"Trex" decking

[Toby]

Has anyone used or seen this Trex stuff - an alternative to wood decking [broken link removed].

Its supposed to be non slip compared to wood decking. Wonder how it looks and performs otherwise though?

Also, any general comments on decking please (theres not much in the key post here)? Is it too slippy for kids, does it attract insect/vermin to the house, does it need maintenance. Any other downsides?

Thanks

 

[emul]

IMHO Looks like cheap cardboard and chip glued together!!
While trex is more flexible then wood - you can get very nice curves etc ... it just doesn't do it for me. I have a wood deck - family member recently got Trex - wood anytime - with the wood I've had work - algae removal, staining - wouldn't change it for the world. My advice is ask the decking company to arrange a site visit to a trex install and a wood they have done - then decide.

I also believe that trex is double the price of wood decking.

Eoin

 

[colorado]

Hi,

I have a wood deck and while I love it, it is very high maintenance. My neighbor has Trex and it looks ten times better than wood in my opinion. There are different styles of Trex and some are cheap/fake looking (the Origins collection) but the one she has is the Brasilia collection which looks like tropical wood. It is 5 years old and still looks as good as the day it was put in. Never has to be stained, sealed etc. If you go with wood, there is a lot of care involved but I think decking (wheter real or Trex) is worth it. I have never had any issue with insects or it being slippy and neighbor has 2 kids and never a problem with Trex and no splinters with Trex either. Only issue I have ever had is it gets so hot in the summer that it will burn your feet if you walk on it but don't think that will be an issue in Ireland! (I live in US). Both of us have dogs and our wood deck has a lot more scratches than her Trex deck. There is another product called Timber Tech (www.timbertech.com) but I don't know if you can buy it in Ireland. Like emul said, if you can go and see both a real wood deck and a Trex deck it might help you decide. But next deck we build will be Trex or Timber Tech. Trex is more expensive but less money then involved with maintainence and has a 25 year guarantee and a very good reputation in the States. But at the end of the day I think it will be down to your own personal choice (like PVC windows V. wood). If you are looking for ideas on building decks you can get a lot from American websites such as or . Hope this helps.

 

[Toby]

Thanks guys, thats very helpful. I'll look into whether all the Trex ranges are available in Ireland as it may be more limited than in US. I really don't want the maintenance of wood.