Deck help

[kinwahkly]

We have an outdoor deck that was done in slate over 15 years ago. The tile is now coming up and so we need a new top . We would like to put vynl decking to replace the tile on there now.Any recommendations on reputable builders? Located in Calgary.

[gordfishing]

I have build a few decks in my day, never a fan of dura deck but would look at composite decking IE TREX

[stob]

Originally Posted by gordfishing

I have build a few decks in my day, never a fan of dura deck but would look at composite decking IE TREX

x2...bomb proof...go a shade or 2 darker as it will sun bleach out a bit

[spoiledsaskhunter]

self boosting, but.....
i sell a deck covering that comes in vinyl, one foot squares that click together. you don't have to glue it down and it is designed to allow water/air through for ventilation/drying after rain. it covers crumbling cement, weathered decking boards, and lasts for years. when i moved here 17 years ago, the deck was painted boards and looked like pure hell, so i installed this vinyl decking. it is still there and i have no need to replace it even after it has been on the south side of the house in direct sunlite for all those years.

i'm just going to cover a deck for a fellow who put the same stuff on 16 years ago and is so happy with it, he ordered more for another deck he built.

one of the worst things you can do to your deck is try to put on a covering that is moisture proof, as that is impossible......once it traps moisture underneath, your boards/plywood/whatever is underneath, goes rotten and you have to start over.

it's easy to install, so you can do it yourself and compares very favourably with other coverings as far as cost goes.

feel free to shoot me a pm if it sounds like something that might interest you.

[ZJHoban]

McLean Railings does a ton of work for the builders I frame for. If you have to get the deck re-sheathed just make sure it's done with g1s t&g and screwed down - no nails.
Pretty easy to sheath yourself. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself I may be able to help you out - depending on scheduling. Feel free to PM if you just have any questions on the framing side.

[spoiledsaskhunter]

repectfully disagree with you zj.......my experience with decks is that if you put down plywood, its a recipe for disaster. even treated 2x6's are better than plywood. if it gets wet, it's only a heartbeat until it separates and goes rotten. decks will last for a long time if you don't trap moisture in there somewhere. i used to stain dimensional lumber decks but got SOOO tired of painting them every year i finally gave up. if you're building new, those vinyl type dimensional lumber ones seem to last pretty good, but expensive (in my opinion)

[ZJHoban]

No, that's fine too disagree. I've just never seen or heard of anyone using deck boards for Duradek type products. I would think it would be quite wavy and unsightly while being prone to punctures of installed that way.

[spoiledsaskhunter]

agree with you there.....just wouldn't use duradeck in the first place.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by ZJHoban

No, that's fine too disagree. I've just never seen or heard of anyone using deck boards for Duradek type products. I would think it would be quite wavy and unsightly while being prone to punctures of installed that way.

It probably isn't common, I agree, but my parents overlayed a vinyl deck (maybe Duradeck? not sure) over the dimensional lumber deck (was 2x6 tightly spaced) and it lasted 40 years and still going strong when my mom sold the house a few years ago.

Immigrants do weird tacky things sometimes .... lol

But, ironically, The vinyl was thick enough that the small spaces were hardly noticeable (not totally invisible) but not too bad at all actually. No punctures anywhere.

The deck was on a bi-level and about 5ft off the ground so it did have good circulation and air flow so even when I inspected it a few years ago it was pretty much solid with very few issues with very minor dry rot in one small area at the bottom of the steps where it was against the wall. Overall, really really solid.

Tacky ..... yeah ......... effective ...... absolutely

I like natural wood (cedar) myself - but it's not maintenance free. We almost went with a high end composite decking but it was not available (at least not the skirt boards and other matching components) so it was just too much of a gamble end up missing pieces and having it mismatched (was during covid shortages) so we went with cedar.