As far as the deck, if you plan on staying at your house for an extended period of time, I would save the money and go with composite. If you aren't interested in the composite, I would go with cedar. I would choose treated as a last resort.

Why not treated it will last as good as anything else or in my case as long long as i want it to with the right stuff on it it will be good for 15 to 20 years but i know the sure thing is not to wood at all but just pour cement

There is nothing wrong with treated and I have built plenty of decks out of treated lumber, but it doesn't have the life span of cedar or composite. Treated wood isn't what it used to be and is more prone to warping. One theory is that the trees they are using now are grown too fast (hybrids) and the wood isn't as strong. I do not know the reason, but I have noticed a difference in the quality.

I built 4 docks and decks in ETX out of treated about 15 years ago. We have treated them twice a year and have had to replace multiple boards that have warped or split over the years. This year, we went ahead and painted them with deck paint and that will extend the life and reduce the maintanence, but we will have to replace them all soon. Treated requires more maintenance and is more prone to warping, splitting and rotting.

I built 6 decks and docks at PK around the same time out of composite. Besides the fading (which they weren't supposed to do), they look like they did the day we installed them. No maintanence required and haven't had to replace anything besides one of the handrails.

Yeah that composite stuff isn't worth the money or time to me for what you get out of it but when i built my deck a few weeks ago i used the treated so there was a deck and to please the wifey , i really didnt care what we used because i am not staying there but about 8 more years and then i will be finding a place up north way outa this hot dang weather.

thanks! I put my bloodhound wife on it ... good inputs guys!

treated will "walk" (warp) and bleed out the sap over time when it dries. its an okay decking wood, definatly the workhorse but the way it cracks and shrinks when it dries is undesirable to a lot of folks. plan on replacing 10% of the deck boards within the first 6 months due to checking and warping. it will also start to delaminate over time (when it cracks and starts to de-layer like an onion) if not property cared for

this is fantastic advice.

I've had decks last in the shade 4 years and some that were full exposure have to be re-done every year after the initial first two coatings.



Pet traffic is the biggest killer of stain jobs, with the sun being a very close second

thanks again! A guy that works for me is also getting a deck installed and brought in some samples of western cedar that he is using. I think that might be our best route with the price in mind.