Deckorators TROPICS deck boards also have quite a bit of embossing that reduces the amount of slipping when wet. We decided to install a deck. Having already experienced a hidden fastener system, I wanted to go with a simple top fastener process on this deck. It's also lightweight. Pro Tool Reviews is a successful online publication that has been providing tool reviews and industry news since 2008. Deckorators included 1/2-inch thick 11-1/4″ wide trim boards to dress out the exposed ends of the boards, and we further designed it so that a ripped horizontal board would be laid across the entire front of the decking, ensuring that there was no exposed laminate edges to be caught or snagged by anyone happening to climb up onto the deck from the front or sides. Decking types (from left to right) wood, composite, plastic, and aluminum. Ceramic-coated screws come in several colors, which helps them blend in. Sidestep Missteps If you're hiring a pro, note that the cost of labor—either to build a new deck or to replace worn planking on an existing structure—can easily exceed the cost of the materials. If your decking has cracks, looks dirty, or suffers from mildew, it's time to decide whether to refinish or replace it entirely. Pro Plugs with Depth Setter Tool for Deckorators Decking. You begin with the lower inner post, measuring carefully and using the included stainless brackets to hold it in place against the Paramount post and (in our case at least) the stucco-covered brick pillar. Choose zinc-coated or other corrosion-resistant fasteners, and use the right fasteners for composites. An alternative to the traditional treated lumber typically used for decks, composite deck boards offer a low-maintenance option for creating the perfect outdoor space. Not everyone has the same tastes, and having a manufacturer who can provide products in contemporary, classic, Baroque, or craftsman styles is nothing short of admirable. As the first name in quality and selection, Deckorators offers the most comprehensive line in the industry and will be your brand of … Most now also come with some or all sides encased in plastic to prevent mildew growth. Pros: Best for resisting the elements without staining. On the demonstration deck in the Show Village, we used butt joints with a gap to match the field of Deckorators Voyage decking. With a helper, and our Starborn Smart-Bit Deck Screw Depth Setter bits loaded into a Milwaukee M18 FUEL 1/2-inch drill and a Milwaukee M12 FUEL drill, we were off to the races installing the decking. A vinyl decking product we reviewed snapped in place over metal clips screwed onto the joists. It makes sense that building or updating a deck can boost the value of your home and provide a peaceful retreat. It’s still a beautiful look, and the installation is rather straightforward. Before staining, pressure-wash or brush the old surface with a cleaning solution. Complement Your Home’s Design The Classic, Estate and Traditional balusters are the heart of their offerings. One brand of aluminum decking we tested snaps together, much the way tongue-and-groove flooring does. Use this buying guide to consider smart options that fit your budget and help create a space that's both relaxing and easy to care for. Welcome to Ridgid. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn income when you click on an Amazon link. See more ideas about deckorators, composite decking, deck. Because of space constraints, I had to store the Deckorators composite decking and railing on the side porch. We also found that that these screws caused only minimal and occasional mushrooming, so pre-drilling wasn’t required for general fastening. And be sure it's at least 50 degrees F from the time stain is applied until it dries completely. After this, it was simple matter of measuring, placing, fastening, and repeating the process for each section. Each of the Deckorator Vista series boards (as well as their CXT railing products) are composed of wood and plastic, and the boards are co-extruded with a durable polyethylene top layer for ultralow-maintenance. Never was a big believer in composite decking but have changed my mind. I noticed the nicks (sent several … Deckorators’ new Fastendry claims to combine weatherproofing and fastening capabilities into one solution. Then, we could simple drop in the pencil (without it falling through) and get our perfect spacing every time. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Cons: Wood tends to change color, crack, and stain if it isn't refinished. If you’re upgrading a deck, going with a composite decking system is a no-brainer. Price: About $500 per 100 square feet. While other miter saws are playing at being tough, the Ridgid MS1290LZA 12-inch sliding compound miter saw takes a different approach. I put down about 800 sq. In today’s world of Internet news and online content, we found that more and more professionals researched a large majority of their major power tool purchases online. YouTube Video VVVuaFZUNTRHOWtOcXV3VDFfZDJaR1F3LnBYX2JKZF9pWDZr, Our site uses cookies. Tropics natural-looking woodgrain and hue variegation resemble the look of tropical hardwoods. One way to get a clean edge on a deck is to picture-frame the perimeter. Compare brands and costs with our composite decking pricing chart at Decks.com. Not quit as good as Trex but in the ball park. Choices include PVC and polyethylene. Regular refinishing helps to seal in the toxic arsenic that CCA decking contains. This tool will do well in any handyman’s kit and some professionals may even find its lightweight styling is worth a second look. