5 ft is just wide enough for a bench.

Trex is totally worthless

I cant belive the builder would recomend trex. Must be geting it for a low ball price. J.

He probably gets paid to tear out 5 year old trex and is trying to resell it to suckers rather than paying for disposal. Flip it over and it's as good as new trex. Trash and garbage are the same thing. No difference here.

Personally I'd match the deck with any other decking/stairs. I have "saddle" on my "country" home. I'm willing to have a bit of the plastic look knowing I used something recycled, as well didn't mow the Amazon simply for the deck. I know it is claimed tropical hardwoods come from tree farms. Tree farms in 3rd world countries? I've travelled and watched where tropical hardwoods come out from.

I love my trex. I was hesitant after reading all the posts (instigated mainly by one guy here). But after talking to actual owners of trex and viewing their decks, decided it was a good idea and glad I did it.
I have a hot/dry summer with no humidity, and a cold and or very damp winter- that could be part of it.

Well Thanks Dirt !! its nice to be known for something.

trex started their business with out right theft,has been involved in many class actions,a coulple going on still, has a long line of livid Customers going back to the first stick being shiped out. All I have to do is repeat what I have read and been told by Folks its not really that hard. Google it yourself or do a search here.

But Love is Love,never stand between a women and her chosen.But one thing I never understand when I hear it...just Why does it make you feel good to use something recycled???? J.

Why does it feel good using a recycled product? Well it's more that I don't like damaging a perfectly good ecosystem if it isn't really required. Recycling wood = less forests flattened.

I have to say, if you were one of the three contractors quoting on my new deck, I'd have asked a forth. While I am open to listening to all ideas and opinions I have trouble accepting opinions from one trick ponies with bad attitudes. However I'm sure you're excellent at what you do.

The two things dont add up. Your using trex has no effect one way or the other on damaging the ecosystem. Recycling wood does not = less forest flattened.
Its like buying an ell car doing that has no effect at all one way or the other far as the enviro goes it just makes you feel good to make a statement. With the exepction of the jaguar C-x75 that has some Major potential but potential is all it has.

This is the thing with you lefties you dont think it through,do your homework so you dont know the facts. The problem in South America,and dont call them third world there is nothing 3 down about that Country or the People in it, is the slash burners not the Loggers or the timber business in fact They are the only bright spot far as the enviro goes for a lot of reasons.

Talking landfill the amount of torn out manmade,not just trex although they are in the top 2, now in the landfill is a major mountian. A well done outdoor project built with South American lumber is only installed one time in our lifetime and would be for several other lifetimes if you green mafia guy's would leave the chem in the preasure treated alone.

I got your trick pony right here Bubba. Far as biding your job I have a great attitude while I am working I just lay out the facts like I have here and let the Wallet make the choice. I take along samples of quality manmade,like TimberTech,along with SA lumber on a bid lay them out side by side my Customers most always go with SA material, for good reason.

John Hyatt www.deckmastersllc.com

It is well known that certified lumber from tropical rainforests often have FORGED paperwork.
Look it up. Or better yet go travelling. Ipe grow 1-2 trees per acre- that acre is flattened for 1-2 trees. Look it up!
Cleared land in these regions gives title. It's just that easy.

Our buying power directly effects what is going on down there.

Basically what you are saying is that just as many trees get cut down for recycled paper as does non recycled. I'm no mathmatician but...

Wait a sec,,,,I remember You!!!

You signed the patetion to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide.

J.

John Hyatt, I'm sure you are a fine deck builder, but what's with all the personal insults and petty accusations about the poster's political leanings? The fact that a SA deck material will last forever doesn't address the point that once the land is cleared, there IS no more of that material. Your last post doesn't address any of dirtslinger's comments, and I for one would LIKE to hear the other side, if you have info to share.

Nothing personal really, If I met the guy in a bar I woudent mind drinking next to him. None of my posts are petty in the define of minor I am always Major.

South America,outside of the city, is wild, a Frontier Society, Law is Local Folks out there get up each day with staying alive on their mind for themselves and the Family. When the Logers go out to work they go armed.

I like that. If this country was still that way we would not have punk ragheads sneeking in and blowing us up.

