Putting in a deck for someone this week using composite decking. First time I have ever dealt with it. Its got some oddities, like it being delivered a few inches longer than it states and you're supposed to trim off the ends.

Also the clips are pretty pricey. On top of the decking you'll pay about $125 for 200sq ft worth of mounting hardware.

But once you do a couple of boards it goes pretty quick.

I put down a board, slide it into the clips, put a single clip at each end and screw them in to butt it up against the clips on the other side, then go screw those middle clips in, lay new clips and start the process over again.

I've seen videos of people doing it other ways but this seems to be the best for me being a one man job.This deck I'm working on isn't square or level enough to do the screws all at once after you get it the boards in place. The clips will pop out and get dislodged or fall to the ground.

Never seen clips.
Small diameter stainless decking screws. Those are expensive too.
Watch out for frost. Not as bad as stained wood because of the texture. But it can get slick.

the clips are a two sided deal once you get started. They hold the boards in place and the decking actually "floats" on the deck to expand/contract with the heat.

Occasionally I will put a finishing nail in because I don't like the idea of these boards with end to end gaps moving.

I've been waiting for the day to hit 36 or better, not because of frost but because I'm not putting a deck in dressed up like an eskimo

matter of fact I'm going to get back out there and try to knock out the next strip.

friend just dropped 15 grand on two porches with the stuff, and the jokers used screws instead of the clips, the clips sure look better and you dont' have to worry about missing a joist.


i've read horror studies about this decking in the sun compared to shade locations. It gets brittle with time.

Going on our seventh year with Trex installed with screws in this high-altitude sun-blasted and snowy Utah. Not one problem whatsoever.

I like wood. I like cedar.

lots of composite around our area when we were in Texas. As long as the stringers are done on 12" centers no sagging in the heat. Put in a few hundred feet a couple of years ago and it still looked perfect when we left. Pressure treated was continually wanting to bow in the heat, pulling out screws, ring shanks etc. lot of shrinkage and bowing due to the heat in the area we were replacing. Composite was considerably better option. With the cost of lumber going up so much, I'd guess the composite is getting closer to being a wash cost wise.

We need to do new decking here, but not sure how it holds up to serious cold and/or how slick it gets.

I just built a small deck with Trex.
Hidden fasteners are pricey for sure. I face screwed the picture frame boards and used the fasteners for the rest. 8x20 and I went through 3 1/2 boxes at about $50 a box. Starting clips and face screws another $50.

The fasteners give a pretty big gap. 1/4”+. Looks fine, but I’d of preferred a bit tighter.


I love real wood. Almost went with Ipe or Tigerwood but I live in W WA. The place is wet as fugg. Black mold is the state flower. I’m tired of cleaning and finishing wood out here.

I helped build a big composite deck last fall. Those clips can be real pain in the butt to get the board to slide into correctly. The screws strip out very easy too until you get the hang of it. Maybe it just seemed like a pain because it was 25* out with a 40 mph wind coming off a lake. lol

We have a composite deck that has developed waves because the decking spans to much distance between supports. What is the maximum distance is recommended?

How do you know this?

What type of fastening system was used?

Is the decking a dark or light color?

Clips are the only way to fly.

It gets hot and snags in the sun. I use 8" centets

I would not use composite decking if it was free.

I'd be ok with a 1/4in gap, we fight leaves and pinestraw, can't stand it when they get stuck in the smaller gaps and you can't blow them out with the blower and push them on through when its pressure washing time.

Glad to hear the new trex is holding up in the sun like someone mentioned, I believed they were sued in the past.

Good idea, I pin the boards in the middle so as they exspand and contract they stay in the same place.
How much spacing are you leaving on the butt joints?

Your cold weather installation will give it a test once it sees summer heat.

If it's 24" on center it'll bow . Should be 16" on center with composite. I figure you could deck it 2-3 times with pressure treated 5/4 for what it cost to do it once with composite. I've seen the brown color face to a pink deck. I left a drill bit sitting on one over the weekend. It rusted & stained the decking. Nothing would remove stain. I don't care for composite decking or vinyl handrails. Just my opinion.

