As a bay Area Deck Builder I build a lot of decks, and as much as we build California redwood decks we also build decks of Timbertech, Trex, Aztec and other decking composites. I am often asked which is the best composite decking on the market so this is how they currently compare.
Timbertech is a major supplier with four categories of decking Legacy, Tropical, Terrain and Classic. Timbertech seems to be a bit more expensive than other brands and the quality we think is very similar to the Trex products. AZEK and TimberTech decking are now the same company and we are not sure what this will mean for the products going forward, as Aztek was seen as a lower quality brand when it arrived on the Market. Customer service for Timbertech (2017-2018) is just ok and contractor/ deck builder support is marginally better. There have been some issues with Timbertech decking, like swelling, fading and having other problems and Timbertech’s reputation in dealing with these complaints has been below average. Timbertech offers a 30yr limited warranty on most of their deck products and one of the top three most commonly installed.
Trex is the most popular product because they spend more on advertising than any other company, unfortunately there customer service is horrible and contractor / deck builder support is also very bad. Today’s Trex is different than it was in the past, and they offer 3 main categories of their product as well. There have been some major issues with Trex, if you research Trex, you will see they have had numerous product failures and defects and class action lawsuits, and were forced to replace numerous decks in the past. For those that had bad products swelling rotting, crumbling, they did not make the process of replacement easy on the customer at all and only supplied new materials, no removal, no labor, and no contractor costs. Trex is now a new product and these new product lines really can’t be compared to their old line. They are industry leader in composites and the new lines of deck boards compares well to both other Bay area favorites, (Timbertech and Fiberon). Trex offers a 25 limited warranty on their new decking, and although they have had a poor history and customer service is nonexistent it is still commonly installed in both residential and commercial decking projects.
Fiberon – Fiberon decking offers a variety of styles and although they make a decent decking product it is often a company that nobody has ever heard of, their lack of market share can probably be directly attributed to brand awareness. Customer service is good, we have personally not dealt with them directly so just based off customer’s experience they at least seem to have customer service, and contractor / deck builder support is ok. Through our distributors and the bay area lumber yards recently Fiberon prices have increased and we feel this makes their product less appealing in this competitive market. They are very close in quality to the competitors Trex, and Timbertech, but the colors and styles of each brand can be slightly more attractive depending on taste.
Everyone is looking for a beautiful deck that is easy to maintain and looks great in a natural environment. Composite decking is often a good choice, and with the right design we can create some amazing looking backyards and entertainment areas using any of these brands. We recommend you consider all three of these brands and even others and if there happens to be a color, name or style that you like the best it might simply come down to color. Besides these top three brands there are lots of other manufactures of composite decking but they tend to be too new to the market or seldom installed to really compare them or see what issues consumers might experience after the deck building is complete.
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Bay Area Deck Builders
Composite Decking
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