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Also, if your deck was built before 2004, it's probably made of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate. Price estimates are per 100 square feet of decking board, and don't include the cost of other deck-building components. When compared to the products listed in your column, it is denser, better grained with more realistic relief, and simply better looking, I'm a guy that considers customer reviews prior to purchasing most things, and it's baffling to me that I can find none...good or bad...for this product, considering that it's been around for over 20 years! Most is pressure-treated pine, but more expensive options include cedar, redwood, and tropical hardwoods. Our exposure scores reflect how each model compares with the others in our tests. We offer two lines of decking, each offering unique benefits for your next decking project. Want more? It's made of plastic and wood fiber and sometimes can be stained to change its color. You then measure the width for the top rail, attach the balusters to the inner top rail, position everything in place, and add the finished Contemporary top rail. If the article was to say there are a lot of cheap, garbage composites out there…I would agree. Here are some other considerations to keep in mind. It's more challenging to make a deck work with older styles, such as Tudor, colonial, or 1920s bungalow. Many also fended off mustard, wine, and other stains. This Hana brown composite deck board features a square profile and measures 1-in thick by 5.5-in wide by 8-ft long. by Deckorators. Snap-in-place fasteners are easy to install but unique to specific brands. Deckorators has several series of decking solutions, including the Classic, Vista, and Heritage series. As anyone familiar with old homes can attest, the structure below the front porch on a 1920’s home is going to need some repair. Our mineral-based composite ( MBC) decking delivers the industry's best strength-to-weight ratio and has virtually no thermal expansion or contraction. Hidden fastener system establish the gaps. Can’t find any? There are even lighted and solar powered options. Because of this, it’s perfect for either surface screwing or using their recommended Stowaway™ hidden fastener which eliminates pre-drilling and automatically spaces the deck boards with the proper gap. But synthetic plank decking offers good looks with less upkeep. Don't skimp on support joists if you choose heavier composites or less-rigid plastics. Surface textures include smooth (like plastic lawn furniture, in some cases), subtle wood grain, ridges, and other decidedly nonwood-like patterns. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. No need to sand splinters or re-stain your deck, because these … During our prep phase we added supported 4×4 posts for midpoints for our retailing, giving us the ability to use the available lengths provided by Deckorators and solve our support issues at the same time. My neighbor three doors down has replaced his porch…three times over the last 18 years—each time with pressure-treated 5/4 lumber boards. So it's no surprise that they continue to pace the industry today, providing an unmatched assortment of artistic balusters. Pro Plug PVC Plugs and Pro Plug PVC Tool for Trex Woodland Brown Decking, 375 Plugs for 100 sq ft, 1 Tool - - Amazon.com Aluminum Decking Starborn Industries had the perfect solution, and Deckorators even recommended them. I decided to install Deckorators Vista composite decking so that I could have a once-and-done approach to recovering my front porch (and also my back deck). About the only complication for us was our custom railing height—which lost us a bit of time as we were unable to use the supplied templates and stock balusters. A Variety of Composite Decking Options. This allowed us to do a lot of repetitive tasks and gain some efficiency (I had a good friend over to help during this phase, and it made all the difference). Deckorators brand deck boards bring style and functionality to your deck or porch. Price: About $200 to $1,100 or more per 100 square feet. Impact Driver vs Impact Wrench | Which Impact Tool Do You Need? And...we'll even send you our "Best Tools for Your Hard-earned Dollars" white paper! Some composite planks are flexible enough to be easily curved into patterns or shapes that would be expensive to duplicate in solid wood. For a seamless installation of Deckorators composite decking or fascia boards, the Plugs for Deckorators Decking from Starborn offers a smooth, consistent board surface. Fastendry is to designed to fit into the slotted edges of Deckorators composite decking, which the company says forms a water-tight seal that prevents rain, melting snow, and debris from passing through the spaces between boards. Envision. find quality composite deck boards online or in store. Also consider hidden fasteners or systems that hide the attachments. The Hitachi C7SB2 7-1/4 inch 15 amp circular saw is a workhorse product which can be found for a very reasonable price if you look hard enough. This post was sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement. CR members with digital access can see our Decking Ratings, which reflect our updated, two-year exposure score. That piqued our interest. Then there are PVC options and inorganic composite options like Deckorators that simply outperform everything. That's why we've designed the new Pro on the Go app with you in mind. Each year we have the boards sent back to our Yonkers, N.Y. labs and test them on a variety of attributes, including resistance to flexing, slipping, spills and surface damage from dents and wear. Synthetics Offer a Range of Design Options When staining, use as many coats as the manufacturer recommends. shop composite deck boards in the decking & porches section of Seven Trust.com. Pros: Toughness, rigidity, and slip resistance. The Deckorators Vista Composite Decking is a great product that’s already won its share of compliments from friends and neighbors. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Launched in 1999, this company isn’t as popular as TimberTech or Trex, but they do … There are several other brands of hidden fastener systems available that work well with Deckorators, but you want to make sure it’s compatible first. