-----------------
Don't buy Trex. Not even the "new stuff." We have black spots all over our Trex Brasilia decking.
I say don't buy the new stuff because everyone has heard that Trex has cleaned up their act, they've fixed their problems. Yeah, right.
I have not had the spots tested, but I've heard a couple of possibilities:
1) Mold. The obvious. This makes sense because bleach does remove the spots temporarily.
2) Oils from the wood. Trex blended two types of wood together that didn't like being blended and the oils from one of the woods is being forced out when in the sun and results in these black spots. This makes sense because the spots show mostly in the full sun.
No clue what causes the spots and Trex won't tell.
Here's our history with Trex:
-- We bought Trex Brasilia and built our deck in October of 2005. The spots started appearing within 60 days of deck completion. The deck is in full sun. In July 2006 we washed the deck per Trex’s maintenance guidelines, using a Trex-recommended deck wash solution. It worked – the spots were gone. Then the spots appeared again fully within days. The spots today are as you see them in the photos.
-- Trex customer service offered to power wash the deck. They came in the Spring of 07, they washed, and they killed several of our bushes in our landscape. The good news is that they did clean the spots. The bad news is that the spots started to come back within a month. By October 07, the spots were showing nicely again. By April 08, the spots are back in force.
-- I have an email from Trex that states a cleaning should only be needed once/year.
-- Trex's latest response is that they graciously gave me a power wash, are done with this, and they will do nothing further.
I wish Trex would 1) tell me what the real deal is here and 2) own up to their responsibility and admit that the product is defective.
Buyer beware.
11 comments:
I guess you are like us, another VICTIM OF TREX.
We spent thousands building a three-tier deck and it looks awful, brown spots all over. I've been thinking about rounding up enough homeowners for a class suit.
We are in New Jersey.
We have a 3 year old trex deck. no mold spots, but surface is pitting and flaking off. It is a south facing deck, so gets full sun. Problem areas are in front of french doors, where reflection from glass might be part of problem. see pictures of trex problem on our blog:
live journal blog link
Trex so far has replaced 37,000 faulty decks as noted in this Forbes article.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0721/056.html
We are having the same problem with the Winchester Gray deck that we had built last summer. Spots started appearing this spring, and I have not been able to get rid of them, despite lots of elbow grease and detergent, which is what Trex recommended. I am NOT a happy customer!
Before our Trex Brasilia deck was built by a very reputable contractor (fall of 2005), I had heard the mold stories. The contractor went back to Trex and was assured that, even though they had had such problems in the past, they'd been fixed by re-formulating the product. Not so. I now have mold spots that look exactly like the ones shown here.
Deck is in full sun in the Minneapolis metro area. Small spots began to appear the following summer but it wasn't obvious that it was mold until 2007. We complained to the builder, who came and bleached the deck in spring this year (2008). Trex also responded, saying that the product does not support mold growth and the mold must be growing on dust or pollen on top of the deck. Ridiculous. They had to power-wash it twice, and even that did not completely remove the spots. The bleaching removed some of the color, which is what attracted us to the product in the first place. The spots quickly returned.
Complained again, this time the Trex rep said he thought the problem was that the cleaning solution was "too old" (bleach goes stale??) and offered to come and do it himself. I think he's just stalling and I want to go to a lawyer and sue both the builder and Trex before Trex goes under. It is astounding that this defective product is still being sold. I would definitely be interested in any class-action suit.
It's important to know that mold can grow on virtually everything. ...some composites more than others.
Check out Latitudes composite decking and railing. It uses Strandex technology which incases the wood fiber in plastic.
http://www.latitudesdeck.com
Latitudes is the old Premier which was bought out by Univeral Forest Products. They use an anti-fungal/mildew agent in the plastic when making the boards so no mold. It cost a little extra, that's why trex doesn't use it. I have used many thousands of sq. ft. of Premier/Latitudes with no one complaint of mold. The only Trex deck I ever did got mold on it within the first year.
Trex uses recycled plastic, shrinkwrap, grocery bags, ect. Some of this recycled plastic is biodegradable, it breaks down from the uv rays in sunlight. You take a gamble this will happen when you build with trex, the mold is a guarantee.
The real difference is low density recycled polyethylene (Trex) and virgin high density polyethylene (Latitudes, Veranda)--dense product without voids. Both Veranda and Latitudes incorporate Strandex Technology which encapsulated each wood fiber in plastic so it can't take in or give off moisture, thus reducing the chance of fungal buildup, UV degradation, expansion and contraction and general wear. Just like Intel inside! Why Trex is the most expensive product on the market is because they were the first to market.
We also have spots on our Trex brasilia deck. The problem now is that they brush the spotting issue under the rub by writing it into their warranty! But there is no warning before you buy it. It's once the problem shows up, they point to the warranty and say to use the deck wash. But just like everyone else, the spots come right back.
You should enter this contest to see if you can get your composite decking replaced for free:
http://www.advantagelumber.com/deckcontest/
Hi Dan:
I entered the contest - thanks for the link!
Post a Comment