MoistureShield has introduced a new line of capped wood composite decking, Elevate, designed for and aimed at the entry level market.. At launch the Elevate line is … But, if you prefer a different look, you could get posts & rails on your own. In 2008 the company was sued again for surface deterioration in Ross v. Trex Co., Inc. Its decking materials are very new. Because the board is hollow, exposed end cuts have to be disguised with a special glue-on end cap or hidden under a trim board. TimberTech pays for 100% of the costs of the material need to repair defects to the decking for the first 10 years, then a progressively lower percentage, ending with 10% after 23 years. The cost of maintaining a composite or PVC deck over 20 years is less than $10K. As MoistureShield, a division of Oldcastle APG, a CRH Company, continues to expand distribution across the nation, its CoolDeck technology is now available as an option in two of its wood composite decking product lines. One thing that struck u… For the most part, MoistureShield speaks highly of TimberTech. ATLANTA (PRWEB) November 18, 2019 Contractors and homeowners who thought capped wood composite decking was far beyond their reach, can think again! Spans between deck joists: They have a maximum 20-inch on center load. The information in the report for each company is somewhat compressed to save space and cut reading time but here is what each report contains. Manufacturer: The name, address and other contact information for the manufacturer of the decking. We also rely on documentation provided by manufacturers themselves for information about the composition and manufacture of the product, and the company's actual level of confidence in its decking. Legacy, Tropical and Terrain capstock boards are covered by a separate fading warranty. Cost: On average, $4 a square foot is a ballpark figure for MoistureShield composite decking (…plus installation, if you don’t do it yourself). The decking is available in three colors. The company's solution is to admit that the product will harbor mold and recommend frequent cleaning — so much for its "look of a wood deck without the maintenance of a wood deck" claim in its advertising. The company does have some rather impressive data from the University of Wyoming that says wheat straw filler is marginally stronger and more resistant to impact damage than wood-flour composites but it is no more resistant to deflection caused by seasonal expansion and contraction, and like all composites, special installation measures are needed to control and disguise expansion and contraction. The labor to remove the defective materials and install new materials — by far the lion's share of the total cost — comes out of your wallet. Fiberon also manufactured decking products for CertainTeed, including the EverNew® 20 and EverNew® PT lines. Composite decking is really the better choice for most people. Louisiana Pacific used to manufacture Home Depot's proprietary Veranda® decking. The number of customers involved has been estimated at $150-200,000. Before you build (or buy) a log home, I have a slew of helpful tips for you -- to plan, design, build, decorate, and maintain your very own rustic modern log home. (A.E.R.T.). This means that water can get in the ends and swell the wood-based inner core which may cause what is called a flare, and once flared, the boards do not un-flare. proprietary fasteners are quite a bit more expensive than generic hidden fasteners. Combined with real wood fibers, the end result is a super-strong and long-lasting deck. I’m told these are for a lighter weight deck, better ventilation & air circulation, and flatter lying boards over the course of time. MoistureShield has unveiled Elevate, designed with advanced protection for an entry-level budget. Tamko recommends a periodic washing to reduce mold and mildew buildup. In fact, when we first read the warranty, we thought it was a spoof — someone's idea of a joke. Ask for paper copies before you buy. Its decking is made in solid, square edge planks for use with surface screws, and grooved planks for use with hidden fasteners. Surface mounting and proprietary Fastenator. Surface attachment. Those are the brands I like best at this point. MoistureShield also features its unique CoolDeck® technology, for select products, which reduces deck board surface temperatures by up to 35% compared to conventional capped composites. According to 2009 tests conducting by Intertek Plastics Technology Laboratories, GeoDeck experienced the least color fading during a test that simulated about 4 months of exposure to the sun. We scoured the A.E.R.T. The 1" x 6" boards require joists 12" on center to give the deck the rigidity of real wood. By comparison, the fading standard for vinyl siding is 4 Delta E, a barely perceptible color shift, so 5 Delta E is still a little more color change than we like to see. The product's capstock is not a full wrap. The company warrants against fading of more than "5 Delta E… units". A.E.R.T. uses relatively large