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Give your backyard a tropical destination feel no matter where you live with unbelievably simple Vista Decking from Deckorators … Spend more time relaxing on your deck than cleaning it, with Deckorators ® Tropics ™ low maintenance composite deck boards. Such was the case with this home, and we quickly got to work ensuring that we’d have a stable and secure surface for our decking and fasteners. “The trend with many manufacturers has been to move toward a board design with a cavity in the back to reduce … Pro Fastening Systems provide a seamless installation of composite deck or fascia boards while camouflaging deck screw heads. Ryobi Hammer Drill Head to Head - OLD vs NEW - Which is Better? Plus, it’s super easy to overdrive a deck fastener and more or less ruin your board. Join our newsletter and get the latest tool reviews every week! Sections sometimes interlock so that rain won't drip through. Hardwoods and exotic choices can be expensive. Fortuitously, Deckorators also has railing kits and posts, so everything about my front porch could be made new again. Deckorators first popularized the use of metal balusters. These old homes have lots of character, particularly with regard to their porches, which are covered and often constructed with old growth oak or heart pine decking. Signs of an unsafe deck may not be obvious so safety checks are critical when deciding to repair or replace. Stowaway Hidden Fastener - 90 Pack. 😉 Well, Mike did all of the work and he was out there in … Your home's outdoor space is an extension of the interior, a place to be enjoyed many months out of the year and some places all year. New Fasteners Improve Looks and Ease Installation The before and after of the front and back porches is nothing short of astonishing. Spend more time relaxing on your deck than cleaning it, with Deckorators ® Tropics ™ low maintenance composite deck boards. These plugs are the final component in the Pro Plug installation process; simply set the Plug for Deckorators … Capture the look of exotic hardwoods without the difficult maintenance or high-cost thanks to the gorgeous stylings of Deckorators Vista Deck Boards. If solid decking is preferred, you can even employ a biscuit joiner to create the slots required for the Stowaway fastener to fit into…but that’s a lot of work. It has a great look; is durable; installs easily; and comes in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes. Nails and screws are inexpensive, easy to handle, and suitable for nearly any material. Most choices are heavier and more expensive than the usual pine. It went down ok and it looks good. Their Cap-Tor® xd screws in Gray #37 were a perfect match to the color of our Vista Ashwood decking. Its baked-on or anodized finish should last a long time, and its textured surface added traction in our tests. Some even contain recycled plastic. Plastic Decking We were also able to take this time to perform a slight modification to the design of the deck. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. I live in an historic district in central Florida where most of the homes were built during the 1920’s or earlier. A 5-1/2 inch Paramount post sleeve slips over the 4×4 posts, giving you a much nicer and more classic-looking post for the railing. He has a degree in recording engineering and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another for the past 21 years. Thanks for helping us do what we love. This length is great to use for stairs and perimeter boards. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. If you’re doing this yourself, you may—like I did—find yourself with a lot of decking that needs to be stored close to where you’re actually doing the work. Cons: It's expensive, and no one would mistake it for wood. composite deck boards at Seven Trust.com . The brand also has cruelty-free certification from both Cruelty Free International and PETA. It’s a neat trick, and perfect for composite decking installation (pressure treated lumber shrinks, and so we typically install that with very little gapping down here in Florida). All of the opinions of the Tropics Composite Deck and other Lowe’s products, are our own. Mine has a second generation heart pine porch which was in need of repair—mostly due to termites and water encroachment upon the front edges where it’s pelted by each year’s daily summer rains. Cons: Some offered far less resistance to slips, stains, and mildew in our tests. Weigh Costs Pressure treated decking is fine, but if it’s not treated properly and maintained carefully, it can rot, warp, and decay. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. The width of the decking, its color and finish, and the design of the railing are important design elements. The Deckorators Vista Composite Decking is a great product that’s already won its share of compliments from friends and neighbors. Our tests showed that some synthetic decking didn't make the grade for rigidity, and some tonier wood products look worse for wear. We opted for the Vista Series in Ashwood (the previous boards were painted a light gray). Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Their website is quick to navigate and check this – they proudly state their adversity to using beeswax, honey and lanolin (a wool by-product). Composite Decking In addition to being the right color, this carbon steel fastener has a Type 17 Auger Tip to drill through the composite decking quickly. Save time. 