So I'm getting estimates to have my deck built

acoustic guy

This composite wood is expensive as hell.
Just the screws alone for this job one guy said would be $500.
WTF?

SENROCK

acoustic guy wrote:

This composite wood is expensive as hell.
Just the screws alone for this job one guy said would be $500.
WTF?

dude WHAT??!! What kinda screws? Maybe i have some left from my shop. And lets see pics of your DECK!!!

PatrickBateman

My brother built his out of composite and is really glad he did. He said initially, it expensive, but he is glad he did.

ariel

Composite is soooo expensive. I thought about it when I was doing my deck. Then I got pressure treated. The thought was lovely though

Inhiding230

We are also in the process of getting bids. For a pressure treated wood deck with built in benches 14 x 24 - about 3 feet off the ground is going to be around $5k. We live in Nashville, TN so I am sure prices vary around the country.

acoustic guy

seren327 wrote:

We are also in the process of getting bids. For a pressure treated wood deck with built in benches 14 x 24 - about 3 feet off the ground is going to be around $5k. We live in Nashville, TN so I am sure prices vary around the country.

Thats good to know. I am sure mine will be more per square foot. Mine is going to be 40X16. I am scared to see how much. Plus my home is very large so people think I have a lot of money but I don't have shit.

wolfbear

We just had both of our old decks replaced. We lucked out as it was a friend of a friend who is just starting his own business. We put in Trex as it is great here.
We used Woodland Brown. http://www.trex.com/design/colors.aspx
It really looks great. I used to have to scrub our old deck on my hands and knees every spring and repaint. Not fun. Pressure washing wouldn't get all of the mold/mildew off.
He only charged us around $2,000 for each one. Both are pretty small though and not complicated. I'd definitely recommend trying some of the smaller people in your local paper (who can give good recommendations and are licensed of course). Another friend who was a contractor estimated it would cost us around $5,000. apiece so we're really happy. Good luck and do get several estimates.
btw the screws are really expensive. On the second one he used the "fasteners" so you don't have to use the screws. He had to predrill every screw hole on the first one, so we thought it would save him time and look better since it was our front deck. It does look a bit better, but he said it isn't that much easier and the "fasteners" are a bit more expensive than the screws.

Inhiding230

acoustic guy wrote:

Thats good to know. I am sure mine will be more per square foot. Mine is going to be 40X16. I am scared to see how much. Plus my home is very large so people think I have a lot of money but I don't have shit.

Yep, plus you are in Jersey and everything is way more expensive there than here. My husband is from NJ and we recently got married there - the wedding would have cost about 25-50% less if we had done it in Nashville.......

ariel

wolfbear wrote:

We just had both of our old decks replaced. We lucked out as it was a friend of a friend who is just starting his own business. We put in Trex as it is great here.
We used Woodland Brown. http://www.trex.com/design/colors.aspx
It really looks great. I used to have to scrub our old deck on my hands and knees every spring and repaint. Not fun. Pressure washing wouldn't get all of the mold/mildew off.
He only charged us around $2,000 for each one. Both are pretty small though and not complicated. I'd definitely recommend trying some of the smaller people in your local paper (who can give good recommendations and are licensed of course). Another friend who was a contractor estimated it would cost us around $5,000. apiece so we're really happy. Good luck and do get several estimates.
btw the screws are really expensive. On the second one he used the "fasteners" so you don't have to use the screws. He had to predrill every screw hole on the first one, so we thought it would save him time and look better since it was our front deck. It does look a bit better, but he said it isn't that much easier and the "fasteners" are a bit more expensive than the screws.

mmmm, trex :drool:

That was the one I wanted. I have a 26X12 and it would have been way too much...I was doing so much else (furnace/ac, interlocking brick patio etc.) at the time there was no way to swing it. So for the last two years I've been doing the scrubbing on my hands and knees thing before staining
There really isn't mildew, just wear and tear and I've been told that pressure washing messes up the composition of the wood or something.

Anyway, your decks must be lovely, hope you get to enjoy them a lot

wolfbear

ariel wrote:

mmmm, trex :drool:

That was the one I wanted. I have a 26X12 and it would have been way too much...I was doing so much else (furnace/ac, interlocking brick patio etc.) at the time there was no way to swing it. So for the last two years I've been doing the scrubbing on my hands and knees thing before staining
There really isn't mildew, just wear and tear and I've been told that pressure washing messes up the composition of the wood or something.

Anyway, your decks must be lovely, hope you get to enjoy them a lot

Thanks, and I do understand about other construction. When we tore out the second (front) deck we discovered we had moisture red ants that had invaded not only the deck but the siding as well. It was from a clogged second story gutter that no one noticed. So, we had more repairs, etc. It's just part of being a homeowner. haha It's never ending. At least stuff is getting taken care of so I'm thankful that we did decide to replace it as it could have gotten a lot worse!

acoustic guy

seren327 wrote:

Yep, plus you are in Jersey and everything is way more expensive there than here. My husband is from NJ and we recently got married there - the wedding would have cost about 25-50% less if we had done it in Nashville.......

Not to get off subject but where did you get married? It was not Cape May was it?

acoustic guy

wolfbear wrote:

We just had both of our old decks replaced. We lucked out as it was a friend of a friend who is just starting his own business. We put in Trex as it is great here.
We used Woodland Brown. http://www.trex.com/design/colors.aspx
It really looks great. I used to have to scrub our old deck on my hands and knees every spring and repaint. Not fun. Pressure washing wouldn't get all of the mold/mildew off.
He only charged us around $2,000 for each one. Both are pretty small though and not complicated. I'd definitely recommend trying some of the smaller people in your local paper (who can give good recommendations and are licensed of course). Another friend who was a contractor estimated it would cost us around $5,000. apiece so we're really happy. Good luck and do get several estimates.
btw the screws are really expensive. On the second one he used the "fasteners" so you don't have to use the screws. He had to predrill every screw hole on the first one, so we thought it would save him time and look better since it was our front deck. It does look a bit better, but he said it isn't that much easier and the "fasteners" are a bit more expensive than the screws.

Great info thanks so much.

Inhiding230

acoustic guy wrote:

Not to get off subject but where did you get married? It was not Cape May was it?

We got married in Basking Ridge

ajedigecko

acoustic guy wrote:

This composite wood is expensive as hell.
Just the screws alone for this job one guy said would be $500.
WTF?

duct tape......forget the screws.

edvedder913

not surprising. I just bought a house and the drawer pulls for my kitchen cabinets alone were $300. it's insane.....

Wobbie

ajedigecko wrote:

duct tape......forget the screws.

Gorilla Glue!!!