Hi, we live in Southern California and I found this website VERY helpful including this specific thread. I am sure by now the OP has already decided on the kind/type of decking to use, but for anyone that is also looking at this thread, I wanted to share my experience with having Trex Transcend installed. We had replaced a 20+ yr old Trex deck that was inherited when we bought the house. That deck was still in amazing condition, but it was the framing that had dry rot so we just decided to redo the whole thing. Ultimately it really come down to whether to stick with Trex or go with another type of decking material from ipe wood to Trex competitors. It was really difficult because there are quite a few competing fake products out there and then of course the tried and true 'real' wood. The arduous part for us was getting through the negative posts about Trex products. I am not a contractor so I am only talking about from a home owners point of view. From a big picture point of view, I dont know anyone can really make broad statements about a company's products when they have several product lines, a stock price that is over $30/shr. I just dont think a company could possibly last that long,e specially in the homebuilding industry. Clearly they must be doing something right vs the mess they are probably most known for from over a decade ago. For us deciding on this specific line was not about which was 'better', wood vs fake. It also wasnt about 0 maintenance claims either. I think we would have been fine with any of the products. We chose this because we liked the hidden fastener system and the splinter factor. But really these are minor details and totally subjective. Our contractor was vastly experienced with all the materials we were considering and was neutral about which we chose. Some tips if you are getting this line: - Make sure the contractor knows what they are doing. Trex is very specific about how it is installed. - Dont expect 0 maintenance. This is simply naive. Anything that has to sit out in the elements will be prone to natures way. - Get the hidden fastening system if you like the aesthetics of indoor flooring. Yes you can have that installed on many other systems including wood, but we were most impressed with the Transcend fastener system. - Think about where you live and look at what contractors do and the successes they have with certain materials. Trex or other fake wood products might not be fully realized in your area. At this point I dont think you can wrong with any product, especially the real thing. Just weigh up the options that are best for you and the lifestyle you have as it relates to how you will use the deck. Its possible that you can save a lot more money in the short/long run when weighing up these options. As far as the photo, we went with Spiced Rum and Vintage Lantern picture frame and fascia boards. White Transcends rail system. The deck is ~630 sq ft and the framing was done to spec per manufacturer in terms of spacing etc. In other words, there will be no sagging. I believe they went with 5/8 spacing on the boards. Good luck!

J, Thanks again for responding. What I meant by cost effective was for the life of the deck. I don't mind spending more upfront if the cost of maintaining one product type for the life of it is easier/less. Some more details of the projects: 1. It is a second floor deck. ~800 sqft. 2. We will most likely do a patio thing underneath it at some point down the road. 3. We would like to create an outdoor kitchen down on the deck as it will be off the kitchen and family room. (not sure if that would affect the choice in material) In our current house we have a pressure treated deck and have lived in this house for over 20 years that the deck looks like crap. Part of the blame falls on us as it wasn't very well maintained. so any suggestions you have based on the above would be greatly appreciated. The fiberglass thingâ¦we saw a house recently that had a deck that was coated in Fiberglass so didnâÂÂt have wood planks or anything showing was just fully coated in fiberglass, havenâÂÂt really seen many of them like that but appealed to us because it seemed like 0 maintenance and it had Trex (or some synthetic hand rail system).

Thanks, John...I called, but George was out in the yard... I guess my question still stands. Why is Ipe superior to Managris? From my research it appears that Mangaris is marginally softer than Ipe, but otherwise shares many of the long term characteristics of Ipe in regards to decay, bug resistance, looks, etc. Although I have seen a number of glowing reports of the folks @ East Teak, I am able to get what appears to be (in my estimation, so far) an equivalent product from a local lumberyard at a similar price to Ipe (once delivery is added). Maintenance isn't an issue for us...this deck will be built next to a white pine log home that requires annual attention in some way, shape or form. My in-laws & I thoroughly understand the maintenance related to wood products. It stumps me when I read about folks who believe that they should be able to buy product "X", not do a darn thing to take care of it, and expect it to last forever and ever and ever... I simply want a long-lasting, good looking deck that my in-laws can enjoy for the next 30 years! Let me word it another way: Is the preference for Ipe related more to experience with installing Ipe, and less to specific problems with Mangaris, or are there horror stories of Mangaris installations that aren't spoken or written because they are so horrible that they could maim or kill just from reading them ;? Thanks again for the input! pedalbrake37

Epoch/evergrain, one of the soft composites like choice or moisture sheild same kinda deal sister joists on any butt joints, pron to mold unless they get a finsh on them,not near the complaints as trex. Some say a shaded area promotes mold and mildew. With all the composites a person needs to understand completly how and when they want it installed read the fine print on instalation. Provide cross vintalation. I see you have already ruled out Ipe so I wont go into that. I have one Epohc project out 3 years the color has faded 30 % or so not a lot of mold really just the normal stuff that will happen to any outdoor project left alone with no care at all. Also one choice comerical job on a multi leveal condo its 5 years out and looks really bad the decking has faded to a liver color and has started to degrade. One thing might be of intrest to ya, I used the cut offs from that choice project for the treads on my own upstairs deck stairway I put two coats of twp 116 finish on them that same 5 years ago they look a lot better with no real sigh of degrading. John