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Earn rewards. We only used it for those particular scenarios, as an impact driver isn’t recommended for the Starborn Smart-Bit Depth Setter. With certain lines, yes, although you’ll need to choose carefully. Download the Deckorators Pro on the Go app. The prep work done, we moved onward with the decking, beginning with the front porch. Composites, which blend ground-up wood and plastic, have chipped away at wood's popularity. Our original bungalow style railings were very wide, so the new Deckorators CXT Pro Contemporary railing would be a slight change in style—but similar enough in look to work really well for our needs. Deckorators Composite Decking is stylish, durable, & covered by their 25 year warranty. We really liked working with this brand, and Pros and homeowners alike will really appreciate the ease of installation—possibly more than the breadth of options in their product catalogue. Gain the incredible holding strength of face-fastening deck boards and a complete, finished look with this easy-to-install plug that creates an identical match to the Deckorators color palette. It has been a long hard winter in western New York. It has a great look; is durable; installs easily; and comes in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes. Here are four types of decking material to consider. In fact, it takes the competition to task – with just the right blend of features and finesse. The Vista series is an almost perfect “middle ground”. When pricing the materials, be sure to figure in the cost of railings, stairs, and supporting structure as well as the planks under foot. It has coarse threads at the tip to bite into the deck's supporting joist and finer threads toward the head to stop the decking material from bulging out. If the cost of having actual iron rails fabricated is too much, look into doing a standard wood top and bottom rail and using a system like Deckorators for the slender metal pickets. (25 Products) View By: Sort . Fastendry is available in … Wood resisted slips best in our wet and dry friction tests. (As an example, the ones that drive screws in from the top corners may delaminate the decking, so Deckorators recommends sticking with slot-based fasteners that hold the boards directly against the framing.). This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. We opted to do an entire section of railing to get the hang of things, and then went to town on the remaining bottom rails—creating a sort of assembly line for all of our work. The CXT Pro Railing comes in kits that include an easy-to-install railing with a CXT Pro Contemporary rail that slides right on top. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Going with a composite system that has an ample choice of styles and which also provides a simple installation method is another thing you want to be sure to consider as well. Many of the synthetic products are available in colors such as white, gray, and several shades of brown. Wood Decking I replaced my cedar decking five years ago with Trex Transcends Havana Gold decking. For wood, solid stains typically yield longer-lasting results. Are you still happy with your choice today? It also features the industry’s most complete warranty program: 25-year Limited Structural Warranty, 25-year Limited Stain and Fade Warranty and 25-year Removal and Replacement Warranty. To complete the deck, we also selected the Contemporary Pro railing with CXT Pro balusters and Contemporary rail and Stylepoint Paramount posts and caps. Clint also heads up the Pro Tool Innovation Awards, an annual awards program honoring innovative tools and accessories across the trades. A much simpler solution that will feel open is an iron rail with 1/2" pickets (or 5/8" if that's what your jurisdiction requires). Price: About $300 to $700 per 100 square feet. There’s one key thing to note about Pro Tool Reviews: We’re all about the professional tool user and tradesman! Tropics natural-looking woodgrain and hue variegation resemble the look of tropical hardwoods. TimberTech and Azek, Clubhouse, Deckorators Eovations, Deckorators wood composites, Fiberon Paramount PVC, Fiberon wood composites, Wolf, Deckorators Tropics. We get it. Tropics composite decking boasts a variety of features that underscores why Deckorators is the leader in design innovation: With resilience that needs no splinter sanding or re-staining, the cap stock layer supplies durability, makes your deck easy to clean, and is … Available at Lowe’s stores in an 8′ solid-edge profile and 12′ and 16′ grooved-edge profile. Case in point: show me another miter saw whose miter adjustments can be made with your pinky finger? Finally, I would move the remaining boards (a much smaller amount) so that I could complete the side, or wraparound, portion of the front porch. Deckorators makes it easy to create an outdoor oasis brimming with unique style, with decking, railing, balusters, post caps, postcovers and accessories. Stowaway Hidden Fastener - 525 Pack. Pros: Authenticity. While there are a lot of composite decking solutions on the market, there are some differentiating factors between brands. In terms of durability, the Cap-Tor xd deck screws use an epoxy-based polymer resin coating to keep it from oxidizing over time. You can find Deckorators Decking through select online retailers including the Deck Store Online and Lowes. deckorators tropics 8.08-ft … When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. Composite decking ranges in price from $1.49 to $5.30 per linear foot. Available at Lowe's stores in an 8' solid-edge profile and 12' and 16' grooved-edge profile. write a review. Colors to match any home, available at The Deck Store Online. It has a very realistic wood grain texture which delivers the looks and feel of a painted wood deck at a price point that’s affordable. Certified Pro. We test, evaluate, and compare different types of decking to save you time and money. Its clean lines, comfortable feel, and powerful motor make it a decent saw for cutting, but clumsy depth and bevel adjustments give it at least some areas of improvement.