Composites

Less costly than wood
Composite decking is now less costly than wood! With changes in forestry over the last 10 years and the development of new composite decking products, Composite decking is now less costly than wood. On a recent 350 square foot deck project the client saved over $3,000 than if the deck had been built out of pressure treated lumber and stained. The maintenance cost over ten years of that deck if built of wood would have added another $6,000 so the customer would save over $9,000 in ten years. Also the composite deck will look great after 10 years and the wood deck will never look as good as it did the day it was installed.

Environmentally friendly
Composites have become very popular and that kind of popularity represents a big boost for the environment, too, because most composites are made from waste: sawdust, used plastic milk jugs, and shopping bags. Every 20 feet of decking contains about 30 pounds of material that would have ended up in a landfill. Trex, the first and largest of the composite manufacturers, recycles 6 million pounds of plastic each year.

Fire rated
Composite decking is more resistant to fire with the majority of it meeting Class B fire rating (for moderate fire zones) and some even meeting Class A ratings. Wood does not meet this fire rating standard.

Look and Feel
Composite decking is so much nicer than when it first came out. There are many colors with varying textures available. The boards now provide a surface that looks like real wood yet is not slippery when wet or snowy like wood decks are. Some products like Azek, Trex Lineage, and Deckorators Voyage are light weight and very cool in the sun.

Maintenance
Most composite decking only need a periodic washing to look great.

Warranties
Deckorators decking comes with a 50 year structural and 25 year fade and stain warranty. It also has a 25 year limited replacement warranty.

Trex Tansends has a 25 year limited warranty and their top of the line products have a 25 year fade and stain warranty.

Timbertech Edge has a 25 year stain and fade warranty and Timbertech Pro has a 30 year fade and stain warranty.

Wood

Kiln Dried Pressure Treated
This wood is the lowest priced decking alternative. You must be careful to use kiln dried pressure treat as non-kiln dried boards warp and twist badly. This is not the old green looking pressure treat. It now has a pleasing red tone to it. It does however need yearly finish like all wood decking and can warp and twist some.

Redwood
Most Redwood available now is Redwood Common. Redwood common has white sapwood parts and these white parts are not as rot resistant as Clear Redwood. Clear Redwood is quite costly anymore. Both Redwood types should be stained yearly.

Ipe
Ipe (pronounced EE-pay) is the finest quality wood decking material available and is beautiful. … Ipe Brazilian Hardwood is an exotic hardwood that is naturally resistant to rot and decay, is 8 times harder than California Redwood. It does however need finish to be applied yearly.

Fir
Top Notch has installed a lot of 3.5” x 5.5” heavy timber Fir FHC decking on homes throughout the Vail and Aspen Valleys. It meets an high fire rating and can span a long way between joists.

Decking Links:
https://www.timbertech.com/products/decking
https://www.trex.com/products/decking/
https://www.deckorators.com/en/Products/Decking