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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.
