term service of South American or quality manmade. J.
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numbersjunkie
13 years ago
Don't do cedar!

We had a cedar deck put on when we built our house. We are in the woods. It rotted badly. I think cedar is OK if it is in the sun, but not in a shady area.

We replaced it with Ipe, which wasn't bad when we did it but has gotten more expensive as it has grown in popularity. It's also hard to install since its so heavy and dense. But that stuff is as hard as a rock (sinks in water).

We just put new decking on the dock at our lake house and used Garapa. Much cheaper, and a bit lighter. Talk to George at East Teak and see what he says. Great prices and they know their stuff. That's where we ordered from both times, and had the wood shipped. Still cheaper than local, even with freight.
lisaaa
13 years ago
Hello,
i am new in this forum site
so also don't have any idea about this
Thanks
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
IPE is up to $7/LF for 5/4x6 decking, so you could replace the cedar several times for the cost of the hardwood.
If you treat and pre-stain the cedar on all sides , then re-stain as required, it could last 20 years.
Casey
numbersjunkie
13 years ago
There is a labor cost associated with stripping and re staining a deck every few years, and also a labor cost associated with replacing the decking if/when it rots out.

Ipe is quite pricey now (although $7/LF is a lot higher than what I am seeing). BUT, there are other hardwoods (like Garapa) that are much lower in price, and not all that much higher than cedar.

One thing we found was that staining a deck that sits in the shade all the time made the mildew even worse and may have contributed to the decks deterioration.
Billl
13 years ago
Just from the dollar and cents approach...

You aren't going to make your money back putting in high end decking material. The future owners might save in long term upkeep expense, but they aren't going to pay extra for that when you go to sell. eg a deck is only going to add so much to the value of a house, lets say 15k. If you spend 25k or 50k, you aren't going to get more than 15k back no matter how nice it is. (numbers completely made up and dependent on neighborhood)
annzgw
13 years ago
I'd vote for composite simply because I've had wood decks in the past and I will never go back to the upkeep that wood demands. My current home has an 8 yr. old composite deck (covered)and I've had no problems with it so far. Maintenance involves washing it every spring and spraying the outer perimeter with diluted bleach to treat any mold that appears.

Below is a link to another thread discussing some of the available brands.

Here is a link that might be useful: decking
pete_p_ny
13 years ago
It is ALL about budget and how much you can afford. That should dictate what to use. I know too many overextended people, and some that lost homes.

Help me choose decking material? Nice-looking, not too expensive?

Comments (9)

Billl

weedyacres

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