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achie25

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 2, 2005
336
0
Anyone have decks at home made from Trex?

Curious as to your experience with them and roughly how much it costs?
 
I looked into using it when I built my deck, but was going to cost about 4 times more than pressure treated. Good stuff though, never heard a bad thing about it, except for cost.
 
I just finished having a trex deck put in last fall. I don't recall the $/linear ft. off hand, but it is a bit more than getting wood. However, it is more than worth it in my opinion. Wood decks need to be scrubbed and restained every couple years, whereas the trex is pretty much maintenance free. I can look up my receipts later if you want pricing, but I would recommend it over traditional wood if at all possible.
 
I looked into using it when I built my deck, but was going to cost about 4 times more than pressure treated. Good stuff though, never heard a bad thing about it, except for cost.

Rough idea on $$ per sq ft.?
 
I just finished having a trex deck put in last fall. I don't recall the $/linear ft. off hand, but it is a bit more than getting wood. However, it is more than worth it in my opinion. Wood decks need to be scrubbed and restained every couple years, whereas the trex is pretty much maintenance free. I can look up my receipts later if you want pricing, but I would recommend it over traditional wood if at all possible.

I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks
 
So, as with everything, how much it costs depends on what you want. http://store.dunnlum.com/builderwire20/common/store/CategoryItemGrid.aspx?categoryid=108 is a link to the store where I got our trex from. That page will show you the several types of decking, with size, thickness et al.

For example, a 1" thick, 8" wide, 12' long piece of madeira trex costs $41.66 a piece (other colors are probably the same, check the link); approximately $3.50/linear foot. Your geometry and building preferences will determine the overall price, but that's a basic unit if you want a general estimate, with smaller pieces being cheaper and larger pieces more expensive.

Good luck with your project, go with the trex if it fits your budget, you won't be disappointed, and when your neighbor is power washing and restaining his deck, you'll be enjoying yours. So, factor that into your price considerations too. :)
 
We made a fence with similar product, it's wonderful, never rots never needs painting. IIRC It is not a stiff as wood, so you might plan on putting your joists on closer centres...


Also, the plastic lumber I used eats circular saw blades for breakfast and smells like $^@% as you are cutting...

But.... No Painting! No Rot!

And it's made with recycled bleach bottles and shopping bags.

The neighbour's cedar fence with PT posts went up a year after our plastic wood fence, and it has just rotted and fallen to the ground (<8 years). They don't call it a temperate rain forest for nuthin' here, folks...
 
IIRC It is not a stiff as wood, so you might plan on putting your joists on closer centres...
Cannot emphasize this enough. Trex has little bending resistance, so you will probably want to put your joists at 12" OC, but certainly no more than 16" OC. Also, do not make any portion of the substructure out of trex, use pressure treated lumber for that. You will also have to predrill and use screws rather than nails. And remember, for exterior use go with galvanized, but preferably stainless steel fasteners. Galvanized is cheaper but the galvanized coating can deteriorate and cause staining.
 
Trex decking problems

Anyone thinking about doing a TREX deck should look into the problems that TREX has been having. We need to replace our 5 year old deck because of defective material..........I guess that there are many other cases similar to ours. We thought that this would be the best solution to building a deck that was maintanance free.
Check out the lawsuit files for product from 1999-2004

http://www.lawcash.com/attorney/3584/trex-lawsuit.asp

We purchased ours in 2003. It is now only 5 years old and self-distructing.
We were given free replacement boards but we must pay for tear up and labor to replace the boards. Not exactly what I was thinking when I purchased the TREX decking originally.
 
Trex

We built our front and back deck w/ Trex. Its has its pros & cons, pros are cleans easily, no slivers and you dont have to stain the deck like you would a wood deck. Cons: one area which is higher then the steps is flaking, it looses its wood grain and color, even the trex that is under the cover has lost its color which is only a couple yrs, old, the deck stains pretty easy, sugar water, oil from chips etc. will cause stain marks. We pd. over 2000. for ouR front and back deck.

HOPE THIS HELPS
 
I have one. It wasn't put up by us though. The original owner of the house did it. He actually did it himself, instead of getting a contractor.


It's awesome. We don't get splinters, it's easy to wash. All you really have to do is get a garden hose, and spray it with water to get all the dirt off.
 
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