My composite deck is going on 12 years now and I wouldn't have anything else. In my previous homes we had clear heart redwood so I know what it takes to keep wood looking nice. If you add up the time, effort, and the cost of all your materials that you spend on your current deck each year I think you'll find the price of composite isn't as costly as you think. Before making your decision, research the composites well and try to buy from a lumber supplier that carries a variety of composites. Also make sure your builder understands the extra support composite decks require. I'd share the name of my composite but I can no longer find any info on it. :/ This post was edited by annz on Sun, Feb 23, 14 at 1:30

I just got a price for liner and pavers. Liner replacement price is in line at 3k, but everything else seems high. Regular paver coping is 47 a foot, pavers installed is 13 a square foot, an additional 1k for new brass anchors, aluminum tubes and install for cover, almost 1k to set the ladder and 2 stair rail cups, the pavers are nothing special. Total for 100 feet of coping, 600 square ft of pavers, liner, new bonding, anchors, etc is almost 20k. And that's no taking out the old pavers.. Any opinions or suggestions on contractors for another price? Just seems about 20 percent high...maybe I'm wrong.

Our pool builder here in SoCal talked me out of the concrete finishes I thought I wanted--in a good way, because his company is really, really good. His concern was that no one slip and fall, and he does almost all the decks with concrete, and then an acid wash. I suppose that like others said, it exposes a bit of the particles of the concrete, but it's regular concrete, not with added pebbles or anything like that. So it looks like concrete, just not slippery. I wouldn't consider broom finish, because that seems like a driveway finish. What I'm talking about is more uniform looking. It just looks better aesthetically. Boy, am I glad we did the acid wash finish. While watching a dozen kids in the pool, I never, ever have to yell out to them to not run around the pool. They can run all they want, and no one has ever slipped and fallen. Not even once, and our pool build was in 2011. I had a top-notch pool builder, and he was definitely right about the deck.

You can't just lump all wood together and call it "low quality". Pressure treated? Yeah, that's low quality. But exotic hardwoods like ipe and cumaru are some of the best decking materials you can install. They won't burn bare feet, they're splinter-free, and they offer natural slip resistance — all great qualities for a poolside deck. They're also more durable than composites; we guarantee ipe for up to 75 years, but it has been known to last 90. Composites have been known to burn bare feet. And if you need to match new material to old in the future (replacement boards or updating your second deck), it will be difficult to impossible to get a perfect match. Wood, on the other hand, has enough natural variation to help mask the difference between old and new boards, and whatever differences remain can be normalized by refinishing. There are really only two downsides to exotic decking. One is cost; ipe is comparable to composites in price. The other is maintenance. Like all wood, ipe and cumaru will fade to gray unless you apply an oil coat every year. But this is not required and has no effect on the longevity of the wood, so if you don't mind gray you can skip it.