Trex
 

Used Trex for our deck and the decking of our dock. Have not had the same experience as others as far as hot to the feet. Matter of fact have had the opposite experience, find it very comfortable on hot sunny days. Our decking is a light gray.

Hope this helps,
Bill

I would not get a composite, I would get one that is 100% PVC.

Azek...
 

We have Azek on our dock. It obviously gets very wet from waves, water from swimmers, etc. Unlike the Bon Jovi album, it is not slippery when wet, (anyone else from the 80's will get that one! :eek: ). The "planks" do have wood grain "texture" in them so that helps with the grip. Also, our dock is in direct sun all day and we've never found the decking to be very hot. It is a light gray in color, so that may be a factor.

We are a deck design/build company, write for the decking industry and personally are an ocean person to lake convert(spouse induced). We specialize in both Trex & Azek/TT so can share some thoughts. The industry gets a lot of our data from Principia which do many comprehensive studies so you may want to check there for more information.

Whenever we design a project for the waterfront or pool environments (wet surfaces), we recommend the deepest woodgrain pattern which would be the Trex Transcend line. The cap is approx 3x thicker than others which allows the grain to be more pronounced thus giving a better grip. It's not that the others are bad or horribly slippery, it's just that Transcend has a deeper pattern. You really can not go wrong with either and the "good, better, best" are all good mostly having the same warranty.

As far as what's the difference between the "good, better, best"? Besides the colors(aesthetics), the caps durability increases as you go up the line. That is - the "best" has a harder shell/cap than the good or better thus less resistant to scratching. They will ALL scratch and scrape.

Lastly, studies confirm the darker colors will get hotter than the light colors (as much as double digit difference) so we generally encourage to go as light as you can when the project gets a lot of direct sunlight.

Again, as long as you stick with any of the top manufacturers, all are good choices.

Azek is more slippery than wood, esp in winter when it's icy. I have two houses, one has Azek decking and the other has mahogany decking. The Azek is much more slippery, esp in winter.

The above statement is somewhat misleading when you are adding Azek into the comparison.

Azek has no "cap", it is solid PVC, the same color all the way through. I have found the woodgrain pattern on my Azek dock to be plenty "grippy" when wet.

For my previous deck, we used TimerTech, which was a "capped" composite, for a non-lake house. I was happy with it overall, though I did notice a small amount of swelling at some of the cut ends after a few years of exposure, so not sure how it would work for a dock, but for deck purposes I was happy with it.

Having done Azek now, and having built PT and composite decks in the past, I don't think I would do anything other than Azek in the future.

Did you mean to say “less resistant to scratching”?

It would seem that a harder cap would be more resistant.

Good Decking Deal
 

Good timing on this forum...I am preparing for a new deck at our island home this spring so I have been in the market for Azek decking. Yesterday I purchased nearly 1,000 liner feet of Azek decking for only $2.31 per linear foot...1/2 of what I paid last year at a local lumber yard. Recommend you check out www.hiliquo.com if you are in the market for high-end Trex and Azek decking at a great price. Phone is 508-832-2526...ask for Sam.

Which of the three levels of Azek did you buy at $2.31ft?

Azek Acacia in the Arbor Collection

The Azek Arcacia is a "cap"construction.

Here is Lowes description:Capped Polymer Decking: With an enhanced real-wood look and strength backed by Alloy Armour Technology™, AZEK’s capped polymer decking materials are top of the line in quality and beauty
Industry Leading Warranty: Limited 30-year fade & stain, limited lifetime against material defects, termite & rot damage

We don't particularly appreciate the look of the composites. We have apine deck which was abused by the previous owner which I stained last year and will apply another coat this year. Should last for some time. The building inspector recommended mahogany and told me where to purchase the lumber. There are
different mahogany lumbers available and the quality is also different. Mahogany may be left to weather to s nice silvery color. Then there is also redwood. These woods are $$ but may be worth the look.

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I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

I had a mahogany deck, not dock and it was a nightmare to keep looking nice. It was Cambarra though not the Ipe (an ironwood a form of mahogany). The Ipe is the one that turns grey. I hated the mahogany. Redwood is not available in the Northeast.

I agree. We did mahogany and it’s a pain to have it stay looking nice. I will do composite next time.

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I just spent a fair amnt of time on the Azek website ordering samples. It was not clear to me which lines were capped and which were solid PVC

We ordered samples from Azek three weeks ago and they never arrived. Our contractor Shawn at Livingston builders took care of us and brought us about 15 samples. We decided on Costal from the Vintage collection.

