Print

[DianaR]

New decks are all the rage this year and a couple of our friends are arguing over boards.

I like real redwood but, being ever so earth conscious, a couple of husbands really want to go with man made boards made from recycled items.

Which choice has the best value?

Are the boards made with recycled materials more expensive than real redwood?

Which material lasts longest with the least upkeep?

[Moondance]

I assume that manufactured boards require less upkeep.  You could probably use redwood for benches and chairs while the deck itself is made of manufactured boards.

It would be a nice compromise.

[Lissy]

We used real wood for our deck when we built it, I do not recall whether manmade wood was even an option we discussed. I simply had no idea such thing existed, LOL, and hubby, who knows everything, was obviously in favor of real wood.

[Moondance]

Some of our neighbors have replaced their "real wood" decks in favor of man made materials.

The upkeep is supposed to be much less with man made materials, so I bet the husband probably wanted to get rid of a "honey-do".

[antkmom]

WE have the wood boards but my father in law has the manufactured ones.  They are suppose to last forever and the nice thing about them is that they don't ever need to be stained.  They are very expensive though.

[kitti72]

Real wood deck boards I believe is the best, as long as they are looked after, they will last and they are also cheaper.  With the man made boards will yellow from the sun, breakdown and get brittle, also they are not that environmentally friendly considering all if the glue and chemicals that are used to put them together

[1wahmom]

On my front porch, my banisters are made of nothing but rough lumber slabs my father inlaw went to a sawmill and got for free. He put water sealer on them and then coated then with a clear gloss finish. Believe it or not, those banisters look like they were professionally done and we also saved alot of money!

[ekmallette]

Real wood is probably less expensive.  You'd want a green treated product though so it wouldn't decay as quickly....and it's meant for outside building like that.  Then you can stain it whatever color of stain you'd want.  I think that would be less expensive and also look better than manufactured boards.

[spiders]

Its good to have chairs and tables in rosewood and better go for recycled manufactured boards for other stuffs like decks, racks etc.. I think the rosewood are costlier than Recycled manufactured boards.