Spotlight on Decks

In the Midwest, our decks take a beating. Decks should look good, but their materials must also be hardy enough to withstand the heat and humidity of summer and the freeze and thaw cycles of winter. Your options include real wood, pressure-treated wood and composites. Because of the numerous choices in each category, we bring you this primer on some of the most popular choices.

Dan Troxel of Decks & Design by Dan shows how far outdoor design has come. Dramatic lighting and a unique custom deck design allow his clients to utilize their backyard in many ways by creating layers of space, including a screened porch off the family room, outdoor kitchen and lower patio. The porch is finished with tile, a vaulted ceiling, custom sconce lighting and an entertainment area with storage for electronics. Three steps down is a curved counter packed with a Viking grill, fridge, ice maker and kegarator, plus a granite bar with seating for two, all topped by an arbor for shade and privacy. Down a triangular set of steps – lit up for effect and safety, of course – is a stamped concrete patio with two more custom benches on castors so they can swivel toward the cut stone fire pit. Behind it all is a 14-foot aquarium with two waterfalls lit from behind. Photo by Matt Kocourek

Cedar
Cedar has reportedly been used as far back as in the construction of King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Many consider cedar to be the product of choice in outdoor decking: it smells great, doesn't warp, grays beautifully over time and has a variety of grain patterns and textures. Most important, it is naturally resistant to rot and not tasty to insects. Cool to the touch in hot summer months, it is less expensive and more readily available than redwood, which it is most commonly compared against. But it is not a strong wood and most builders generally won't use it for framing, frequently preferring to use a pressure-treated hardwood frame and then adding cedar fascia boarding to match an all-cedar deck. Staining is recommended to extend the natural protection.

Green Factor: As a softwood, it's easy to work with, but be cautious when cutting as the dust can be a lung and skin irritant. Primarily found in the Pacific Northwest, these trees can grow as high as 200 feet and 10 feet across at the base. The rapid dwindling of old growth cedar forests has been an enormous source of concern. Look for a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) product label to verify accreditation of sustainable harvesting practices. Go to fscus.org to find out more.

Mahogany
Builders love mahogany for its easy machining and resiliency. The moderately soft wood can be identified by the woven look: short grain, straight and tight. The heartwood is well known for its ability to withstand rot and insect infestation. Sapwood (wood cut closer to the bark) is considered slightly less durable. Some believe mahogany isn't quite hardy enough to go untreated, so you may want to consider staining, otherwise enjoy the silver hue it will eventually develop. A neat fact is that up until the late 1960s, mahogany was the original material of the legendary Chris Craft boats, still often used in both indoor and outdoor furniture by craftsmen for its lustrous, nearly purple color. Beware: there are a lot of woods out there that purists claim have nothing to do with genuine mahogany, particularly “Philippine mahogany,” which is a marketing term for a whole collection of other species unrelated to mahogany, so check with your builder before you snap up that so-called “deal.”
 
Green Factor: Mahogany is from southern Mexico, Central America, Colombia and even into the Amazon. Check for IFC certification, but most mahogany is still plentiful and harvested from sustainable plantation farming.

Redwood
Like cedar, its genus cousin, redwood has a pleasant woodsy fragrance after an afternoon baking in the sun. Freshly lumbered, this softwood has a deep reddish color that morphs to black and then eventually to dark grey. Stronger than cedar, it can be used for framing your deck but its posts cannot be buried in the ground or they will rot. Redwood is more prone to chipping than cedar, so use care when cutting and caution when inhaling as it too is considered a lung and skin irritant. Availability has driven the cost of redwood through the roof and reduced its popularity from what it once was.

Green Factor: Redwood trees are the largest living organisms on earth, and vigorous campaigns have been underway to protect the old-growth groves. It has been reported that less than 8 percent of current logging of redwoods is from old-growth areas, but that is little comfort when weighed against the belief that only 4 percent of the world's old-growth forests remain. There are many companies that manage and harvest new growth redwood, so check for certification.

