Firberon’s best-looking option, Symmetry, is wrapped on four sides as well. Nobody does decking like Fortress ®. Unlike the first three brands, Azek deck boards are made from 100% Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic. Fortress Al13 Aluminum Railing is an innovative, first of its kind, fully pre-welded aluminum railing system. ft. of AZEK’s Harvest boards will run you about $900, while the same amount of Trex Enhance boards comes in around $500. A composite deck board is largely made of plastic but uses real wood by-products in the mix including sawdust. Before making comparisons, let’s get an overview of what each brand is all about. With these two, the choice comes down to how they look and how they feel. Apart from that, the choice becomes personal, which boards look the best to you, and how they fit within your budget. Trex and Timbertech also use a similar manufacturing process but Timbertech’s boards are all wrapped on four sides compared to Trex boards that are wrapped on three sides. At the top end, Legacy boards feature the most realistic wood-grain patterns and six premium colors. That’s because lower-priced boards use basic coloring with simple wood-grain patterns and higher-priced boards introduce multi-color, more sophisticated wood-grain patterns that more closely resemble the real thing. If you read the warranties, both companies exclude this kind of damage. Fortress products are designed and manufactured with a focus on performance, railing, steel framing and outdoor living markets. That means there is a small amount of organic material in this style of decking, so it looks and feels more like wood than capped PVC. The three options from Fiberon are ranked by how they look, price and how they are wrapped. Made up of 95% recycled wood fibres and recycled plastic, the composite material has unique characteristics. There’s no getting around this one—Trex and Azek decking is significantly more expensive than traditional wood decking. When it comes to comparing composite deck board brands, it’s not as simple as choosing a brand based on price and looks. Each of the major brands has tiered products providing the consumer with good, better and best choices. All three boards are capped (wrapped) on all four sides. This is important if the underside of your deck is going to be visible in the final installation. But Fiberon’s good-looking and better-looking boards are wrapped on only three sides, while all of Timertech’s boards are wrapped on all four sides. Fortress webmasterz 2021-01-07T19:02:43+00:00. Unfortunately, mold and mildew are a reality for any product that is outside, whether you’re using composite decking or wood. The top Capped Composite brands are Trex, TimberTech, and Fiberon. Because these two attributes are so subjective, make sure you evaluate them in person and have an opportunity to walk on each of the boards get a sense for how they feel underfoot. Trex boards use mostly recycled plastic and wood products. There are two cheap composite deck lines from Dekorators with Classic and Vista.Both are capped composites but have a completely vibe with Classic geared … AZEK is a 100% plastic (PVC) board while Timbertech is a composite board made from recycled plastic and wood fibers. They use 60% recycled bamboo from their other product lines and mix it with 40% recycled HDPE (high density polyethylene). Both of these products are long-lasting and virtually maintenance-free so the choice comes down to budget and appearance. 100 sq. Will Water Softener Improve My Drinking Water. Riverwalk. Fortress. Composite timber is one of the most durable decking products on the market. If comparing price only, AZEK boards will run you about 20% more than Timbertech. Both of these companies produce high-quality decking products. https://buildingadvisor.com/materials/decks-porches/composite-plastic-decking Advantage loses the bottom grooves making for a stronger, heavier board and has a more realistic wood-grain pattern. However, when tested for scratch resistance, Trex tends to be more resistant than Timbertech. Fortress Deck was founded to specifically focus on providing new product solutions to service the rapidly increasing demand for attractive and low-maintenance, alternative decking products. AZEK boards are lighter than Fiberon boards of the same dimension and tend to stay cooler underfoot when exposed to hot sun. Still, while ipe wood deck boards compete well in price with composite deck boards, structural ipe lumber like 2x6’s and 4x4’s are incredibly expensive. Composite decking manufacturers have also found ways to offer more cost-competitive options, such as Trex’s new lower-cost board, to fit a wider range of budgets. There are a multitude of problems with composite decking that show up all too often to be just a stray issue for a hard to please homeowner. Fortress Deck Railing is available in Al13 Aluminum Rail or Fe26 Steel Rail. AZEK contains no wood, and uses about 50% recycled material. If you’re seeing a pattern here, that’s no accident. Composite Decking is a man made, eco-friendly timber/plastic product. Trex boards are capped on three sides–capped is an industry term used to describe a harder shell of material surrounding the core. As its name suggests, the core of the composite is then “capped” by a PVC shell that helps protect it from the elements. Our revolutionary, co-extruded composite decking isn’t only stunningly realistic, but it also holds up in some of the harshest climates around the world. ft. of their mid-grade boards coming in at about $700 compared to AZEK’s mid-grade boards at $1000. Dekorators is a fairly new company in the composite decking world, but they caught our attention with their solid lineup of PVC and composite deck boards. Trex offers limited warranty of 25 years, which is fairly standard for the composite decking industry. Comparing these two is akin to comparing apples and oranges. Fiberon’s lowest-price option, Good Life, is available in two colors and is wrapped on three-sides. The