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I'm planning to rebuild my deck this spring. The current deck is 2x material with sleepers 24" apart and I don't want to replace those as well so I can't do composite, have to stick with 2x lumber. I don't want to have to do a lot of maintenance like sealing and staining so I was wondering how well plain cedar would hold up.
Thoughts? Options?
Cliff
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Is the existing deck in reasonable shape? Why not just cover with composite?
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Wild Turkey
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I think you should take Wild Turkey's advice.Cedar rates in the high maintenance side of things,unless you like the weathered grey look.
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(03-11-2018, 05:44 PM)cpolubin Wrote: I'm planning to rebuild my deck this spring. The current deck is 2x material with sleepers 24" apart and I don't want to replace those as well so I can't do composite, have to stick with 2x lumber. I don't want to have to do a lot of maintenance like sealing and staining so I was wondering how well plain cedar would hold up.
Thoughts? Options?
Cliff
Honestly, no deck is maintenance-free. I have two decks - one is ground-level, 40x12, that I built myself using beams attached directly to the footers. The entire thing is built with clear PT lumber.
The one that came with the house is plastic and it sucks. It's hot (or cold), it gets icy, it's warped from the heat, and it grows algae like nobody's business (even with sunlight exposure). It requires pressure washing two or three times a year to look good, and it requires a LOT more pressure to clean effectively than a wood deck. Add in that composite will run you about 4x the cost of PT and it's a no-brainer to me.
Cedar is considerably more expensive than PT, so I'd consider that. Depending on the level of sun exposure you get, you could be looking at power washing, sanding, and sealing from every year (think beach level of sun) to every 3-5 (if you're in the woods and have shade). No sanding and sealing with composite, just a lot of power washing. And cash.
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There is no maintenance free deck. I made my latest and last one out of Ipe'. Expensive to say the least. Maintenance free? Only if you like gray. It's a lot of work to clean and recoat it every year.
My neighbor tore down his deck and had a concrete patio installed. I'm starting to realize the wisdom of that decision.
John
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Wild Turkey,
That's an interesting idea but not workable in this case. Half of the existing deck is raised 6" and is going to be removed to make it all one level. Also placing another layer on top of the existing one would raise it above patio door threshold which would create a tripping hazard.
I'd really prefer to spend my time in the shop rather than doing maintenance stuff. May have to resign myself to it.
Cliff
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Either that or do as was suggested,pour a slab
Mel
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Nothing really wrong with sun-bleached silver-grey IPE.
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(03-12-2018, 06:29 PM)chips ahoy Wrote: Either that or do as was suggested,pour a slab
Mel
Yup, there is a reason concrete is so polular. It's cheap (comparatively) it's durable, it's very long lasting, it's solid ie no flex. It is a wonderful material for many reasons and if you don't like the color or look you can add dyes and texture to the concrete.
Wood decks are great if it needs to be suspended but for at or near ground level go with concrete. Pressure wash it when needed and forget about it.
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03-16-2018, 08:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-16-2018, 08:26 AM by tomsteve.)
(03-11-2018, 05:44 PM)cpolubin Wrote: I'm planning to rebuild my deck this spring. The current deck is 2x material with sleepers 24" apart and I don't want to replace those as well so I can't do composite, have to stick with 2x lumber. I don't want to have to do a lot of maintenance like sealing and staining so I was wondering how well plain cedar would hold up.
Thoughts? Options?
Cliff
if you wanted, you could add joists to break the span down to 12" OC and do composite.
there really isn that much maintenance required on a deck,though. sealing and staining, with the right products, is maybe every 5 years?
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