Our deck project kind of got back-burnered amidst all of the party/dollhouse/bedroom stuff, but we have made one decision in that time: much like both of our parents chose for our houses growing up, we’re going the pressure-treated wood route.
But making that call was no easy decision. We actually weighed a bunch of options, got a few quotes from a few different sources, and endured the all important “sleep on it” step. Then we second-guessed ourselves a few times because the right choice isn’t very obvious. Haha. There are so many ways to go, so it really is one of those it’s-different-for-everyone things. In the end it just came down to personal factors about look, price, effort, keeping in line with our neighborhood, etc – so we can definitely see why people come to different conclusions (and also develop some pretty strong opinions, if the message boards I’ve been reading are any indication).
So we thought we’d run through our thought process for anyone else facing a similar decision. For us it quickly came down to two materials: pressure-treated wood vs. composite. We eliminated cedar (wasn’t our favorite color/look), exotic woods (for their cost) and vinyl (looked too unnatural) early on, so I think that helped us focus. But we went back and forth between PT wood and composite options more than a few times.
Composite seemed like the obvious choice at first. Lots of friends had “heard it was really nice” and several of you even commented about liking it. We actually even put an offer on a house partially because of its awesome composite deck back when we were house hunting. The pros we kept hearing about were: low-maintenance (it doesn’t need to be resealed or stained) and that it looks good (some might say “upscale”). We personally have mixed feelings about the look and feel of it – sometimes it looks really great to us, but sometimes it also looks really plastic-y to us. It can also fade in the sun, which we hear can be frustrating. But the thing that put the specialty decking screw in the composite coffin was the cost. Various estimates that we got put it between $2,000 and $3,000 more than wood for the same sized deck built exactly the same way! Yup, it more than doubled the total cost of pressure-treated wood – and that was the lower-end composite stuff vs. premium pressure treated wood.
So it goes without saying that cost was a big factor in picking pressure-treated wood. We’re still working out final estimates, but using premium pressure treated wood (which is less prone to warping than the basic stuff) is likely to cost us around $1,000. We got estimates from Home Depot and a smaller specialty lumber place about a half-hour away called 84 Lumber, and 84 Lumber came in around $400 cheaper for the same amount of pressure treated wood so we’re happily going with them (like HD, they also came in 3K more for composite). It’s pine wood harvested down south, and is all treated to be safe for human contact, so we’re not worried about scary things like arsenic which used to be used in pressure treated wood years ago.
So 1K seems like a much more digestible figure for our “little deck project” over 3-4K. We realize that some of what we save now will be spent on future maintenance (it’s recommended that wood be sealed every 1 to 2 years) but that was a trade we were willing to make since we’re DIYers through and through – so we’re no strangers to sealing something. Plus, wood is a material that we’re comfortable with – both building and maintaining, so in some way it felt easier to have some staining or sealing projects in our future than the unknown of composite (what if we picked a color that looks “in” now but looks dated down the road? what if we eventually convert a window in our bedroom into a door out to the deck and damage a few boards of the composite stuff which might be harder to repair/replace/match than regular old wood? what if we over-improve our house for the area?).
The thing that ultimately secured the victory for wood was it’s look. Not only do we like the more natural appearance of it, but we also think it’s better suited for the character of our house and our neighborhood. Somehow sticking a swanky composite deck on our little brick ranch felt like wearing Prada loafers with my Sprite t-shirt. If we were in a newer construction home or a neighborhood where people were making these types of upgrades all around us, we definitely would rethink our choice, but we’re surrounding by homes with wood fences, decks, and porches – there’s nary a composite deck to be seen.
We both grew up with wood decks and remember our parents sealing them every few years (sometimes with our help) and also talked to close friends of ours (who bought a home with a giant wood deck a few years back) and they’ve said they really love it. Even right after spending a weekend resealing it they said they were really happy with it (it was at least 15 years old and hadn’t been sealed or maintained in years before they moved in, but afterwards it looked like new).
Once we get our plans finalized and our permit secured (next week if all goes well!) we’ll be good to place an order for all that lumber and finally get this ball rolling. Of course we’ll share all of the delivery/building details as we go. Oh and when it comes to the actual wood slat pattern, we’re debating something cool like mitering the corners of all the border pieces so it looks like it’s framed out (sort of like how the right edge of this deck looks). We’re also thinking about placing the boards in a modern way, like this shot that we took at the Virginia Museum Of Fine Art:
See how there are these really cool zipper-looking seams?
We’ll share more on the actual design plans as we go (permit permitting, haha). Oh, and if you’re looking for more details about decking materials – here are some of the resources I relied on (in addition to talking to my local Home Depot and lumber yard): The Family Handyman, This Old House, TreeHugger and Better Homes & Garden (<— warning: the lady in this video is very chipper). Anyone else building a wood deck, fence, or porch these days? Or sealing something they’ve had for a while?
Angie says
This is neat: http://garden-photos-com.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Backyard-Deck-Patio-Stock-Images/G0000cU2.IvH6QQM/I0000nByHMG8yDtc Clara might love it!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing! Ours won’t be that high (so playing under it won’t work) but it’s a really cool idea!
xo,
s
Carrie says
I’m totally anti-composite, my parent’s porch is composite and it grows mold. They have to power wash the mold a couple of times a year!
