Having trouble e-mailing you at the address provided above. Would appreciate it if you could please confirm your e-mail address.

Thanks,
Bruce

As to the second estimate, I’d firmly ask for more details in writing before you go ahead with anything. Specifically ask what type of fastening system (The TC-G clip works very well w. Earthwood Evolutions) and which TimberTech railing they plan on using. TimberTech makes several lines. Their Radiance rail is an excellent product. I’ve installed a lot of it and have never had an issue.

In my opinion, the Camo system is a homeowner’s tool. Yes, I know some professional deck builders who use it because it is cheap. I’d much rather go with a better system like the TigerClaw or Hid-Fast. I have them both and use them both extensively.

I don’t know what the big box stores stock by you. But here in NJ, Home Depot stocks ArmorGuard decking that is made by Fiber Composites (the parent company of Fiberon). It’s a fairly good middle-of-the-road product and it comes pregrooved so you can use a clip system.

Jeff

One proposal is for Azek Acacia and Shoreline 200 series railings, boards installed with “color coated stainless steel screws”. Fascia, stair stringers and risers are wrapped in Azek “Acacia” 1”x12” and 1”x8” fascia.

The other is for TimberTech Earthwood Evolutions and TimberTech rail system. It doesn’t specify the installation method in the contract but he talked about hidden installation hardware.

In researching the two lines, both seem to be pretty reputable manufacturers. Any opinion ?

Thanks,
Al

I am a custom carpenter and woodworker with limited previous experience with man-made decking. My customer has requested a “composite deck” using the Camo system (toe-nail screw jig). He is relying on me for quality; I gather from your blog that neither his requested material type nor fastening system would be a good choice.

Is my negative conclusion about the Camo fastening system correct? And are any of the deck products carried at either Menard’s, Lowe’s, or Home Depot ones which you could recommend?

Thanks.

16″ on center is fine for the capstock composites. For some of the PVC products I like to space the joists a bit closer (14″) because they flex more.

Again, I would stay away from installing the decking directly over the Ipe.

Email me at jeff at thedeckpros dot com and I will give you the number of a buddy of mine who is in your area.

Jeff

One thing to keep in mind is people tend to go online to complain about products much more than they go online to praise them. TimberTech did have a bad batch of XLM a few years ago. They have since corrected the problem. The quality of the Trex that is available now is head and shoulders above the stuff they sold many years ago.

Stick with one of the larger companies and you should be fine.

Jeff

It seems I can’t go right with any synthetic I choose. I like the idea of all PVC material, but it appears has been a fading nightmare with Timbertech, and while they seem to be a stand up company, I don’t want to be replacing my deck every few years regardless of who pays. I’ve not found many complaints on the Transend product or the Evolutions product; however, they are relatively new on the market. The fact that Trex seems to only stand behind their product after they are sued is also disconcerting. I don’t have a distributor who is close for the Azek product but would consider if you recommended over either Transcend or the Timbertech product line.

They started the substructure of the deck yesterday and I need to order the decking planks asap. If you were putting a deck down today which woudl you choose? Please help!

In reading your response to Richard it suggests that joist spacing is an issue with composite decking. Recognizing that my current framing was installed to support Ipe (i.e. 16″ center), would removing the current decking completely and replacing with composite be a problem and / or suggest I should consider other alternatives (i.e. continuing thinking about installing composite over existing Ipe decking)?

Bruce