It's a Category Not a Material!

A recent article in Prosales Magazine extols the virtues of PVC Decking. But what the editors miss is that the category is really ultra-low maintenance decking, not PVC decking. Sure, homeowners are asking for high performance decking - it doesn't mean that it has to be made of PVC Vinyl. PVC Vinyl is perceived as the gold standard in exterior low maintenance, and it has a good reputation for cleanability from vinyl siding. But it's not necessarily the best material for decking, with its low tolerance for heat and susceptibility to stains from sunscreen and bug spray. And ironically PVC Vinyl decking is also susceptible to attack from its flexible vinyl cousins, including items that are commonly found on decks such as garden hoses, doormats and swimming pool covers. CorrectDeck CX is a hybrid of PVC-like performance and composite-like sustainability decking that doesn't use any PVC Vinyl and doesn't have exposed wood fiber. Thus it doesn't have the same issues with attack from flexible vinyl or sunscreen like PVC, or fading, grease and mildew like gen-1 composite decking. But with its recycled composite core, it retains the sustainability benefits of the composites.

Filtered Sunlight

It seems like things are slowly coming back to normal levels of business (our business cratered with the September banking meltdown - prior to that, '08 was a good year). Remodelling is driving a lot of activity. Nobody can sell a house, so noone can buy a house, so everyone's 'aging in place'. As life circumstances change, new children are born, kids move out, kids move back and so on, people can't move up to that three bedroom house, so they're looking for more room. Adding a deck is the most economical way to add square footage of living space to get the hell away from the in-laws.

What's a reskin?

The deck part of your deck, the part you actually walk on, takes a beating from sun, rain, snow and muddy paws. At the same time, it's protecting the framing from the same elements. If your builder took some basic steps to protect the frame, and the ledger (the part of the frame that attaches to the house) was flashed properly, you may be able to save your frame and just do a reskin.

Top Ten Decking Mistakes

I'm not sure I can come up with 10 right off the top of my head, but #1 has to be burying the bottom half of your joists in the ground. I don't care what they're made of, there just isn't a construction material that can be used in this way. The joists will walk and the deck will twist. The second best mistake might be installing your decking over the existing decking. That will create a moisture sandwich.
A third most popular mistake is to use the brand new expensive deck as a platform for accessing roofing work. I just don't think there's anything that will remove roofing tar. If there was, I don't think you could sell roofing tar.

In Which I Hope to Say Something Useful About Decks

the type they put on houses, not the type that plays tapes. And not the type of deck that is a cool thing to call a skateboard. I mean that part of your house that's outside but's still part of your house, going outside while staying home.