Composite Decking or Real wood

[gregpark]

Looks like he's already ripped out a bunch of bad joists, see the empty hangers? Which means all of the joists are suspect

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Reg

I’ve been in building supply business all my life. Yes I’m partial to wood but let me tell you that none of the composite stuff will look like new in 15 yrs. Everything has pros and its cons.

My deck is red cedar faces south and naturally gone grey and with that I have close to zero maintenance.

I face nailed it on with galvanized spiral finish nails and when time to replace peel them off and repeat.

Wood won't look new in 15 years either.

[Reg]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Wood won't look new in 15 years either.

Uhhhh I wasn’t claiming such. You just pay 2x or more for composite and end up replacing it too. That was point.

I also decided to shingle my roof vs steel. The steel will last longer but costs more. In 20-25 yrs I replace by shingles but will have spent half the $ of steel and will have a new roof once replaced vs old steel roof which may need repainting.s

Sort of like tires or brakes on a car. Wear and tear items. 😁.

[gregpark]

The sun is powerful. It eventually destroys all. Our houses our cars, nothing lasts in direct sun. Rule#1: if it's made by man, it will fail

[5495bb]

I just wanted to update everyone and put some closure to this thread. I ended up going with cedar as opposed to composite. It wasn't a decision based on expense (the 2x6x16 cedar was very expensive) as much as one based on how much time I could allot to the project. I think that if I had gone with composite I would have had to replace all the framing on the deck, basically saving only the heavy 6x6 posts and beams. I didn't have time for such an extensive rebuild so I'm happy with my decision. Thanks for all the input. Here's some pictures of the finished product.

[rfuerst911sc]

I have seen online ads for deck boards made of stone/masonry like product . Anyone seen or used it ? Is it similar to masonry siding ?