Deck Materials

There are many choices available to you for your deck surface.

Natural or man-made? The natural products tend to be less expensive, but require maintainance. Man-made products are more expensive, but tend to be relatively maintainance-free. How you like the appearance of each is entirely up to you. We stock Pressure treated, Cedar (shown at left), and Mahogany in natural products, and Trex, Procell, or Epoch in the man-made products. We also can order for you all sorts of different brands and profiles in from other decking companies.

Size? There are three basic choices for size of decking. 2x6 --- This is the older style deck with large, heavy planks as the surface. They are still used occasionally for new decks, but not often. This means that much of the 2x6 stock is probably going to be framing grade rather than appearance grade. We do stock a pressure treated 2x6, though it is a framing grade. 1x4 --- This is the classic farmer porch style.

Color? This is important to decide whether you are choosing a natural wood or a composite decking product. Each sort of decking has its own coloring characteristics, both when it is new, and after it has had a chance to weather and age. If you opt for a natural wood product, you should also consider what sort of protective coating you might want to apply to it, so that you may enjoy your deck for many years to come. Some woods take semi-transparent or solid stain better than others. Some woods look best with a simple clear coat of oil. If you choose a wood that does not have any natural protection against the elements, then you may even wish to choose an exterior deck paint. If you choose a composite decking product, then the colors available may directly influence your choice. Keep in mind that most products to change color somewhat over time, as they are exposed to the sun and the elements. Some products, like the natural Trex are designed to fade to a silver gray, even though they start off as a light brown color. Other product lines are engineered to fade only a little in the sun, and so maintain most of their color. Still others may accept a coat of paint, in which case the choices of color are almost limitless.