We opted to go with concrete. I didn't stamp it since most other decks/patios I've seen that were stamped collect and hold dirt in the grooves. We also didn't stain it since that option tends to need to be repeated once traffic areas wear through. You also have to keep the surface of the concrete clean from spills and stains during the build. Everywhere something spills is a spot where the stain may not adhere. Instead of all of that we worked with the concrete company and had our concrete colored. They added color dye to the entire batch of concrete and when it was poured it had a nice mellow brown tone. This blended in nicely with the house. Almost all of the synthetic wood decks I've seen have their issues. Some can be simply keeping them cleaned and free from mold, others I've seen suffered from sagging and swelling. All of them require some type of maintenance. We're going on two years and I've done absolutely nothing to our suspended concrete deck, patio, or covered concrete patio below. They are solid and sound. Not sure if you can utilize concrete or not, but look into seeing if your concrete company will add dye, maybe another option for you. FWIW - I would never install a wood deck - way too much maintenance.

It's been 4 years now and our Portico deck still looks good. It appears that it gets slightly more porous as it ages, making it a little more difficult to power wash the winter's dirt off. It still beats staining though and there are no splinters. I also have noticed some spots of unknown origin, possibly tree sap, that appear. The pressure washer removes them, but they eventually return. Another poster reported the same problem and was very unhappy. I guess our expectations are a bit lower. We remain happy with the decision to go with portico. We used mahogany on the upper deck two years earlier and that, in spite of yearly applications of Australian Timber Oil, is weathering not much better than the original pressure treated pine. I find that spraying with Olympic Deck Cleaner with a garden sprayer, followed by pressure washing cleans it up rather easily. My neighbor built a deck with Ipe last summer, that was our alternate choice when we were making our selection. We decided against it because I had a sample board laying on the deck for several months and it was warping and splitting. I will see how their's holds up over the years to see if we made the right choice. I don't think the perfect deck material has been developed yet... I hope this helps.

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?

I have lived in and had decks on the Peninsula and South Bay. Redwood is not as long lived as it used to be, and should have some maintenance. I have ipe on the boat and have little experience with it, it is a new installation. I now have trek at the cabin, friend and brother also have trek. I like my trek, no maintenance vs Redwood. It was expensive compared to Redwood, I didn’t price it against ipe. Trek is heavy.