I was actually warning about just for walking on cold mornings vs installation.
We have had composite on for 20 years with no issue. It has darkened a bit from tree debris in some areas,

The only place I have seen any brittle response is using 20 year old scraps to level a trailer over a river stone parking area. One piece broke where there was a fist size rock under one board spanning both axles.

yea, that's what I was thinking, so the but joints have about 1/4 inch between them. The clips certainly create a wider gap , too wide for my taste but it looks uniform and there is no guess work.

I"m using 14" between floor joists to put this decking up and an extra support beam at the butt joints.

I had to put the break or whatever its called on my drill to 8 just so it wouldn't strip those screws. They are cheap material. I've learned with the clips to really put some effort into placing them flat and butted up against the set board so the next board will slide in easier. That said, I still have to use a screwdriver to pop a couple of the clips into the groove.

A big deck I bet the clips can get old quick. Mine was really small so it wasn’t a big deal. Set the clips, butt up next board, fix the clips that got cattywoompus, screw ‘er down. I was using 20’ boards so it was a bit of a pain. Short boards would for sure be easier.

And yeah, those screws suck almost as bad as lumber does today. They’ll pull the threads uber quick. They should upgrade the screws to something with more surface area.

Fwiw, I went 12” ctc. I wouldn’t want to go wider, and with the cost of clips, narrower either!


Trex had lots of problems in the past. Local pro builder said the new stuff is bullet proof. I used Trex Enhanced Natural and used the Transcend for the picture frame boards. Very slight difference in board thickness.

We’ll see.

I’ve seen it used in resorts and places like Disney World, must be the humans or monkeys they have installing it. It looks like t-total sheeit. Warped, wavy, split and blown out on ends, fasteners hot-rodded in 3/4 of the way into a plank.


Certainly the install more than the product but still.

I have Trex decking and it is disintegrating... The surface is coming apart! I haven't called the Trex customer service but will in the spring. I am not very impressed with Trex at the moment!

I prefer wood decks.

They burn better when one runs out of firewood at TEOTAWKI.

The plastic ones will burn, but they leave a big mess in the bottom of the wood stove.

i would read the mfg instructions on joist spacing. some is 12". i tore apart an older one that was on 16" and it had bows in it. not sure what kind it was. it had been on a pool deck for a long time. i used some of it for temporary shelving on 24" centers and it bowed bad. didn't really care because it wasn't screwed down but i was surprised that it would bow like that under its own weight. i personally would use wood but to each his own.

Most composite decking materials, like Trex composite decking, require minimum joist spacing for composite decking at 16" on center spacing for straight decking and 12" on center joist spacing for 45-degree angle diagonal decking.

So I am at 14”

I never knew anything about it. Up until now I thought you used it as a veneer over your old deck

Wood is a hell of a lot cheaper.

Decent composite is $3+ up to $6 or $7 a foot. I can get really nice cedar or AYC/cypress out here for a fraction of the cost. You can probably find some nice exotic hardwood for less money. I’ve simply had my fill of refinishing wood out here.

We put more than a few 2x4PT decks on group homes around Georgia when I lived there. Cheap, stiff, and damn near indestructible when all screwed together.

Also ugly as a sack of turds. Lol.

Don’t use steel snow shovel on it. I know a guy who had his deck replaced with trex got a little snow on it and used his old snow shovel that was dinged up from loose fasteners and scratched da Fugg out of it the same week

I found a bunch of composite tongue and groove decking material that I guess is meant for covered porches. Wondering if anyone could weigh in with experience using it for an uncovered deck.

If your building a deck out of wood you should have a space of 1/4-1/8 of an inch between the decking boards. It prevents water from building up and causing rot.

It will be 11 years ago this summer that I added this two-tone composite deck on the back of our house. Lucked out as I found the Trex decking for $1/linear foot at an overstock place about 30 miles from home, so 20' boards were just $20 each. Couldn't have done it at lumberyard/big box store prices. Went with the gray perimeter as the red boards were not available in the railing materials. Need to give it a good power wash this summer, but I am very pleased with the way it is holding up and looks after 10+ years. I put this deck down using screws and have joists on 16" centers. Bench was built using Dekmate bench brackets.

