Yo Ken, if your still around your up on this one. Far as Composites go I am with the Larry/whoever We are for the most part. Composites are really no longer using recycled material because there is just not enough of it so most of the raw stuff is virgin,the energy used to make composite is an enviro no no, when its time to remove the project composite is not real big on bio degrade its tricky to burn shreading it would be silly. Bottom line composites are not so enviro freindly. Info like that might suggest its not all that good to clean it either, with anything. I dont agree>> composites will out last Ipe, left to go silver/gray Ipe is as close to no maintance as a person can get. With the softer composites like Choice/MoistureShield even trex= tjunk I have found a coat or two of TWP 116 seals up the decking,locks in the color and keeps mold,mildew,stains from causing major problems. Of course not needing to do this is the reason the Wallet goes for composite in the first place. I my own self dont like composites at all for the reasons stated in several posts here and on other sites. Welcome aboard Larry!!! Sorry I dident understand your intent at the begining . John

we have a trex (or trex like-don't remember!) deck-it's almost 10 years old and still in good shape. the surface does get very hot (it faces south and gets lots of sun) and we walk barefoot alot, so i put an outdoor rug under the seating area of the deck and a good sized one right outside of the kitchen door...we have a medium colored deck-maybe a very light color wouldn't get so hot. the decking has faded a little. it also has some grease stains on it near/under the grill that i haven't been able to remove, so i have also put an outdoor rug under our grill. i like this decking much better than our wood decks we've had in previous homes---the lack of maintainance and splinters is great! our spindles are powder coated aluminum (black) which are also fantastic. however, the posts and rails are cedar and we have a huge carpenter bee problem with them...would not get cedar again.

A couple years ago I was looing for something that I could put over my old deck to restore the beauty of it. I found a product that was tropical hardwood strips mounted in squares on a special backing. The wood was called Curupay I believe. Anyway, I bookmarked the site because I couldn't afford it at the time. It is: http://www.ecoarbordesigns.com/curupaydouble.html. It was shown on a This Old House show so you can see how it goes up. It is a darker (not blackish) shade.

It's ok to use most rugs on composites as long as you periodically clean under them nut you should never use rugs with vinyl backing or anything that bleeds its color. In addition, when you start using mats or rugs on your deck while the deck undergoing its natural weathering stage you end up with inconsistent color variation and so best if you wait before you put mats, flower pots, etc which prevent light exposure and air circulation under these items which rarely being moved for at least 6 months. Follow your deck's manufacturer cleaning instructions and see if you can get it cleaned up or at least make it look better at this point. If not replace the few boards if it looks really bad and don't use these items again. Good luck