I am having a wood deck replaced as I type this comment. I chose the AZEK Redland Rose color (looks like redwood). I was very happy with the product they are putting down, until 2 days ago (the end of the second day of construction). Apparently overnight, some birds decided to grace the decking floor, and left quite a bit of 'deposit' on the material. Well, de-goit deck cleaner, dawn dish soap and gentle scrubbing with a plastic scrub brush and 2 days later -- the stain from the bird poop did NOT come off and appears to have eaten thrugh the finish. I read on the "This Old House" board concerning the problem with stains and AZEK -- unfortunately, I read about this after my contract was signed and they were 2 days into putting down the deck floor. Calls to the supplier were fruitkess -- he had no idea how to clean it. I am (5 days later and not much more progress on the deck) still waiting to hear from the distributor (via my contractor). The only solution they have at this point is to replace the bird-poop stained boards! OK for now -- but my deck is open and what do I do when a bird decides to relieve itself over my deck again? My deck is HUGE and this is quite costly. Anyone else have this problem? I am going to test scrap pieces with fats from cooking, wine, etc -- and see if it really comes clean. If not, someone PLEASE contact me. I will gladly go in on a class action suit if need be! megga@verizon.net

SKI, A very good post above. I researched composites before I had my deck built with a hollow PVC product. I think your comments about them are pretty much spot on. "Hollow PVC has been around for about 8 years, is a niche product and has really never taken off. Consumers often do not like the springyness, hollow sound and creaking. They have fastening challenges." As vanguardbuilders mentions a tighter joist spacing takes care of any perceived bouncyness. Not sure about the hollow sound, but there definitely is some creaking. It's most noticeable in cooler temps when the boards contract. During hotter temps its not very noticeable. I definitely agree that their are fastening challenges. Hollow PVC is a cost effective product, but IMO requires a lot of Homeowner/contractor interaction to ensure the deck gets built correctly. I think this alone would make it an unpopular choice for many. To the mods whoever you are, Why does this forum lack the basics of quoting text that other forums have?

jterrilynn is a genius! :) I just now noticed she completed my railing on the octagon - lol!! Love it! You ALL have such a great eye - you have helped us leaps and bounds. My husband and I like the black posts. He and I are divided however on the lower level fascia under the deck. I am liking the house color as a tie-in to the rest of the structure with the brown fascia a close second. He likes it black. Hmmmm.... we have a few days to think about it before the painter returns. If anyone has more to weigh in on, feel free :)

We pulled out our existing deck, it was just made with some kind of wood-we're not even sure what it was, but it was grooved on the underside. The PO had installed it and it was a very bad job that he'd done. Twice I fell on it-one resulted in me fracturing vertebrea in my back, the other I fell thru a board that snapped and just got bruised up. DH also fell thru snapped boards and we decided that was it-it's got to go! We researched all kinds of materials, I wanted no maintenance, but found that the composite decking wasn't a good idea for our wet weather-too slippery. Thought about cedar but it was high maintenance, so we just went with pressure treated. We've completely redesigned the deck, too, to make it more usable for how WE use it. We haven't finished it yet but what we've done we're very happy with. We'll stain it when it's done, and I want to add some railing in a few spots-its' not very high off the ground, but the ground is not level, so some areas are higher. I want to do a cable railing.