flakes of wood rather than finely ground wood flour, which is more expensive. First, you have to clean the deck yourself following a very strict regimen specified by Trex. This summary is often supplemented and expanded in the report text. In response, Fiberon has stopped making non-capstock decking. Here’s some basic info to help you decide whether a Trex composite deck or TimberTech composite deck is right for your outdoor living space. Consumer Reports® also rated GeoDeck a "Best Buy" just a few months before it was recalled nationally as being completely unsafe. It also seeks to impose arbitration rather than litigation as the means of settling disputes and tries to prohibit customers from joining any class-action lawsuit against the company. Color choices: They have a number of color choices, and it sounds like they add a new color or feature to their product lines every year or so. And, you should not expect the color of the new board to match the faded colors to the existing decking, so the new board will probably stand out more than the stain ever would. Why anyone would want a composite deck designed to look like badly weathered pine, we don't know. The premium boards are flat on top and bottom, so they are reversible and available with grooved edges (for hidden fasteners) or with flat edges (for surface fasteners). However, this is an organic color, and in general organic colors tend to fade more than non-reactive chemical colorants. Essentially, the warranty protects against any fading that you can notice, although you may see some slight fading. 144014. authors Kacey Larsen | April 18, 2019. You could even paint the posts & rails if you like (…but then you’d have the upkeep with that painted surface). It suggests that mold and mildew can be "easily removed" from TerraDeck products using cleaners identified on its website that include chemicals that inhibit mold and mildew formation. The decking has no track record to speak of. All of these products have been discontinued. Accents is the successor to Trex's original non-capstock WPC product. GAF sold DuraLife back to the original owners, now doing business as Integrity Composites, LLC. At one time the company produced a capstock board called TerraDeck Ultimate. Turns out that it really is Tamko's warranty. They are marketed as ecologically friendly because the manufacturer uses 60% wheat straw filler rather than wood powder, and a binder made mostly of high-density polyethylene recycled from milk jugs and plastic bags. Azek makes several lines of Timbertech composite decking. Most are flat on both top and bottom, while the Good Life boards have a double arch profile on the bottom and Veranda ArmorGuard™ has five arches. The bottom of the board is not protected. On the other end of the spectrum, the Floorizon boards — and colors — look like fiberglass or durable plastic boards (such as for use a Neither, however, is particularly stiff. This is partly due to it being made from materials that are resistant to weather, rot and insect damage. Of course, collecting under the warranty could be a problem. We are obviously in the minority since TerraDeck has been listed by the Green Building Initiative and GreenSpec, and can be used to accrue LEED points. The boards are typically 5.4" wide and just under 1" thick. GAF renamed both products. Actually, they are somewhat below average and do not stand out in any way except the registration requirement. I have also seen, touched, and witnessed the effects of long-term weathering for both product lines. Composite Decking: GeoDeck End Cap. Consumer Reports® has been testing decking materials, including standard treated yellow pine, for a number of years for resistance to slipping, flexing, sagging, mildew, staining and color fading and scored each product on a scale of 1 to 100. We don't know how to keep a deck, or any outdoor structure, "always dry". So, if you download the warranty here or any place else on the internet, you are actually violating the terms of the warranty by "reproducing" it on your computer. These types of stains can be removed by the use of a pressure washer, plastic bristled scrub brush, and cleaners designed to remove mold and mildew.". Scalloped. The MVP has a different profile with a corrugated bottom, intended to reduce weight with little sacrifice in rigidity. We have the blueprints… and the land… and the contractor… and the goal for our log cabin home to be our retirement home. Trex will not pay the labor to replace the materials, or the cost of freight to get the new materials to your driveway. The company claims that its manufacturing process is unique. There are over 60 domestic manufacturers of composite and PVC decking and a dozen or so Asian manufacturers that export to North America. The suit claimed that the decking contains a defect that causes "extensive mold, mildew and other fungal growth" that manifests itself as a uniform spotty discoloring across the entire deck, and that Fiberon failed to honor its warranty. Trex has been sued in class