That said the timber business in SA is what keeps these people working and the money coming in. I dont have a problem at all with clear title coming along with clearing land thats the way it should be. Ipe and several other trees over there are as common as yellow pine is over here there is a lot of replanting going on and there is a lot of what whining leftes call nonlegal loging going on Thats Business.And its Their business not something to be regulated by the money of others.Like I said the slash burners are clearing most of the forest when they do it your right the trees are gone replaced with farms and latley coca fields.

Ipe and SA trees in general grow fast compaired to say old growth Redwood, they are not endangered species, they last for a very long time and for the most part the lumber we get here is good quality. Even the worst of it is better than treated pine or cedar. Build one time with this lumber or in say 50 years build the same project with treated/cedar 5 times. Or think about the record of manmade decking in the last 15 years many dident make it 2 years before they were replaced and its still going on. Think about the cost all together including everything of building,replacing, landfilling,the dreaded gas off,transporting, ware on the machines,replacing repairing the roads, lost time thats involved with that compaired with doing it one time with SA lumber in the same time period.Add in with SA lumber there is no mainteneance if you dont mind the silver gray color. Waste is not good for the enviroment.

Then there is the when its gone its gone thing. So What,Buck it Up.Thats the nature of us all. If you Folks really want to do something about it its going to take a little more than whining and buying a low grade product thinking that will help anything. It might give you a warm fuzzi while your at the wine bar la de dawing it up but the end result is nutural with a strong slant on the negitive side. Now if you know this, and are still willing to pay that price,I got no problem with that either. Thats Business not Personal.

Along with the gone is gone,still talking Business,one up and comer is Thermally Modified wood,yellow pine in this country, in the basic they heat the stuff slowley up and down to the point of being almost non organic that is nothing is left to support growth and it srinks or is compresed however you want to look at it to a very hard product. The long life and stable condition is promising with high potential regarding Competition to SA lumber. If it works Thats Business but keep in mind there is a always a price to pay.

JonMon

Can 5 year old Trex with surface decomposition be recycled into new Trex?

If so, why are we throwing so much Trex into the landfill?

And if not, how come a product that is 100% recycled material adds so much waste to the landfill?

Trex and plastic water bottles are choking the planet.

Did you know that 96% of the Trex manufactured before 1999 is now in a landfill somewhere? If all that Trex could be laid out to make a deck (that is if the decomposed mush was plaible enough) the surface would cover the entire nation of Brazil.

That will finish off the Amazon in no time...

Using a Brita filter can save 300 plastic bottles from the landfill...but a Brita filter has the same weight as 300 empty plastic water bottles...oh well!

Recycled= not adding waste to the landfill.

If you're reading this right now and have a Trex deck outside...start thinking about how to keep that heap of you know what out of the landfill. After all, you are the one who is actually saving the planet.

Dammmmmmmmm,,,We really have to watch that Aidan. Ghesssssss the Poster was a labor delivery Nurse!!!

Sorry girl we got a little caried away, Ok a lot caried away. The JonMon is real sorry going on and on about t=junk and forgot about You. I will be much better from now on dealing with the subject and not the product.

Really I am total Sorry. John

"Did you know that 96% of the Trex manufactured before 1999 is now in a landfill somewhere?"

Source please. Who actually knows what exact percentage of trex is still in use? WHo exactly is keeping track?

"Using a Brita filter can save 300 plastic bottles from the landfill...but a Brita filter has the same weight as 300 empty plastic water bottles...oh well!"

Where are you pulling this BS from? Isn't 99% of that brita's weight sand/charcoal? Dump it in the garden.

Back to the subject of whether 5ft is wide enough, in this link are my recommendations.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/porch/msg0712120421863.html

You may end up with less width if the posts are inset.

Jack

"If so, why are we throwing so much Trex into the landfill? "

Because it turned out to be a really crappy product.

Who wants to have to replace the decking every 5 years?
That cost alone is painful.

Of course if we refuse to buy any lumber from South America the forests will return to having zero value and slash and burn agriculture will return en mass (along with plenty of unemployed people).

Why are there more cows than deer?
Cows have a higher value.

I have installed over 1,500 decks with Trex and NONE of it is in the landfill. From 98-2007. I have a 1200 sq ft deck built in 2002 and it certainly is not going there. Not sure where you get your data but here in Michigan a lot is sold. It is not just me buying it. So when you start your bashing undertand that the people of Metro Detroit can't all be wrong There are at least 8 Trex Pro gold installers up here each doing a lot more than 50k each in Trex sales for at least the last 10 years. Your statements with out any supporting data is absurd at best.
Steve Scholl

I have service records of dates we installed Trex, and dozens of locations with surface decomposition. The only places where the trex holds up over time is in the shade and out of the rain.

