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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

OT: deck finishes, plastic decking

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Midwest redneck

02-20-2005 04:42:26




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I went to my local lumber yard yesterday and I got pricing of deck material. Cedar is 2 times the cost of pressure treated and plastic decking is 3 times the cost of pressure treated. I have been told by the lumber guy and the guys on this site that the plastic decking is a *itch to install and it retains heat. Cedar decking will last 15 years if you take care of it. However here is a thought I have....Is it possible to use the garage floor epoxy sealer with the sand grit on top of the cedar decking? I would think that if it would work big companies like Weyerhauser would have a product out that could epoxy coated. What are your thoughts.

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MarkB_MI

02-20-2005 06:30:51




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Midwest redneck, 02-20-2005 04:42:26  
Epoxy is not a suitable wood finish for anything that's exposed to sunlight; it has a very low UV resistance. The manufacturer of the most popular boatbuilding epoxy, Gougeon Brothers WEST System, recommends that you cover their product with a coat of UV-inhibited spar varnish.

Personally, I would never use any bright finish outdoors that I couldn't easily strip off. This rules out epoxy and polyurethane.

My favorite finish for wood decks is Penofin. It soaks into the wood so you don't have to strip it off to refinish.

Be wary of using cedar in a wet location. It will certainly rot if it stays wet long enough. A friend of mine built a cedar deck in a shady location; the cedar started going bad after ten years.

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Midwest redneck

02-20-2005 07:35:54




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to MarkB_MI, 02-20-2005 06:30:51  
I know the West System epoxy product, excellent...I think that the company was started by two guys that were Dow Chemical employees. What do you think of this----Use Penofin penetrating oil on the cedar then after the Penofin drys use a wipe on polyurethane, like Minwax. Just enough to resist water but not so much that it is slippery.



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MarkB_MI

02-20-2005 17:11:24




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Midwest redneck, 02-20-2005 07:35:54  
Redneck,

I think anything you put under polyurethane, including Penofin, would just make it peel worse.

There's a guy around here who sells picnic tables coated with polyurethane. They look good when new, but give them a couple of years outside and the finish peels like crazy.

Really, I think the finish has very little to do with whether or not a cedar deck will rot. As long as your deck is in a sunny location, it will probably be fine with no finish at all.

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Fawteen

02-20-2005 04:57:40




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Midwest redneck, 02-20-2005 04:42:26  
Well, I've built a couple of decks commercially, and I've used PT, cedar and the plastic/composite.

PT is cheap, durable and (to a lot of folks) ugly. For a utilitarian deck, it's gonna be hard to beat. (caveat: Haven't dealt with the "new" super-corrosive PT stuff. Cost of suitable fasteners will drive the overall price up)

Cedar is pretty, and has a high rot resistance, but it's a "soft" wood, and damages easily. The epoxy/sand topcoat would probably work, but I'd be leery of it trapping moisture in the wood, and that stuff is WAY abrasive. You do NOT want kids playing on that stuff.

The plastic/composite IS expensive, and it DOES take longer to install. Dunno about the retaining heat thing, that's not really an issue up here in Maine. I've done two for a B&B out of it, where appearance, durability and traction were primary concerns. Put down on 12" centers with stainless squaredrive screws, it feels good, it looks good, and it will probably not require ANY attention in my lifetime.

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Charles (in GA)

02-20-2005 07:03:39




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Fawteen, 02-20-2005 04:57:40  
Never built a deck with the plastic (actually a wood product itself) but used some for a small project where it needed to be water resistant (a stand in a small food service area where bulk food buckets had to be 6 inches off the floor) and quickly discovered they are right about the screws. You gotta use the ones made for the stuff or it will frizz up around the screw head and looks ugly.

Charles

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Brian G. NY

02-20-2005 12:20:25




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Charles (in GA), 02-20-2005 07:03:39  
The plastic stuff I"ve seen is actually made of recycled plastic and I don"t think it contains any wood products. I"ve seen it used mostly in commercial and government applications. It seems to be very durable altho I just saw some in Florida at a wild sanctuary boardwalk where a few pieces (of many) had "warped". I know I am seriously thinking of using it when I replace the PT lumber on my deck. The PT is 9 years old now and it doesn"t look like it will need replacing for a few years yet.

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Charles (in GA)

02-20-2005 18:45:32




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 Re: OT: deck finishes, plastic decking in reply to Brian G. NY, 02-20-2005 12:20:25  
I have seen what you are refering to, picnic tables made from "boards" with multicolored specks in it, which is ground up plastic bottles, etc. Saw these in a public park.

The stuff I was writing of is a composite material with a finely grooved surface for traction, a 5/4x6 deck board, sold in Home Depot and Lowes that is made from wood products but feels like plastic and is water resistant. It is not structural (per the attached tag) and is designed for floring use on decks, with 12 inch joist spacing.

Charles

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