PT Pine vs Choicedek vs Trex Select for rehabbing deck.


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Old 05-28-18, 06:23 PM
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PT Pine vs Choicedek vs Trex Select for rehabbing deck.

I have a nearly 10 year old deck that is built from treated lumber with 5/4" treated pine decking. That was then all stained with "One Time" Red Cedar penetrating stain. Tip: It's junk and don't use it! I have had boards that have rotted and been replaced and I'm at a point where I'm piece-meal replacing a few of the boards every year or two. This year I noticed some of the framing joists were rotting too so I sistered them and am going back and capping them with a layer of Vycor tape to help protect from water. But now I'm trying to decide if I want to just scrap all of the wood decking and lay a synthetic....

I'm particularly looking at ChoiceDek, a product exclusive to Lowes. I'd be going with their red color (which probably won't very closely match the rails, stairs, and framing). I am open to other options, but price is definitely an issue. ChoiceDek runs about $50 per 20' section. The "foundations" line, which I'm looking at, is not a capstock type product. The other one I'm looking at is Trex Select in Madeira color. It is a much closer match to the stain of the rails and is a capstock material. I'm having trouble finding much on either of these products- just older Trex and other synthetic materials. Any user experiences with either would be appreciated.
I'm also really over restaining every couple of years. If I keep the wood I'd really like to strip enough of the stain (apparently there are kits/products sold that say they can do it) to restain with a new product that is cheaper (One Time is ~ $80/gallon!).

So, advise me. I see three options....

-Keep the same staining product and just pay out the wazoo for expensive stain.

-Strip the stain and go with a new stain product, but likely still keep replacing boards over time...

-Replace with a synthetic (Like ChoiceDek, Trex Select, or.......) and hope I don't have mildew problems.

I do worry that options one and two have me replacing boards and ultimately compromising the Vycor tape (and thus the joists). I will say that the treated lumber I've use is crap. After just a few (5-7) years, many of the deck boards are completely rotten and unsafe. Stain or no stain, this is unacceptable.

FWIW I am in Louisville, Kentucky and the deck is on the NW side of the house and gets lots of afternoon sun.
 
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Old 05-29-18, 02:47 AM
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10 yrs isn't very long for PT decking to last. I've seen it last longer than that when it was never stained. Composite decking does cut down on a lot of maintenance but you still need to clean them as needed [mildew]
 
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Old 05-30-18, 05:37 AM
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Agreed. But I had joists that completed rotted out in that time. Let alone the 5/4" decking.
 
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Old 06-01-18, 10:43 AM
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I just finished, this past weekend, a 12' x 16' free-standing deck for the wife behind the house. We have had a deck attached to the house for about eleven years. It has been added on to twice and was all done with Veranda (or similar) composite material. For this newest project - the first one that I've done myself - we went with Trex Transcends. Yep - the stuff is ungodly expensive; over $60 each for 16' sections. So it cost us just under $2000 for this small deck. I used the Trex hidden fasteners on the main decking boards (Havana Gold) color) and Fastenmaster's Cortex for the picture frame trim in Spiced Rum. It turned out great.

Personally, I wouldn't even think of using anything but composite. I pressure wash once or twice a year (we are in N Florida, so lots of mildew). But no staining, no sealing, and NO SPLINTERS!
 
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Old 06-01-18, 10:58 AM
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