What You Need To Know About Trex Vs Plastic Decking

Weathered Wood

It’s not wood, so it shouldn’t be expanding and contracting due to temperature changes, right? Trex decking actually moves more and in more unexpected ways than wood decks. Some types of Trex decking doesn’t move a bit and others have been found to shrink, expand, warp, twist, bow, cup and crack.

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10 tips for deck care and construction

Anything—and I mean, literally anything—that falls on the Envision decking stains it. Even the plastic protective bottoms of our chairs have made stains. Is there anything at all that can be put on this product without making a mark?

Trex Composite Decking Company Information

• This article looks at whether a composite deck is worth the money and how to choose the best composite decking material.
• This unique combination makes composite decks expensive than other types of decking material.
• A combination of organic and synthetic materials captures the best of both worlds creating a durable product that is similar to wood decking.
• Ensure that your contractor has experience with composite materials.
• Make sure that you are comfortable with you decision before you commit to using this relatively new product.
• When composites came out they were touted as never staining, never needing maintenance, and never fading.

Again, our thanks and best wishes to all in your claims / suits against Trex. My husband chose to settle with Trex because our deck was getting dangerous. We sent in our recipt with pictures and a claim form.

Decking

Probably the first thing a homeowner will notice is white spots on the deck. These are exposed wood particles bleached by the sun and rain. This is a sure sign that the deck's seal has been damaged. Exposed particles, besides creating unsightly white spots, swell when they get wet, and can cause the decking to split and degrade over time. It is simply not possible to keep the plastic from being worn away or compromised by UV.

NyloBoard moves beyond wood and HDPE, with a decking product made from recycled carpet and a VOC-free resin. Trex uses 95 percent recycled material, including sawdust, wood pallets and polyethylene bags. The company says 70 percent of all recycled grocery bags end up in a Trex product, making it the country’s largest plastic bag recycler. In 1999, only 3 percent of residential decking was made from wood alternatives. Wood retains 61 percent of the market, while metal deck and rail systems have grabbed 5 percent. High density hardwood decking materials like Ipe, Cumaru and Garapa decking can be cleaned effectively with a wide variety of environmentally friendly cleaners. Softwood decking species such as pineand cedar must be treated, stained or painted on a regular basis to keep mold from causing problems.

Typically if you install Trex decking on a 45 degree angle you need 12″ o.c. Setting the gaps for your deck boards is a tricky issue. Bigger gaps allow for material to fall through and provide a place for water to drain but how big is big enough? This is where Trex hidden deck fasteners come into play. They not only look great because you don’t see the screws but they also set each gap perfectly. Just install the fasteners and deck boards, your gaps will all be perfect.

Composite Decking Brands

With pressure-treated wood decks, maintenance costs add up over time. Although Trex costs more initially, you'll never have to sand, stain or paint your Trex deck. Over the life of your deck, those reduced maintenance costs add up to a greater value than wood—not to mention the value of the added time spent enjoying your deck rather than working on it. No matter where you live, Trex composite decking is backed by a 25-Year Limited Residential Warranty. It’s engineered to stand up to harsh weather and decades of foot traffic.

Never was a big believer in composite decking but have changed my mind. I have a large dog and haven’t experienced the scratches others claim, I power wash once a year with Corte Clean and it looks like new. But if using the matching fascia boards, there are no hidden fasteners used to install these boards, so one must use the color- matched screws without plugs. Seems Trex could offer plugs for that reason, but they apparently haven't thought that one through very well. Exposed screws, color-matched or not, look bad, and considering the expense of Trex versus wood, the end result is somewhat lacking. Other reviewers here have mentioned many issues with weathering, spotting, warping, etc.

Trex Composite Decking Reviews: Transcend, Enhance And Select

Here are some of the known issues and things to consider before you make the leap. The other reason could also be that technically they are not as advanced in mold designing. A board with an uncapped groove still allows moisture to be absorbed into the core through the entire length of the board. Therefore, there is a potential for swelling, cupping, and cracking to exist over time. The first generation composite’s scratch resistance is very poor and this is due in part because of the wood fibers. Wood fibers inherently have a low scratch resistance and when the manufacturer brushes/sands the board it creates a coarse effect on the surface allowing for even less scratch resistance. Not only the color will be faded out, the structure and composition will be degraded or even destroyed.

Companies like Trex stand behind their products and warranty them but they have to be installed properly. Improper installation will void the warranty in most cases so make sure if a problem occurs it’s the product that’s the problem and not the installer. Hire a certified Trex pro or a builder with experience installing Trex brand products. Use Trex hidden deck fasteners the spacing will stay as it should for the life of the deck and the deck boards will all be securely fastened.

These are the conditions that mushrooms, mold and fungus seem to thrive in. Trex had a class action lawsuit which stated they needed to replace my deck that was bad with the material choice they gave me and they paid shipping. They had a third party estimator come out to estimate product required. The installer came and looked at it in July and was also puzzled as he'd never seen anything like this before, and I said I would try the Deck Brightener. At that point I told him to pull out those boards and replace them since Trex did not seem interested in resolving this. I can certainly send a piece of it to Trex if they want it, but at this point I'm so disappointed with Trex. At my previous residence I had installed a Trex deck when Trex was in it's first generation.

And while their customer service and warranty department could be better, they do offer a good warranty which will protect you if major defects occur. Skimp on any of these 3 issues and you could have problems down the road. Trex has absolutely had problems in the past but their constantly trying to improve and perfect their decking products. With each failure they’ve learned a lesson and improved the product.

Skip Composite And Stick With Real Wood

The plastic in the composite mix is compromised, and water gets past the protective plastic and into the wood flour. This means that special processes must be used in manufacturing and installing composite decks to account for this un-wood-like expansion and contraction. For guidance, we can look to the experience of the vinyl siding industry that has been contending with the problems of plastic expansion for over a half-century. Many of the techniques of installing composite decks are taken from the vinyl siding professionals. But, there are still many problems that have not yet been conquered. In our heat retention tests, dark stained wood was typically Fahrenheit 5° to 10° (Celsius 2.8° to 5.6°) hotter than natural, unstained wood.