I know that in some deck situations it makes sense to splurge and buy the highest quality, expensive composite decking material. I'm not sure my situation qualifies. Tell me what you think? I'm rebuilding a small, ground level deck. It is almost entirely covered. So damage from sunlight and weather is not really an issue. I'm not super picky about style and color. I have found some that I like in the expensive and not expensive. And , I'm not too concerned about a little scratch here or a small stain there over the life of the deck. I mean, I've always got a gaggle of kids running around, dogs, rabbits, and chicken that'll end up on this deck at some point. I'm mainly interested in the lower maintenance and the lack of splinters and warps, etc. So, in my situation, would you still splurge for the high end expensive, or would you be ok with the Home Depot Veranda or the Trex "Good" line (Select) or something even less expensive? Is the difference that vast?

We have a rather small and narrow covered tiled patio. It is completely level and ends at the roof line with a drain channel running along it. There's no gutter to the roof and rain falls into the drain channel. We want to extend the patio beyond the roof line moving the drain channel to the new end to make a wider patio. We had assumed our builder would slope the extension very slightly so the water runs off into the channel but he says that as the existing terrace is level the extension needs to be too! Surely it is possible from the existing level surface to make the extension slope very slightly - and shouldn't he do that - even if ever so slightly- to ensure better water run off? Thanks for advice.