Thank you for responding to our queries, Pat M-much appreciated.
I replaced the floor of my front porch with Weyerhauser’s ChoiceDek composite material about four years ago. I installed it myself and found it easy to work with. We used their light gray color, which minimizes the heat issue. We have had no issues with fading or damage. There is one north-facing, sheltered set of stairs where mold or algae grows; it comes off easily with detergent and a broom. The boards we used have a fake wood-grain and are definitely much less slippery than PT boards, and are like Velcro compared the the tongue and groove pine that we had before.
9 years with a Trex deck, and it has worn well. My only issue is the same listed before - Grill stains where fat has dripped down.
That said - it has lasted well, especially compared to the real wood used for the handrails and 4 foot protective railing (my deck is on the second story of my house).
When I rebuild my deck (to expand it), I will use Trex (or its current best in class competitor) again.
I was told that Trex Transcends does not warp. Well, it does. We used TREX Transcends on our floating deck (over torch on). We used treated 2x4 stringers in 4 x 8 panels on 16 inch centers. The hidden clip system (recommmeded) was used. At the end of the boards we used a metal flange to slide under the neighbouring panel…all to make it secure. All of the edges warped. Some of the boards are up 3 inches at the ends…the 2 x 4’s are off the deck. I used a 60 lb weight to hold down a section for 4 months. When the useless TEX rep showed up, I lifted the weight off and the boards sprung up…3 inches…no change. So the guy tells me to move my hidden clips over 1/2 inch…I just want this godawful product out of my house.
I know this is a zombie, but I can’t resist: Yeah, much better to use the more standard decking material-- wood.
Trex has gotten a lot better in recent years. The top end products (I think it’s the transcends line) looks much better, even if it is still clearly fake. Most of the people in my area who use it are elderly and are just looking for something low maintenance.
Hi pkinney,
I am a representative of Trex. Can you send your contact info, along with photos, to question@trex.com so I may assist?
Thank you,
Brittany
Trex
I was super impressed with the high end TREX I saw this past summer. It was put on million dollar homes marketed to boomers. It looked damn nice – not like real wood, but certainly well-finished. My reaction was the same as it is with really nice laminate hardwood.
Speaking as a (former) kid who powerwashed the freakin’ deck every other year, it appeals to my low maintenance sensibilities 
I used a product called ProCell. I think they may have changed names or been bought out. My brother is a carpenter and did most of the work. He said that it was very easy to work with and was so impressed that he used it on his own deck. It was more scratch resistant than Trex and some others and the screws didn’t cause “blistering” around the screw heads as is the case with some of the other materials. Its 100% plastic w/o wood fillers. It looks good and the only complaint I have is that “Off” and other anti-bug sprays stain the decking. The stains fade after a year or two in the sun.
I had a deck installed in my backyard earlier this year, and I decided to go with a composite material. I researched what I could on the composites out there.
I was “waved off” TREX by several people:
- the deck builder
- a friend who had had a deck made of TREX
- a co-worker who had had a deck made of TREX
- a former co-worker who had had a deck made of TREX
The main reasons I was given to not use TREX were: staining and mildew. As I understand it, TREX contains wood/organic materials, and mildew does form (more on the underside). Also, I received several reports of staining.
My deck builder recommended Fiberon, and I’ve been very happy with the results. Fiberon was one of the few materials available with a “fire rating”, and that was important to me (big open area behind my house).
14 years later..
I recently had my aged-out wood deck rebuilt with Trex planks and railing (the original wood posts and joists were in fine shape). The deck features some 45-degree corners, which presented some challenges when installing the 4x4 square posts and other railing parts. The result is that some of the railings aren’t fully parallel with their edge of the deck. It’s distressingly visible, especially since each edge of the deck is trimmed with a Trex plank that runs parallel to that edge; you look down, and you see a rather large wedge angle formed by the bottom rail and the edge of the trim plank beneath it. I brought this up with the contractor, and they indicated that this is a necessary consequence of how the brackets that attach the top/bottom rails to the posts work, and how the rail-to-post fitment happens when dealing with 45-degree deck corners. Is he trying to dodge having to redo the railing to make things parallel, or is this a real/known difficulty with Trex’s railing system?
Silly rabbi.
A picture is worth a thousand words! 
I posted to this thread 15 yrs ago, so here’s an update. My decking still looks great. I’m not sure if GeoDeck is still in business — there are several websites offering it, but that might mean nothing.
The problems with grease stains are mostly gone; we’ve abandoned oil lamps for battery candles. Bug spray is applied off the deck. We don’t have kids at home, and have fewer outdoor parties, so less spilled gravy.
Mildew is a minor issue. We powerwash (on a low setting) once a year to get rid of dark streaks.
We replaced a third of the joists 2 years ago, and the decking screwed back in just fine.
I’m not seeing any reason the decking won’t last another 15 years. It’s been so much better than the pressure treated decking that needed power washing and re-staining every 2-3 yrs, and replacement every 8-10 yrs.
I’ve come to the opinion that composite decking is far too fragile for its price point. It dents easily, its not nearly as colour fast as you would expect, and they can oxidize a lot as they age. There are stains / paints that are made for them but they are not that great and there really isn’t a good way to refresh them once they have faded or discoloured. Also, it looks like plastic, because it is. I would never build another one on any spec or personal projects.
I have seen a couple claims recently for composite deck damage and the replacement cost is eye watering. Patch repairs just are not practical in most situations. A wood deck would be much easier and cheaper to fix, and in some cases may not even have been damaged like the composite deck was.
Treated wood decks are fine unfinished for a good 10 years here in Alberta’s harsh Climate. If prepped properly, staining is good for about 4-6 years, but refreshing them with a light clean and single coat of stain evey two years works really well, though a lot more effort. I went with cedar for my own home and stained it with good quality stain. Restained twice in 15 years, will restain it again next summer