JLC • AUGUST 1994
In the southeastern corner of
Massachusetts where I live, most
residential decks are built with pressure-
treated southern pine or verticalgrain
Douglas fir decking. Neither is
ideal. A lot of my customers worry
about the chemicals in pressure-treated
wood, and if fir doesn't get regularly
treated with preservative, it starts rotting
after a few years. There was a time
when the naturally durable red cedar
and redwood were also popular for
decking, but they've become too
expensive for most of my customers.
I've spent a long time wishing for an
alternative deck material but with no
luck. That was until I found Trex
wood-polymer composite.
Searching for Alternatives
It happened two years ago. We were
asked to