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Porches & Decks Design Dilemma

Low deck ideas - composite decking?

3 years ago

We are building a lake house with an uncovered deck across the front. The house is on a slab and the deck will be quite low to the ground - I believe just one foot off the ground. For a variety of reasons, I want to look into options that avoid pressure treated decking (but would have PT supports). We live in eastern Canada with pretty harsh winters, significant precipitation, and hot and somewhat humid summers. The deck will be southeast facing with lots of full sunlight until later in the day when the shade from the house hits the deck.

What are some options we should look at? We are thinking of composite decking - perhaps MoistureShield, but I am worried it may get too hot. We have a young child and I don't want to have to wear sandals when out on the deck all the time. Other considerations are ease of maintenance and lack of splinters. Are any exotic hardwoods an option with such a low deck? I was reading ipe wood requires 18" of clearance for proper ventilation so I think our options are quite limited.

I would love some input or ideas. I have included a picture of the style of the house but ours will have blue vinyl siding and not the natural wood look of the picture. The deck will span the front of the house.

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Comments (6)

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Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO fake wood with all that real wood would not work. Have you thought about a patio instead of a deck maybe in slate . We have some of our 2300 sq ft of deck quite low to the ground and we do find it needs redoing more often than the rest of it higher off the ground. We used cedar with a solid stain a bit of a pain foo upkeep but suits our house. If I could have afforded it I would have done IPE but our house is not wood so I think it would have worked.
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houssaon
3 years ago
I can't speak to the material you should use, but a light gray might absorb less heat. You could do a portion as a deck where you exit the house and the rest as a stone patio.

There are some shades you can employ.
Robert's Shade Sail · More Info
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Since this post IS so old, I wonder if some who posted early in this string made any decisions, what they went with, and if they are happy with the choices they made. I have builders trying to get me to use EverGrain, another one wants to build with Latitudes. Neither of them want to use composite railing. They are really trying to sell their composite (I'm guessing they have some discounted contract with their dealers), but somehow no one likes composite railing. I was leaning on building using composite (possibly TimberTech, but I haven't found anyone in my area willing to go with TimberTech yet), and I was hoping the deck railing could be complimentary to the material on the deck and actually be made of the same composite material. This seems to be next to impossible for me to accomplish. What am I missing here?
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Thanks for the comments. The house is on a slab so that's what mandated the low deck. Would've just gone with a paver patio, but the extensive roots took that option away. As for burying the beams ... I've read different things about how long PT will last buried. I realize it's a bit of a gamble but I've already rolled those dice. I'm a semi-neophyte DIY'er and after consultation with the brothers over a couple beers, that seemed like the best way to go. We'll see. John - when you say "use construction adhesive under the decking" what specifically for? For actually fastening the decking to the joists? That would be in addition to traditional fastening for extra support I assume. And for the vents on the rim joist, would you think one between every joist, or could I go every other joist? Also ... will slightly wider spacing (3/16 or 1/4) help? Any thoughts on the IpeClip fastening system? Thanks all ... I'll have to post a picture or 2 here in a bit.
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Hello! Thanks for considering AZEK decks! You can learn more about our decks here: https://azek.com/products/decking We stand by our decks with 30-year & lifetime warranties, and feel that our moisture resistant capping will keep your deck looking beautiful for as long as you own your home! As far as the Texas heat, check out this heat test a builder did, where our TimberTech Whitewash Cedar competed head-to-head with wood! https://www.instagram.com/p/BlijcM6lKre/?taken-by=norcal_craftsman https://timbertech.com/store/catalog-and-samples/whitewash-cedar---4-in-sample Hope that helps! AZEK
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Best composite deck material, not too hot.
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Comments (6)
They do get hot. We installed one a few years ago. You need to be careful dragging chairs and other heavy items because you can crush the ridges used to give the impression of wood. We chose composite because we had a pressure treated deck from the previous owner that had not been maintained. I was sick of the popping nails, the splinters and did not want anything turning gray. And I knew we wouldn't be staining on a regular basis. I love it because I can walk out there barefoot without a worry and it always looks good and I don't have to stain or treat it at all. If it's hot then I wear my gardening shoes. Decide what is important to you and go from there. That will usually make the decision for you.
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pennfire
3 years ago
I can’t remember the brand we used but we did use a composite decking at our cabin and five years later, I am still very happy with it, we choose a light tan with a smooth surface. Friends used Trek brand with “real wood” type of texture that gathered a ton of pollen, dirt that becsme a maintenance nightmare as mold grew and they were constantly scrubbing it. Also, the dark color was scorching on bare feet.
WestCoast Hopeful
3 years ago
Since your house will not be wood I think a composite is totally fine.
partim
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Wood gets hot too. We have a composite ramp that doesn't get hot. It doesn't look or feel plasticky. Sorry, we built it 20 years ago and I don't know the brand. It's in full sun and gets shovelled in winter, and looks the same as the day we got it.
andygirlhfx
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Hossaon -that is a very nice idea. Thanks
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