Been 6 years for us and have not had any thing go wrong with Trex.

It is on the South side of the house in the sun,

Last time it snowed it was a little slippery but wood would have been the same.

Just how many years does it have to last before folks call it good?

14 “ OC framing is trending

We put in composite decking that used black clips back in 2013. Even though we have pretty drastic temperature extremes and in the winter it can change 20-30 degrees in a couple of hours, it has held up great. It is covered with a roof, but there are no sides. It is pricey, but no painting or staining, supposed to last 20 plus years. Speaking of expense, the wife wanted aluminum railing, that stuff is hideously expensive, although I did have a couple of high glass panels on the north end where we have the BBQ.

After replacing 500 sq ft cedar deck twice in 26 years, I put a Trex-like composite down. Had to replace the framing too, ten ft above ground. The hidden clips are set into the groove and shot with a nailer borrowed from the supplier of the decking. Next piece locks into the clips and so on. The decking is not square on the ends as delivered, and it is real heavy. I laid it out such that there are no butt ends by using a contrasting color trim framework. Made a cable rail system with horizontal cables so now you can sit and enjoy the view without all the damn wooden pickets. Sold that place and moved to Florida, and will never want another wood or elevated deck.

some of you guys seem to have had bad luck with PT decking. the only stuff i have had to replace was this schit HD sells called Yellow Wood. it is garbage. literally rots in less than 10 years. the standard PT 5/4 i put down on my camp deck about 15 years ago is still solid. one coat of thompsons a year or two after installation. it has taken a weathered patina but its not ugly to my tastes. the composite stuff my son used on some benches for his eagle scout project has also taken a weathered look. i guess the difference is that you can power wash that stuff back to almost new, unlike PT. plus no splinters, but if you install it right there should be little to no splinters anyway.

i also have some 5/4 i reclaimed from a porch that was built in the 80's or 90's. that stuff is still solid as hell. it had some kind of stain on it. guy paid me to tear off his deck and i made out like a bandit. 16x32 5/4 built on 2x8's with 4x4 and 2x6 railings. i built all kinds of stuff out of that wood and still have some. the 2x were like new. i think in those days they used some really lethal preservatives, unlike today.

Do any of ya'll have experience with ThruFlow composite decking? It is the hot topic of debate here since the last storm. It's designed to let the water rise and fall thru it. It used to be considered very expensive, but with today's lumber prices, it is more competitive.

We build, replace and repair a lot of docks and piers. More customers are inquiring about changing over to it on their piers. I personally don't believe it matters much when rogue waves are being pushed by 100 mph winds in a 6' - 8' storm surge, but some disagree.

The majority of complaints we hear on composites like KFWA is installing is heat retention and warping due to excessive span.

I like wood and we grow plenty of it around here. However, some treatment is better than others. Any plant or company can get a bad batch. But Yellawood, like rem141r mentioned, seems to have more consistent problems. Everwood seems to have better quality control. Both companies have grown from scatch here in AL.

ya you're right, thats the name, yellawood. you see that name on the tag you better head for zee hills. it is little better than standard fir.

We have a deck that was made of Lowe's brand of composite about 8 or 10 years ago. Last year we decided to expand the deck but Lowes had dropped that color. I finally found some at Home Depot that was close but not an exact match. The deck was sort of L shaped. I removed some of the decking and rearranged it to get all the old stuff together and the new stuff together. The new stuff is slightly narrower so the spaces are larger but it came out ok. We did the expansion last spring so this is the 1st winter but so far it's looking good. Ask me again in 5 years.

Same with my Trex decking itself. I installed about 700 SF on my covered wrap around porch about 24 years ago. The Trex decking itself is as good as the day I installed it. Glad I used Trex.

Problem I am having now though is the joists underneath the decking is rotting after 24 years of lots of snow, rain, sun, and at 7,000 foot elevation. If I had thought about it back then, I would have installed pressure treated wood for the joists. I am going to have to take the deck apart to replace the joists probably within the next 2-3 years.

