Alternate to Cedar Decking?

[Adrian]

This question came from an off topic discussion on another thread....

Have you compared 5/4 cedar board (installed 20+ years ago) and new deck board purchased from any of the big box stores?
Cedar quality has gone way down. I'd be curious to see what else is being used out there as an alternate. I don't think cedar is worth the extra cost these days.

Is it an environmental no-no to specify "old growth" cedar for a project?

[Don_P]

Using a 400 year old tree to build a 20 year deck is probably unsustainable. Is the problem more the material or the way it is being used? A covered porch protects the decking, the house, and the occupants.

[RTF]

There are alternatives out there, such as Trex decking.

[Adrian]

Well said Don, can't argue that.

I've seen the Trex decking out there, and the actual decking material seems great. But when I've looked at the railing/stair details it looks and feels cheap and poorly designed.

Have you seen alternates for the railing materials that complement the decking?

[RTF]

I agree with you, however I have seen beautiful Trex decks. I believe it is a craftsman issue, the more familiar with the product the better the outcome. There are other decking alternatives such as wood from Central and South America, known as Ipe/Pau Lope. This wood has a 70 year exterior lifetime. I have used these products before and the end result is spectacular. This wood has a higher degree of installation difficulty than what we normally use. It is dense and heavy, no nail guns.

[rwanders]

Cypress makes a spectacular looking deck-----don't know how the $$ would compare.

[Don_P]

Cypress is a great wood. It's another durable species with a pretty limited supply. As an aside it is one of the few trees that can put on more than one growth ring per year. My understanding is that one of the dating methods used for the Jamestown site was counting the rings on an ancient cypress...hmmm.

The environmental no-no part of the question is the stumper for me. A deck is as temporary a structure as we build. When I use treated lumber I'm using a renewable resource, a 35 year old tree, that is laced with poison. When I use a naturally durable species I am using something that is in limited supply either by range or slow growth. If I use a synthetic I'm using something that took half a billion years to grow, again unsustainable.

It's a tough nut to crack.

[RTF]

I do like Cypress as well, but I have had a few warping/twisting issues with it. Definitely is cost effective.