My “poor man’s” deck never molds. :)
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting how many folks have mentioned the composite/mold issue!
xo,
s
rachael says
Just wanted to add my $.02. We just built a brand new pressure treated wood deck/porch(whatever you want to call it) on the front of our house last May. We did it ourselves and it was such a labor of love. Benjamin Moore told us that we should let the deck naturally weather for at least 6 months before doing anything to it, or else you have to remove the mill glaze with one of their products. So we did that, and we just finished staining it with a solid stain this past weekend and it looks wonderful! We are getting a lot of compliments from the neighbours, too. One thing we regret doing is we did wood handrails but used those black aluminum posts for balusters, and it was such a pain in my butt to tape every single one off(almost 100 of them) and stain around it. I would rather put a tack in my eye than do that again. So unless you like extremely boring work… :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the advice, Rachael! At the moment we’re planning to do wood rails because it’ll match the deck on the other side of the house.
-John
Jen says
We have used both- trex at our family cabin and wood at our house- the trex is 12 years old and still looks great. Have you checked out builddirect.com?? I have had a couple of friends use that site and we are using them for our deck, tile ,and cork flooring. Good luck!!
YoungHouseLove says
We haven’t yet – thanks for the tip!
-John
eileen marie says
Sadly our deck is unsafe now & not up to code (remember the tragic Chicago porch collapses? -the code tightened) and our condo board is dragging their feet on replacing, but I love the framed out look!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh bummer! But I guess better safe than sorry…
-John
Mel says
also, not sure if anyone mentioned this but to go with your modern look have you considered hidden fastening systems? Rather than face screwing a million holes (which water can sit in and deteriorate) you can clip the boards from the sides or underneath. I used eb-ty plastic biscuits with a mix of some tiger claw (I think that’s what it’s called) fasteners and the look is amazing and clean/seamless.
http://www.ipedepot.com/website/ipe%20deck%20with%20hidden%20fasteners.jpg
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds awesome! We’ll have to look into that possibility!
xo,
s
Heather says
This post is super-interesting to me because we’e actually trying to make the same decision right now. Not for a deck, but for a huge row of raised planting beds (vegetable gardening). Complicating matters is that right now, there are two raised beds in the same yard that are built with composite decking. I think they look tacky, but I’m not the home-owner. If we go for composite decking, it’s a lot more expensive–$400 for half the project. Versus $86 for that half plus some compost bins in pressure-treated wood.
So given that you have done more research than us, how would you feel about having to re-seal pressure-treated wood that isn’t just a flat horizontal surface but being used as the walls for raised planting beds? How much effort are we talking for, say, one guy or 3-4 with a few beers flowing (as that seems to be the going rate for manual labor in our group of friends ;)?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, that’s a hard call since you already have composite decking going on. But then again the added cost is definitely a con (more than four times the cost of wood). I gotta tell ya, we’d probably just go with wood because sealing things might take half a day or even a full day, but 4+ times the cost seems really steep!
xo,
s
Kurstin says
I’m so happy you guys posted this. I’m thinking about getting a deck installed in my impossibly small backyard and I was trying to decide between composite and pressure-treated wood. You have helped me make that decision! I enjoy your posts everyday!
Maritza says
We are doing a deck aroundour new endless pool and because of the cost came to the same decision as yourselves the pressure treated lumber. We did come across Cabot Australian Timber Oil which gives it color and acts as a sealer and UV protectant and i have to say it makes lowly pressure treated lumber look like expensive wood. We love it Its not as eco friendly because its a mix of three different oils but it will protect your wood and make it look beautiful. I came across the display at Lowes and could not believe that was “fresh” pressure treated lumber that had been cleaned with the Cabot cleaner and one coat of the Australian Timber Oil. It comes in 4 different tones we chose the one with “flame ” on the name which is kind of red and gave our deck two coats and we love it. We are using the same stain for a table top with the same oil. My husband tested using fine steel wool to rub the top and the would finish was so soft you wanted to keep rubbing on it. Good Luck
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip. We’ll have to check it out!
-John
how2home says
I like this post, i can relate to this a whole lot b/c it took us 2 years to built our full deck (but that’s b/c we really took our sweet time lol) EVEN THOUGH composite wood is more expensive (feels nice when you’re walking around on it w/out having to worry about splinters) , i definitely don’t regret getting it, there isn’t a whole of of maintenance for it either, we clean it with a pressure cleaner at the beginning of summer year to wash off all the dirt from winter and what not….but my point is our side deck is a composite wood deck and we did our backyard deck with pressure treated wood….(which i kind of regret) i have to watch where im stepping sometimes b/c you can easily get splinters that is the only down fall to that, however it is a lot cheaper. Have you thought about a specific design for your side deck yet or still in progress?
YoungHouseLove says
So glad you love your composite! We were surprised to hear from a ton (seriously, way more than we expected) of folks who actually regretted choosing composite, which we definitely thought was the most low maintenance choice (but they said theirs faded/needed to be power-washed/was generally as high maintenance as regular wood decks – if you scroll back through the comments you can see what folks were saying). But glad yours has been great! As for the design plan, we have a few ideas but haven’t locked anything in yet! Will keep you posted as we go!
xo,
s
how2home says
I saw some of the comments of what other folks has mentioned…maybe b/c i live in Toronto, Canada our sunlight isn’t as strong..not sure why? But so far our deck has not faded (thank god!) and the power washer works great, one time cleaning and its good for the rest of the summer. Can’t wait to see the progress Sherry! :)
Sara says
Oh my goodness, this is so great to read right now because my husband and I want to put a new deck on this summer and are debating on real wood or the composite. So torn but you have such great info listed here I will definitely bookmark this for a month from now. Thank you!
P.S. That little girl of yours is growing like a weed and just the cutest :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks! Good luck!
xo,
s
mart says
try eco wood treatment on that deck , gives the same look