You didn't use pressure treated for joists and it lasted 24 years?? Dang! That's a pretty good stretch!

I did 850 sf of trex transcend during covid. Resurface of a multilevel. I would just get clips set and then when whole run in place, go back and tighten down.

Can't believe I hadn't done this years ago.

We have 2 large 16x20 decks, both with 20' long boards - no seams, straight runs (available at the time special order from home depot).

16" OC joists. Clips weren't an option for these boards 12 years ago, so counter-sunk screws.

Looks like the day I installed it. In Colorado - plenty of brutal sun and expand/contract.

I cannot IMAGINE the amount of sanding and staining I'd have done to 640 sq ft of real wood by now, in our climate.

Any way you can sister in some new joists without taking the deck apart?

Ya, I thought of that too. It might work. But my fear is the beams between the porch posts that these joists attach to are in sad shape too. I need to shimmy under my deck and see how it looks under there. Probably not going to like what I see.

It's like vinyl siding...sure it works but who wants a plastic house.

Who wants to have to refinish the deck every couple of years? I have better things to do.

You didn’t build a phugking deck. Do you you think we forgot your dumb question about how to attach wood siding to a house? Dumb azz

#Fancysteakhouses
#EliteClients
#YoureaFuggtardDuck

I don't know why we didn't do it long ago. Materials are outrageous but not having to refinish is worth a lot of money.

The complaint of direct sunlight making it hot is legitimate. If that's a deal breaker, look elsewhere. Out deck is in the shade by 2-2:30 pm most days, and when in the shade, no problem walking on it with bare feet.

Go with a lighter color. Brown is nice but hot. Light gray or some of the other light shades stay considerably cooler.
That applies to roofs, too. A light colored roof will be cooler and last longer as it reflects more sun.

Going on almost 20 years with Trex in the Florida sun. Never a problem, and no splinters of any type, ever!

Good luck with what you find under there.

And enjoy that snow while you're getting it!

Been over a decade since I did a composite deck. What I do remember is 12" O/C on the stringers would have been way better than 16".

In fairness, some composites are better than others... 16" O/C may be spec with newer composites.

12" OC is ridiculous.

Anything under 16" points to a severe fault in the 'plastic' being used. Enjoy your plastic.

Ours came with instructions for 16". It's been fine for 5 or 6 years so far. There some flimsier brands, though.

Back when the emerald ash borer was tearing up Ohio et al... I scored quarter sawn ash for less than composite or 5/4 PT.

Made a hell of a good deck with it.

Lowes sells Trex at $28 on a 16'. That comes out to about $3.60 a board foot. Catch a sawmill guy and you can match that maybe with locust probably... maybe.

Ash has no rot resistance. I'm surprised to hear your satisfaction after using it for exterior decking.

I've been in the residential design business for almost 50 years now. Back when I started we could still get redwood for decking, then came cedar, then wolmanized lumber, then Trex, now there is much better stuff out there. A number of years ago I got ride of my 5/4 wolmanized decking after I got sick of the required maintenance on it to keep it looking good.
The popular material up here is Azek using the clips. Quality installers will picture frame your deck so you don't see any end cuts.
Framing is always 16" oc with deck joists sized per code (60 lb's per sq. ft. live load)
If you read the mfg's spec's they'll tell you not to use a pressure washer, get deck soap, spray it on, let it set for 30 seconds, deck brush it, then spray if off with a hose. Works like a charm.
We still use the 5/4 Womanize wood but that's for cheap (inexpensive) affordable housing, anything with quality we'll go with the composite decks.
Here's mine, about 6 years old now.

Thank you Sir and I hope we get more snow. We are in quite a drought currently.

16" oc is fine for newer composites.

When we remodeled the exterior of our house a couple of years ago, I thought about replacing our old wood deck with a composite deck and then said Fugck it and ripped off the old deck, burned it and poured a concrete patio.

Much happier.

after finishing it up, I'll say this, I wouldn't want the gap any wider than 16"

Clamped down it doesn't give with my weight but loose I could feel it give.