actions so many times that it is hard to keep track. The Key Test: Scratching a key fairly deeply on the TimberTech products was barely noticeable until you tried it on the Earthwood line. Although pressure-treated wood may initially seem like an affordable decking option, your clients end up paying for it over time. Does not include labor. Color changes are not covered, nor is staining. Overall, a series of scratches might be more noticeable than one would like with TimberTech’s Earthwood line. So they use recycled plastic, rather than virgin plastic for their decks. According to Azek’s website, the approximate cost of upkeep for a wooden deck is more than $20K over 20 years. It definitely cuts nicer than wood, without any chips or tear out. Armadillo Deck, a composite decking, adds five colors in response to the trend toward bold, vibrant colors: Bronco, Foothills, Smoke, Sunset and Walnut.These new deck colors include the introduction of a pronounced streaking pattern. GeoDeck's patented composite decking formula reportedly contains no wood. We know from experience that the product will fade. It is important to note, however, that only fading is covered. The award-winning technology is said to minimize deck heat absorption by up to 35% versus traditional capped composite deck boards, […] Compared to PVC, composite decking is better able to withstand extreme climates — it won’t expand and contract as much in high temperatures. GeoDeck claims that its boards are stiff enough to be installed on 24" on-center joists and still feel firm underfoot, not "springy" like some other decking material. What follows are the biggest differences between ChoiceDek (also sold as MoistureShield) and Timber Tech. The company will only provide the materials required for the repair. The company characterizes its product warranties as "industry leading". Natural Wooden Planks. Amount of “virgin plastic” used: The core of their business is recycling. ChoiceDek along with Trex was also one of the worst performers in the Sherwin-Williams exposure test (see image above) of composite deck materials. The organization also still scores CorrectDeck its highest-rated composite decking product although the company declared bankruptcy in 2009 and is out of business. It’s a product you can add to your client offering easily or tackle as a DIY project with a little framing knowledge. The cap-stock is wrapped only into the top of the grooves of the grooved plank, leaving the bottom of the board uncapped. Although Fiberon denied the allegations, calling them "completely false" and stating that the mold and mildew are caused by improper homeowner maintenance, it nonetheless agreed to a settlement in which it paid compensation to owners of its products sold under various brand names. ", Its capstock is not as thick, so its embossing is not as deep as that on the Transcend product. I say that because I think they are both truly reputable companies with very knowledgeable reps and salespeople. A final settlement order was entered on March 5, 2014. A.E.R.T. Correct Building Products narrowly avoided a class-action lawsuit similar to those against other composite makers only because it declared bankruptcy first. The, according to Trex, "allows the board to breath", and moisture to escape. EverGrain has had deterioration problems with its boards made prior to 2008. Thus, the MoistureShield warranty has never been called into question in the 18 years they’ve been making and selling composite deck materials. A.E.R.T. ChoiceDek is sold exclusively through Lowes stores, and MoistureShield is sold by everybody else in North America. The manufacturer does not offer any warranty against mold and mildew infestation of these products. Pros: Durable It was a well-regarded product with a vocal deck-installer fan club. The Dirt Test: The TimberTech planks should not be placed directly on the ground, or near dirt or moisture of any kind. We have yet to find a composite material that costs less than sealed treated pine, so there are no minus numbers in the ratings. We have a few concerns about the design of the Consumer Reports® tests. All composite decking warranties make some attempt (mostly ineffective) to restrict a consumer's rights under state warranty law but Tamko goes completely overboard. And, in case you’re wondering… The arches are intended to reduce the cost and weight of the board by using slightly less material without significantly affecting the board's strength or rigidity, and, in the case of ArmorGuard, to visually distinguish the Home Depot store brand from its Fiberon sibling, ProTect. Of considerably more interest to us is the use of the wheat straw filler to provide color to the material rather than adding pigments. All of its products are capstock boards: a full capstock board and a 3/4 capstock boards. Elevate is available in two colors: Lake Fog is a soft gray shade, while Canoe is forest brown. ), International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), Intertek Plastics Technology Laboratories.