I turn down jobs for warranty replacement of Trex. My business practice is quality not quantity. How can we warranty work when the product is the weak link? Trex won't cover the labor cost for replacement, so who is really going to stand behind their warranty?

The problems with Trex are not debatable. They are very well documented. Any person with real experience has experienced problems with Trex.

There are at least 8 Trex Pro gold installers up here each doing a lot more than 50k each in Trex sales for at least the last 10 years.
I personnaly have installed 17 truckloads a year. From 2002-2007 thats each year. 2nd largest installer in the world. Problems were if the boards weren't gapped correctly, and if you didn't clean it as the instructions said to. Which goes as follow: I use olympic on my deck at home, Pump spray it on, wait 15 mins, hose it off. To some people that was too much work. Than again there are people who have foot infections also because they refuse to wash their feet. That is well documented too.
I think people wouild like to see all this documentation, would you send the link or maybe fax it to me @ 734-728-1158
steve scholl

The long list of Class Actions against trex,some still going on, as well as thousands of very unhappy Customers are easy to find.This " documentation " is all over the web.

Its a given trex has been a big seller.Reason being they advertised a lot back then using decks that did not exist.They no longer can say" No Maintaince " after being forced to quit by the Law. Small wonder their customers did not keep up with maintanice that wasent required by their adverstising.

A big differance between trex and other soft composites like Moisture Shield is the cooling down process. T hits the boards with water, the material is on the truck in 15 min, Moisture Shield cools down their product for 7 hours naturaly. This goes a long way explaining the trex mold coming from inside the product.No amount of cleaning will stop it.

Its also a given the adverage Customer is buying manmade so they dont have to do any or very little maintance. There is at least as much work keeping manmade clean and bright as there is keeping finish on a wood deck.It is possible to use outdoor finish on composite with good results far as keeping maintaince down but of course including this fact in the Co info would blow the whole idea of manmade.
J.

Gees John, with all due respect this is all that has to be done. Anybody that does more than this is just looking to do work. Just try it and you will become a believer.

I use olympic on my deck at home,1200 sq ft, Pump spray it on, wait 15 mins, hose it off. This is all that needs to be done with any composite.
Steve Scholl

Killer,in your spare time, do a google " black mold on trex "

The screen is going to fill up fast so I will give you some time to read all of them. In fact as I think about it dont even bother. Forget it all together.

J.

John

What exactly is it you do bash the composite industry as a whole so you can sell more South American Wood.

People on this thread, believe this:
Use olympic deck cleaner, $6.00 per gallon, 1 gallon does 100 sq ft, Pump spray it on, wait 15 mins, hose it off. Don't scrub, the cleaner will lift the dirt, mold, etc from the boards, scrubbing will only push the dirt back into the "pores" of the decking.
This is all that needs to be done with any composite. Try before someone else tricks you into a new deck surface. Max it will cost is under $25.00. Mold will grow between your toes also if you don't wash them. Acoording to some of the poster boys around here we should all want to get amputations.
Steve Scholl
Installer of thousands of composite decks and 1 South American Hardwood.

Killer, I thought for a long while before responding to your yet again foolish and without for thought posting.

I am willing to see you as new to the deck forums,a strict business owner,a surviver, and a person unable to learn from your mistakes.

I do not need to Sell my service anymore. I am already there. I dont have to go looking for work it comes to me.With the given your outfit must have high volume,mine does not.

There is a Big differance between trex and the manmade industry as a whole. I use TimberTech and Moisture Shield manmade product and have for a number of years. Most of my work is done with South American lumber when doing a high end job for a lot of reasons.

I respect what you have been able to do over the years,and I like your scoots. Just Keep in mind you are not the only one existing who knows a little about outdoor projects.

J.

I don't use trex any more either. Haven't since 2007. But I haven't had to tear any up either. My reasons were political.
I only hope that someday when I grow up I can be just like you.
Mr Foolish, Mr without thought, Mr doesn't learn from his mistakes, Mr loudmouth, and Mr whatever other name it is you decide to call me on your next post, because you sure do a lot of it.
Would it be just to much to state your point some day with the constant bashing and one ups man ship you seem to need to employ?

Keep the rubber down and the paint up Killer.

Intersting Person. JonMon