Heard a neighbor say composite decking is "maintenance free" and I almost laughed out loud

I've had Trex for 3 years and I'm out there scrubbing mold off with a brush every spring. Has anyone else found that 'no maintenance' claim is total marketing garbage?

3 comments

3 Comments

keithbutler23d ago

My buddy Mark put Trex on his back porch in 2021. By the end of that summer he had black mold spots between the boards and some green algae near the railing. He spent two days with a stiff bristle brush, a bucket of bleach water, and a garden hose scrubbing every single plank. After that he bought a special composite deck cleaner and a soft brush attachment for his power washer. Now he's got a whole routine twice a year and says the only difference from wood is he doesn't have to stain it.

rubys8023d ago

Buddy of mine put in some top-of-the-line composite a few years back. After the first winter he sent me a photo of greenish-black streaks running down the whole deck, looked like a horror movie set. He spent a whole weekend with bleach and a pressure washer trying to get it clean, not exactly what I'd call maintenance free. The stuff definitely holds up better than wood against rot and splinters but you're still scrubbing and washing it every season.

john65022d ago

@rubys80 that horror movie deck comment got me good. My neighbor Bob had the same thing happen with his composite - after one rainy spring it looked like something out of a swamp. He tried everything from bleach to vinegar and nothing worked perfect. Finally he just gave up and painted over the whole thing with some heavy duty deck paint. Looks fine now but definitely not the low maintenance dream they sold him. Marketing people are something else man.