Siberian Larch
New to the North American market, Siberian larch is an extremely hard, coniferous softwood from the heart of Siberia. Called the “Tree of Eternity,” it is similar to cedar and redwood in that it is resistant to decay and will go gray over time. Unlike cedar, this wood is much harder and considered more mechanically stable. Larch comes in either Latewood, which is harder, or Earlywood, which can wear under foot over time. Staining is recommended to protect it from further checking.

Green Factor: The FSC certified Siberian larch as a sustainable resource in 2002. Many are hopeful that these protection efforts and the vast amount of availability (over 1 billion acres in the Russian Boreal Forests) will take the pressure off the quickly disappearing South American rainforests.

Kevin and Tina Bennett had issues with their old deck, preventing them from enjoying time outside relaxing and entertaining. So they designed and built a new one with help from friend and local homebuilder Jim Larsen. The goal was to increase space for entertaining, provide shade from the west, and add amenities that would make the space an extension of their home. With a table and chairs, ceiling fan, grill and smoker, the new deck is comfortable and convenient — and plenty big enough to act as a stage for a band! The fan and a heater allow the Bennetts to use the space for a longer portion of the year, while materials that weather well, including cedar, treated lumber, aluminum and granite, keep the deck low-maintenance so the family can focus on fun. Photo by Bill Mathews

Pressure Treated
Pressure-treated wood has been injected with rot- and insect-retardant chemicals prior to being delivered to your lumberyard. A popular choice is southern yellow pine, favored for its strength and structure, which easily absorbs preservative. Hem-fir is cheaper and most commonly available, but watch out because it can be prone to warping and splitting.

You can tell the wood has been pressure-treated by the green tinge that only disappears after extensive exposure to the elements. Considered a hassle-free alternative to staining or painting, pressure treatment protects wood from the elements longer than hand-applied treatments, sometimes lasting as long as 40 years.

Pressure-treated wood is processed in a retort, a cylindrical chamber that creates a high-pressure vacuum, which forces the chemicals into the boards. Be aware that there has been considerable concern about some types of pressure-treated wood because some of the preservatives can be carcinogenic and otherwise harmful to the environment, animals and humans. Watch for the different levels. The American Wood Protection Association has set retention levels that should be clearly stamped with a seal. They range from .25 per cubic foot for above-ground use only to 2.5 pounds per cubic foot for marine-grade saltwater contact.

Green Factor: Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) was at one time the most popular compound to treat wood, but in 2004 the Environmental Protection Agency restricted it for being extremely toxic — it's been reported that a half dozen tablespoons of CCA can kill a 1-ton cow in a matter of days. Alkaline Copper Quat (ACQ) is thought to be a safer substitute but is also corrosive to steel, so extra precautions should be taken with your selection of hardware. 

Composites
Composites are a combination of wood and plastic in varying degrees that can produce an attractive and long-lasting deck. But don't expect to save money, at least not right away, as most composite decking costs two to fives times more than wood, a factor that may or may not make itself up over time, depending on what you compare it with.

The variety of new composite materials to the market is staggering. Once ignored by quality homebuilders for being so obviously fake in appearance, composites are quickly becoming a popular decking choice because companies are getting so much better at replicating the ‘real' wood look. Things to look and ask about are propensity to mold, color fading, ease to work with, cost and, of course, beauty. Watch your building codes — some products have yet to be approved by the ICC-ES or only for certain usages. Researching composites can be tricky, so talk to your builder and find out what may be best for your situation.

Green Factor: Composites are generally considered to be long-lasting, with little or no staining required, so to that end, many manufacturers declare themselves to be ‘green.' Some truly are a green alternative; Trex and Correct Deck, for example, are both made of post-consumer waste materials and are recyclable.

However, composites have their critics as well, particularly on the eventual demolition end. Some, though not all, composite decking materials are made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is highly carcinogenic when burned, and can leach and contaminate groundwater when dumped in landfills. And, like any plastic, PVC or not, the decomposition rate is measured in hundreds if not thousands of years.