The Inside Outside Guys ~ Considering the Best Deck Materials for Your Home

The Inside Outside Guys

September 29, 2023

From The Detroit News | By Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein

DETROIT, September 28, 2023 ~ The Guys love concrete patios.

Properly designed and placed, they represent great value and low maintenance while enhancing the stay-at-home outdoor living experience.

But, what if you have uneven terrain around the home or a sizable vertical drop to the ground from the interior area you wish to exit?

In this situation, a deck becomes the logical choice for you and 30 million other Americans.

Here, also, good design and placement will determine value. The issues arise when contemplating size, shape and material choices. Many people oversize a deck in anticipation of gatherings they will never entertain.

PODCAST:

September 24, 2023 ~ Chuck “The Inside Guy” Breidenstein and Ken “The Outside Guy” Calverly offer the knowledge and resources you need to make the home of your dreams a reality. Catch them every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon on 760 WJR.

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While most residential decks will have a supporting frame of treated wood, concrete and steel are available alternatives.

The real choices begin after you have determined size and shape; what walking surface do you choose?

Historically, deck surfaces were a type of native treated wood, either redwood or cedar.

Both offered natural resistance to bugs and decay while providing the malleability and natural beauty of wood.

These two species absorbed heat and moisture fairly well while offering a fairly slip resistant surface.

The biggest issue in using these products became long-term maintenance.

Owners who wished to preserve that beautiful new golden color of cedar or the variegated red and off-white of redwood soon learned that both faded quickly when exposed to the elements.

The advent of treated material and its widespread availability presented an alternative to naturally decay resistant woods. But the treated Southern Yellow Pine we used for this soon showed itself to also fade in the sunlight.

Owners painted and applied overcoats and plasticized products much to their chagrin when they learned that few treatments held up to harsh weathering and most required frequent re-working.

In light of consumer resistance to annual or bi-annual refinishing, many new “maintenance-free” products have appeared on the market.

Composite materials have become all the rage, with the Trex line evolving as the “Kleenex” brand that everyone seems to know. You will find many popular products under names like Fiberon, Timber-Tek Azek, and more.

Most are made from wood fibers, plastics and a bonding agent and have proved themselves, through product evolution, to be worthy choices for this application.

The upper-end product holds color well, is easily cleaned and provides wood grain patterns and decent slip resistance.

One alternative is PVC decking that does not use any wood. It is a fairly expensive choice, but one that offers excellent features, including a capped version that presents a wood grain.

Another market choice is extruded aluminum decking. An upper end product that offers a virtual lifetime of use, it can be created in a variety of textures and surfaces, but is not a “through-color” product.

Exotic woods such as Ipe, (ee-pay), Brazilian Teak, Tigerwood, and Brazilian Ash to name a few, have also come on the scene and, like the redwood and cedar earlier mentioned, have great natural beauty and decay resistance.

In most cases, use of a natural wood requires periodic application of oils to maintain the color and visual grain pattern of the wood.

All such surfaces may demand occasional cleaning with soap solutions and, in some cases, high pressure water depending on exposure.

Buyers should ask about scratch resistance, color fade, slip resistance, heat absorption, decay resistance, maintenance and long-term warranty.

And, as always when trying to maximize the total value of home improvement dollars, you should use a trusted professional like those found at InsideOutsideGuys.com.

For housing advice and more, listen to “The Inside Outside Guys” every Saturday and Sunday on 760 WJR from 10 a.m. to noon, or contact them at InsideOutsideGuys.com.