Maintenance free! Yeah, right....

[RPetry]

Another fun job started last week.

Trex lasts forever. No muss, no fuss. Expensive as all get go, more than high quality exotic wood. But gee, Mr. Homeowner, just think of all the $ you will save over the years on maintenance!

Composites, at least the older generation of products, was a well marketed hoodwink of deck builders and the public alike. Glad they were taken to the cleaners on class action lawsuits.

These poor customers. Not only is the floor a mess, the Trex has expanded to the point of no drainage. They have free ice skating rink in the winter and nice huge puddles in the summer after a rain.

The cedar balustrade has some foul oil over a failed waterbased stain. To add insult to injury, under all that the cedar substrate is mildew stained, probably from the infamous Behr's oil stain debacle.

I pity the public. Poorly served by product manufacturers, builders, handymen, and so called pressure washers. The smoke in the 2nd pic is coming out of my ears!

Thanks to Diamond Jim Foley of Ct. and Tony Szabo of Midwest Mobile Washers for their suggestions on restoring composites. This job will be spotless, at least for a few months, when we are finished.

[CarolinaProWash]

Class action claim As I understand it, ChoiceDeck is now facing a similar suit as Trex did.

That's just gross - Rick, can't wait for the after pics!

[Scott Paul]

That is the ugliest composite deck that I have ever seen!

Did you ask them about restoring the house?

[RPetry]

Originally Posted by Scott Paul

That is the ugliest composite deck that I have ever seen!

Did you ask them about restoring the house?

Hi Scott,

Funny you should mention that, the customer asked me!

We do not do houses. My largest ladder is a 10' step, and I avoid getting on the top few rungs. Might break a hip!

The 14" cedar shakes are in great condition, no previous stain, aged well, and only a few areas of mildew.

I've talked with Jim Foley for a few minutes about maybe teaming up in the fall to tackle this. Jim has the equipment, a ton of shake restoration experience, and does not mind heights!

Once the summer book of decks is exhausted, may consider it. But the way business is this year, it could be October.

[Scott Paul]

I found that houses are a great source of income for the late summer or fall. We never do them in the summer only after August when we slow down with the decks.

[MMI Enterprises]

Do we assume the smoke is from the bomb fuse you lit under it?

[MudDuck]

I talked to a gentleman the other day about deck maintiance on his mountain summer home and he "informed me" that he had just re-built his deck with Trex to the tune of almost $50,000.00 (yea 50k) so he would "never have to touch it again". Of course I tried to explain he would and gave him a card anyway. He seemed dismayed that I would even suggest it needing washed off ever again. I informed him that the only thing he could count on in the high country is the never ending NC "mountain mildew". Were at 3k to 6500 ft and the weather creates itself up here perfect for mildew. Lot of wet, lot of shade. LOL

[Doug Dahlke]

Never touched any composite decking but I have seen a few that were several years old and they all have looked like crap. Oxidized, warped, moldy. A friend of mine was talking about redoing his with composite. Warned him against it.

[Rob R.]

what is the best cleaner for composite, I was told flood's composite deck cleaner brushed on and rinse with little pressure..

[plainpainter]

I washed a ton of composite yesterday, that stuff sucks so bad to wash.

[RPetry]

Three cleanings. First plain water to get the garbage off the Trex and especially the cracks between the swelled Trex deck boards. Hate to call 'em boards, half plastic.

2nd cleaning done with Restore sodium percarbonate wood cleaner. Did fine, but not enough.

3rd cleaning with knocked down chlorine bleach to 3%, a touch of soap, and a bit of pressure.

Foul stains on the balustrade stripped with ACR760 with ACR 633ADD booster, citric brightened and sanded.

Kid is staining the cedar by hand now. Trex is not that bad, just grunt work. My helper loves it!

[James]

Very nice indeedy !! Rick...

[RPetry]

Diamond Jim,

Thanks to you and Tony Szabo. So what about these shakes?

[RPetry]

Actually kind of like the look of the gray Trex with the cedar balustrade.

The wood is clear western red cedar, stained with Ready Seal, natural cedar color.

Odd, but the Trex floor will get dirty in a few months, and probably should be cleaned twice a year. If it was wood and stained correctly, it would be "cleaner" in appearance and need servicing once every two years! So which is more "maintenance free"?

[gt2003]

OMG, the red cedar is beautiful, but I'll have to pass on the gray Trex.