Composite decking - which brand is best for St. Louis?

Question

Where can we buy direct the color we choose? What about fading? How long does it take for delivery? Our deck gets a lot of direct sun and gets really hot!

Answer 1

There are several new brands out and they all have there good points and bad ones too. The prices very conciderably also. So what ever suites your likes and budget. As far as buying direct it would most likely involve a minimum amount and more than one deck's worth but I could be wrong. The simplest solution is to check with your building supplier to find out what is the most popular in your area. The tongue and groove types are going to be the most stable structurally but the most costly. Remember to place your joist on 12in. centers instead of 16in. especially if you are running your decking on a bias [ diagonal]. Good luck

Answer 2

ben is pretty close on the joist spacing.. there are some newer t&g that can be installed over 16" centers. t&g are goinf to cost the most.. in my searchings they all have there faults.. mostly the staining issue under a grill. we went with what the local store had just incase we need more or add on.. they all seem to fade and stain.. other than the all vinyl but that didnt get to good of review. railings are another pain in the ace to figure out best look.. no reason to get composite decking and have a treated handrail..

Answer 3

To answer some of your questions, I'm in MA, and have a composite deck that is about two years old. It's Weatherbest (similar to Trex). My deck gets all day sun, and gets really hot too. As to fading, it will fade evenly, unless you have an area that is covered. My grill is in one corner, and we have a mat under it. We moved it recently, and found that the deck was a different shade under it. One mistake, was that the grill cover touched one railing, also composite, and it melted slightly. We forgot that it was plastic too.