Mahogany does last but if it's left to weather it will eventually crack and split. I've been replacing boards on a 20 year old deck for the past 5 years now. I started out putting Thompsons water seal every year but eventually stopped when I turned it into a rental. If you want Mahogany to last you need to put some kind of oil on it alt least every other year.

My cedar deck was the same pita to keep looking "new". Needed total attention of some sort every year. I gave up and when it needed to be replaced, just used PT and let it discolor to whatever it wanted to and let it be. No worries, it is what it is.:laugh:

Does that price include the warranty, I heard that if from liquidation places like that it often doesn't include warranty. That's why it's 1/2 off. Thoughts?

Holla! I'm replacing the boards on my camp deck and am wondering if Azek is still the way to go? I'm looking for the least maintenance at the best cost. Thanks!

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Two seasons ago I was talked out of PT by the individuals doing my deck. I was told Azek or other brands was the way to go. Could not be happier with the results

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Several years ago we replaced our deck with Azek. Last year we used Azek to resurface our dock.

With Azek the color goes all the way through, a real plus. The hidden screw system is invisible. It is not cheap, about the same price as top of the line Trex.

I recommend it.

Winnisq - what brand did you go with and why did you choose that one over others? This is a topic of interest to me as we'll be replacing our dock sometime in the near future. Thank you.

Individuals building it recommended Azek. Hidden screw system is great


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We replaced our 40’x16’ deck last summer with Trex, and we are sorry we waited so long to get rid of the PT one that we did 20 years ago. The Trex came from Lowe’s and it is terrific. No regrets.

We used Trex last Summer to replace our front porch and are happy with the results.

No Hex on Trex
 

We installed gray Trex on our dock about seven years ago, and it still looks new. To protect feet and other portions of one's anatomy, we lay a large mat on the dock when our summertime guests arrive, as the decking gets quite hot. 🐻

Azek is absolutely the way to go. We have had them all. Trex is ok but as stated, it gets hot and has wood in it so will mildew-get black spots on it. They make it encapsulated now so it isn't as bad. But after years of not being happy I have had the Azek for many years now and still love it. It is worth it believe me.

Mahogany with a good urethane base. Wolman’s is the best

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Any time I have a question on, or curiousity about building questions I turn to Matt Risinger. Here's his input on decking; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDoSt5ErCSA

That was good for some aspects of decking (stains/scratches), but my real two questions right now are: heat and maintenance (mold, etc.).

It appears that A&B is going to have a great sale in a couple weeks—$1.60/ft. for Trex Enhance, which is ~$.20 cheaper than Lowe's sale price. Haven't checked HD.

I'm looking at the Beach Dune color.

Thoughts (for a summer camp mostly in full sun)?

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Who is "A&B" ? We are looking at composites as well...hopefully our deck infrastructure is sound so we can just replace the decking. Will be doing some investigating the underneath when the weather breaks. My wife and I will be doing all the work.

A&B is the lumber place in Moultonborough—all Belletet's are having the sale.

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you have to keep in mind composite is nearly 3 times heavier than wood. i would say in around a dozen or so decks we do a year the frame 99% of the time is not sound and will need to be replaced. also many decks that were installed were nailed down which is WRONG when you remove the old decking chances are you'll see huge nail holes that may be a factor as well even with a hidden fastener system. good luck in your project. also check your ledger board to make sure it was flashed properly

Most decks that were built 20 or so years ago are probably not strong enough for composite decking, esp if the frame has deteriorated.
I built a 14' x 16' composite deck a few years ago for my son and the town made me use 16" sono-tubes instead of the usual 12" because of the extra weight. That was a lot more bags of cement than I wanted to mix! :eek:
I noticed that when I bought an extension for my Aluminum dock they use a much lighter material for their deck boards. It's not the same as the composites decking.
Composite decking might be OK for a permanent dock but it would be too heavy for a dock that had to be removed every year.

Azek is not composite though.

It is still very heavy though.

Would it be fair to guess (notice I avoided "assume") that this won't happen for maybe a year, or two? :rolleye2:

It's not really. It's lighter than wood.

Our deck was built with pressure treated 2x6 dimensional. Most were 12 footers and of course, the rest cut to fit. These boards are much heavier than normal 5/4 decking. I would think if the structure was built to accommodate 2x6 PT, it would more than suffice for composite. Yes? No?