What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you would
do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun year
round.

"Marty" wrote in message
. ..
What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you
would do the same again?

Check out Ipe and mahogany. Finish with something like Penofin oil Looks
sharp, lasts a lifetime.

Marty wrote:

What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you would
do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun year
round.

Googling "deck materials" (in quotes) turned up a mere 13,000 hits, of which the
first few look very interesting.

LB

We used composite material. It is fairly expensive but it is supposed to
last a long, long time. It never needs paint or coating of any type and it
looks great.

Chip


"Marty" wrote in message
. ..
What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you
would do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun year
round.

wrote in message ...
Marty wrote:

What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you
would
do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun
year
round.

Googling "deck materials" (in quotes) turned up a mere 13,000 hits, of
which the
first few look very interesting.

LB



Thanks, but I'm looking for personal experience and personal views on
whether or not you would repeat the use of redwood-alternative decking you
have personally tried.

On Mon, 30 May 2005 21:43:05 GMT, "Marty" wrote:

What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you would
do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun year
round.


Marty;

Are original desk was about the same size as yours. After 20+ years
of NE weathering the rot started to get ahead of us. It was time to
replace it.

We looked at IPE and redwood but finally settled on Natural Cedar and
we stained it with Sikkens Natural Cedar stain. Looks like a big
piece of furniture. My research shows that the cedar should last a
very long time. The finish... to early to tell.

IPE is very very nice but very very expensive.

Please post what your final decision is?

Bob

Marty-

I would highly reccomend avoiding face fasteners, they provide
excellent locations for rot to begin.

Also I'm a big fan of SS fasteners, yeah they're kinda pricey but
compared to the overall project cost it's small. Rusty fastener holes
just invite rot.

I've removed SS screws & nails installed ~15 to 20 years ago & ithey
are difficult to tell from new.

cheers
Bob

"Bob_M" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 May 2005 21:43:05 GMT, "Marty" wrote:

What alternative to wood have you used for your deck?
Are you so happy with the price, the quality, and the outcome that you
would
do the same again?

Deck area will be 24 x 30 more or less with railing where the deck is not
attached to the house and two set of steps.
Very wet and cold, but generally not freezing winters with strong sun
year
round.


Marty;

Are original desk was about the same size as yours. After 20+ years
of NE weathering the rot started to get ahead of us. It was time to
replace it.

We looked at IPE and redwood but finally settled on Natural Cedar and
we stained it with Sikkens Natural Cedar stain. Looks like a big
piece of furniture. My research shows that the cedar should last a
very long time. The finish... to early to tell.


OOPS! We have cedar and it is 15 years old and we have had to replace
several rails and decking boards starting at about 5 years old. We have
tried various finishes, but Thompsons has looked and worked the best. If I
was to do it again, I would use composite.

IPE is very very nice but very very expensive.

Please post what your final decision is?

Bob