Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Best decking material

We are in the process of building our dock and I'm struggling with the decision of what to use for the decking. Treated wood, cedar (harder to get), trex, another composite material? I'm not locked into any specific material. The dock is 900 square feet, and I'd really like to keep the cost close to $3 per sf or less.

I believe my primary criteria are as follows, in order of importance:
Safety (can't be too slick when wet)
Low maintenance (I don't mind pressure washing, but have heard trex can fair really bad, and I've spent a good deal of time maintaining wood decks)
Longevity
Aesthetics that don't change (slow to fade, etc)
Initial aesthetics

I realize this is a question of opinion, and I would really appreciate as many opinions as possible. Shoot away!

We used trex on the walkaway to our dock. Well worth the investment although it does get expensive.

Use lots of Trex!

It is made locally, with many of my friends helping in the manufacturing/selling/shipping ...

Have you been bothered by Trex fading?

Any other ideas out there?

Cypress, Ipe, mahogany, matters what you wanna spend..

I really like IPE, but I can't justify the cost of it. I did use it on a large deck at the college I worked at....beautiful project, funded by people much more financially gifted than me

Only seen pictures of it but it looks amazing..

You wouldn't believe how heavy it is...and hard. We used concealed fasteners. I would highly recommend it to anyone with the funds to use it.

My cousin own a local hardwood store he gets all that fancy stuff, coca bola, bolsa, goncalo(sp?), rosewood bunch of cool stuff..

No but it is only two years old.

I haven't heard much of it fading but I have seen some sag between joist could of been bad carpentry too I don't know if trex requires a shorter stud spacing? Also I've seen it somewhat kinda get a fuzz on its surface in spots of high traffic don't know how to properly explain it but it kinda shreads on the surface? Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I just am not interested in plastic made to look like wood. I am OK with plastic, just not designed to look like wood. I would prefer straight parallell lines or a geometric pattern for traction. Do they make such stuff?

In time ipe will fad to grey as well just like teak.

I when with a full 1.5" 2X6 PT. Good and strong and will end up grey like ceder.

Don.

Don...I have seen some aged ipe, and your description is right on. If one wants to keep it looking good, it is not a low-maintenance material that many think it is.

I really like the idea of 2x6--less cost, more strength, can use 16" joist spacing instead of the 12" recommended for TREX, can restain to keep it a certain color, or can change the color if desired.

I worry about two things with PT lumber...splinters and maintenance. People will naturally be running around the deck without shoes on, if for no other reason than to jump off into the water (I have over 10' depth on one end). With concealed fasteners I could easily sand the whole deck periodically if necessary...but I still question whether this is the best route.

I would be interested to hear others' opinions about preventing 2x6 PT lumber from splintering. I have a 2x6 deck that is 16 years old, and still looks fairly good, but has a few areas where I would worry about splinters in a dock application. I didn't treat it for the first 10+ years of its life...I wonder what condition it would be in if I would have put a preservative on it earlier on.

BGK...I have seen the fuzz you are talking about. It seems like strands of the material are separating (although very small). I hadn't thought about that, and don't know if it would deter me...plus I don't know if newer versions of TREX would fuzz like that. TREX is supposed to be used with narrower joist spacing--12" if I recall correctly, vs. 16" that can be used for 2x6 PT lumber.

Thanks to everyone for the discussion thus far...it is really helping my thought process.

I recently had access to a whole bunch of 7.5" wide 12' long aluminum bleacher seats that were in really good shape. Apparently they tore down a football stadium and a guy bought all of them at auction. I was tossing around the idea of decking my dock with them. I was going to put anti-skid tape down to help with traction (they had ridges on them also). It wouldn't be too hot on the tootsies due to its high thermal conductivity.

I still believe this would work as a great decking material however, one would have to figure out how to control sun glare.

Aluminum in the sun is HOT. Have you priced that anti-skid tape??

When snow/ice is on aluminum, it's really, really slippery. So is (are?) some of the plastic decking materials that are out there.

initial research

further into the thread, still happy today with the decision

Aluminum is a natural heat sink and transfers heat extremely well. If you have an adequate amount of air gap underneath the bottom side of your dock and the water then the aluminum will pass the heat right through and dissipate it into the cooler air on the bottom side. I have not done a study on this, but I have read an awful lot that suggests that aluminum is no warmer on the feet than PTL. Of course, so much of this depends on the color of your materials.

I haven't priced out that anti-skid tape. We had a couple large rolls laying around from doing all of our lock-on treestands/steps.

Ultimately we went with PTL to finish out our dock. We used cabot austrailian timber oil (jarrah brown) to finish the decking on our home and it is borderline unbearable in the mid-day sun. Bear in mind, our entire site is on a south-facing slope and even sitting in chairs is almost unbearable due to the heat radiating off the deck. Needless to say, we will be going with a more lighter/more natural finish on the dock to make it a little more "user friendly" on the feet.

I just thought it would be a unique look if it were made from the recycled bleacher seats. Not to mention very low maintenance.

I just remember sitting on an aluminum john boat seat without any cushion and just about branding the back of my thighs and my butt............

Never forgot the cushion after that!

You are right, aluminum is a very good heat sink.

I also wanted zero maintenance due to work a swing shift. I purchased a Shore Station dock. It is made of aluminum and painted tan. The legs are adjustable, and the width of our model is 6'. I am pleased with it. The biggest down side was the price. Check their website and call the guys locally for prices. The side rails can change year to year and prices change on the leg frame length that you get.