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Forum Thread

Nice deck

70,256 5,366 March 21, 2018 at 03:58 PM in Finance
laugh out loud

Ok now that I got that out of the way...

Composite vs wood decks discuss.

The builder who made this little neighborhood of home has added decks to most and I can pay to have one added to mine but they are plain wood.. looks like just pine, I will assume treated wood but it's pretty basic. And their quote sounds pricey to me...

I will wait until I move in and shop around for someone to add a deck. I'll have to get stupid HOA approval but think I can get better than what I see on the other homes by doing my own deck shopping.

I am thinking about a composite deck (trex or maybe not)...but have read some bad reviews in that the cold weather makes them contract and break free of the "hidden" bolt things and then it's all warped and unusable.

Does anyone have experience with trex or any other composite decking in cold climates?
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Joined Jan 2004
Here's to the future
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Iaaaiws
03-22-2018 at 12:17 PM.
03-22-2018 at 12:17 PM.
Quote from fsyowad :
My black snakes. disappear under my foundation . There must be a whole nest of those guys under my house. Never saw one in the house yet though.
They are waiting until their army is big enough to take over.
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Schooby
03-22-2018 at 12:28 PM.
03-22-2018 at 12:28 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
How do you feel about snakes? On our low slung wooden deck that came with the house, the snakes loved it and raised their babies under it.
I have had a deck once.. at the house before I moved to Vegas. It was a reg wood deck and yeah we'd get some critters trying to live under it because it was raised about 5 inches off the ground as far as the side trim went but higher up underneath. used to drive my dogs crazy laugh out loud And the smaller dog (still a 50# dog) would wriggle her way under to scare the rabbits and things out.
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Joined Jan 2004
Here's to the future
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Iaaaiws
03-22-2018 at 12:45 PM.
03-22-2018 at 12:45 PM.
Quote from Schooby :
And the smaller dog (still a 50# dog) would wriggle her way under to scare the rabbits....
Ranting Mad
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Joined Dec 2004
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Schooby
03-22-2018 at 01:00 PM.
03-22-2018 at 01:00 PM.
Quote from Iaaaiws :
Ranting Mad
laugh out loud At least I didn't mention that she wanted to kill and eat them ...
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Joined Jan 2010
Too cool for school
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ProfessorChaos
03-22-2018 at 02:10 PM.
03-22-2018 at 02:10 PM.
Quote from Schooby :
laugh out loud At least I didn't mention that she wanted to kill and eat them ...

Be glad they weren't skunks! EEK!
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Joined Jul 2005
Older than dirt
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VorlonFrog
03-22-2018 at 04:48 PM.
03-22-2018 at 04:48 PM.
Great thread, Schoobs. Our wood deck is about twenty-five years old now, and SERIOUSLY needs to be re-covered with new boards. They were still copper-arsenic treated boards back then, which is why they lasted so well for so long. Nowadays, they don't allow them to use copper-arsenic any more, and it's all salt-treated wood that doesn't last nearly as long. Something like Trex may well be in my very near future.
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Schooby
03-22-2018 at 06:10 PM.
03-22-2018 at 06:10 PM.
Quote from ProfessorChaos :
Be glad they weren't skunks! EEK!
Oh.. Harvey and Sassy got skunked twice at that house.. ugh not fun but at least we learned the hunter's formula after the first episode.



Quote from VorlonFrog :
Great thread, Schoobs. Our wood deck is about twenty-five years old now, and SERIOUSLY needs to be re-covered with new boards. They were still copper-arsenic treated boards back then, which is why they lasted so well for so long. Nowadays, they don't allow them to use copper-arsenic any more, and it's all salt-treated wood that doesn't last nearly as long. Something like Trex may well be in my very near future.
Thumbup

I probably will compare prices between composite and paver patio. I do like pavers but my gut says it's much, much more pricey.. after walking with sibs tonight and before the wine.. lol my brother said he didn't think it would be that much pricier. So I guess I'll at least get an estimate.
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ProfessorChaos
03-22-2018 at 06:48 PM.
03-22-2018 at 06:48 PM.
My cousin's dog found a skunk under her car.

They had to drive 8 hours home the next morning.
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idkist
03-23-2018 at 04:48 AM.
03-23-2018 at 04:48 AM.
Quote from Schooby :
I probably will compare prices between composite and paver patio. I do like pavers but my gut says it's much, much more pricey.. after walking with sibs tonight and before the wine.. lol my brother said he didn't think it would be that much pricier. So I guess I'll at least get an estimate.
What about stamped concrete? I like pavers too but in this area it seems based on a number of the houses we looked at before building that the cold would sometimes cause heaving etc, also a lot of them that were in backyards that didn't get tons of light were prone to excessive moss... but maybe that was just lack of maintenance by the owners.
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Joined Dec 2004
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Schooby
03-23-2018 at 08:51 AM.
03-23-2018 at 08:51 AM.
Quote from idkist :
What about stamped concrete? I like pavers too but in this area it seems based on a number of the houses we looked at before building that the cold would sometimes cause heaving etc, also a lot of them that were in backyards that didn't get tons of light were prone to excessive moss... but maybe that was just lack of maintenance by the owners.
Hmm I just did a Google search and looked at some images.. they look quite nice.
Thanks, i'll have to add that into my mix of getting quotes.
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Joined Sep 2006
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Fallacy
03-23-2018 at 11:22 AM.
03-23-2018 at 11:22 AM.
Quote from Schooby :
Hmm I just did a Google search and looked at some images.. they look quite nice.
Thanks, i'll have to add that into my mix of getting quotes.
Anyone can build a deck. Stamped concrete is a lot harder to get it to set correctly and look good after some time. Make sure you actually visit the previous job sites, and not just look at photos of the work done.

With concrete it's not a question of if it'll crack, it's a question of when it'll crack. With a knowledgeable company you can prolong before you start seeing hairline and massive cracks outside of the expansion joints.
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Joined Dec 2004
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Original Poster
Schooby
03-23-2018 at 11:43 AM.
03-23-2018 at 11:43 AM.
Quote from Fallacy :
Anyone can build a deck. Stamped concrete is a lot harder to get it to set correctly and look good after some time. Make sure you actually visit the previous job sites, and not just look at photos of the work done.

With concrete it's not a question of if it'll crack, it's a question of when it'll crack. With a knowledgeable company you can prolong before you start seeing hairline and massive cracks outside of the expansion joints.
Good points.. especially with MI weather going to extremes in both heat and freezing.
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DC
03-23-2018 at 12:49 PM.
03-23-2018 at 12:49 PM.
Quote from Schooby :
Good points.. especially with MI weather going to extremes in both heat and freezing.
If they dig down below the freeze line and back fill with compacted gravel, you have a good chance at it staying nice. nod
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Original Poster
Schooby
03-23-2018 at 01:11 PM.
03-23-2018 at 01:11 PM.
Quote from DC :
If they dig down below the freeze line and back fill with compacted gravel, you have a good chance at it staying nice. nod
pfft laugh out loud that sounds like way more than what I want to deal with or have done.. and too much work = too much $$$ Stick Out Tongue
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Joined Jul 2003
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DC
03-23-2018 at 01:13 PM.
03-23-2018 at 01:13 PM.
Quote from Schooby :
pfft laugh out loud that sounds like way more than what I want to deal with or have done.. and too much work = too much $$$ Stick Out Tongue
Concrete guys know how to dig bulb

Just dig deeper and get more gravel.

Done! Applause
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