good news is that mold and mildew wash right off of composite decking. Log in. Like Trex, Fiberon is also made from recycled plastic and wood flour. AZEK is a 100% PVC board and contains no wood. Terrain offers basic wood-grain patterns and five simple color choices. Thus, instead of having to put dozens of options head-to-head, your choice becomes simpler, whether it is cedar vs. composite, redwood vs. composite or treated lumber vs. composite. No better choice for a long lasting, beautiful pier along the river. Fortress Building Products has launched a new decking profile, the Infinity-I Series, which uses a bamboo capped-composite formulation to provide increased strength, durability and performance. As mentioned above, to keep your composite deck in good condition, it’s recommended you treat it with a sealer. An obstacle for Trex is that composites cost a lot more than natural wooden decking. However, Trex also makes the final deck a much more solid structure than a deck built from traditional wood. At the top end of the ranges, AZEK offers six color choices compared to Fiberon’s four. Below are some direct comparisons between the most popular composite decking brands available today. Timbertech vs Trex: Scratching. From composite to metal and cable railing, these manufacturers are the best in the industry and are all available in one place, here at DecksDirect.com. Cali Bamboo has been in the bamboo business for a long time and manufacturing bamboo decking is merely one of their product lines.. Bam Deck Pro 360 is their premium four sided capped composite bamboo decking product. The accounts of issues are repeated with a frightening regularity and sameness throughout the threads of complaints. It comes in four colors. The basic Azek line (Harvest) has a simple wood-grain pattern and comes in three colors. Wrapping refers to the hard shell that wraps the inner core of the deck board. Bam DEck by cali bamboo. This is a continuation from the article Comparing Today’s Composite Decking Prices in 2020. Trex markets its good, better, best products under three brand names: Enhance, Select and Transcend. Fortress Decking. Timbertech and Trex are two of the most popular composite decking companies in the decking industry. The Problems With Composite Decking. Trex vs. Fiberon Trex vs. TimberTech Trex vs. AZEK Fiberon vs. TimberTech Fiberon vs. AZEK TimberTech vs. AZEK When it comes to comparing composite deck board brands, […] Timbertech Timbertech’s three deck board options are also made from mostly recycled plastic and wood fibers. Trex is headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, with manufacturing facilities in Fernley, Nevada, and Winchester, Virginia. Comparing the Costs of Ipe vs Composite. Trex is the largest manufacturer of composite decking in the U.S. Below are some direct comparisons between the most popular composite decking brands available today. Because each brand offers both value- and premium-priced products, in some cases, value-priced options from one manufacturer can be more expensive than the premium-priced ones from another. The highest tier, Vintage, looks the most like real wood and come in six colors. It also provides five color choices compared to three in the Enhance line. Your email address will not be published. Price out Azek decking vs Trex for an identical project, and you’ll quickly find Trex is the cheaper option, with Azek coming in at 2 to 3 times the cost, per linear board foot, of Trex. Trex Select loses the bottom grooves and the realism of the wood-grain pattern improves. This gives you the option to mix and match materials to provide the best deck … Comparing Today’s Composite Decking Prices in 2020. Each of these manufacturers has carefully curated their collections to offer the broadest range of products catering to all budgets and you’ll recognize similarities in their strategies. … AZEK boards are also significantly lighter than Trex boards and absorb less heat. Capped Composite decking is generally made from 75-95% recycled material. © 2020 BuildingAdvisor.com®; All rights reserved. Fortress Pilings and composite decking go hand in hand. Features. It has a scalloped profile molded into the underside that uses less material in the manufacturing process. Composite decks are made of durable, long-lasting materials that are stain-resistant and will hold up well to harsh weather, as well as natural wear and tear for up to 50 years.Unlike a natural wood deck that can last 10-30 years before needing repair, composite won’t splinter, rot or become susceptible to insect damage. How to Prevent Condensation in Cathedral Ceiling? Fortress Steel Framing is compatible with any brand or type of deck boards, including composite, PVC, aluminum, pressure-treated lumber, redwood, cedar, ipe, tigerwood, and other exotic hardwoods. You can also think of these tiers as good- ,better- and best-looking. Both AZEK and Trex decking are susceptible to mold. Now that we know a bit about each, comparing brands is made a bit easier: Both of these brands use similar manufacturing techniques and offer impressive warranties. When Is An “Estimate” a Binding Contract? This is a continuation from the article Comparing Today’s Composite Decking Prices in 2020. Similar to Trex and Fiberon, the lowest priced option, Terrain, uses less material in the manufacturing process as a result of the grooves molded into the underside of the board. The Trex company is considered the inventor of composite decking and brought its first products to the marketplace in the mid 1990s. Weight - Because Trex deck materials are a composite of recycled wood, they are 50% to 70% heavier than natural wood, which could affect your transportation costs. The underside of the Enhance boards are grooved–this means less material is used and translates to a lower price. AZEK Boards are also more expensive than Trex boards–especially in their value-priced offerings. Now, it’s possible for a homeowner or commercial contractor to build with composite decking materials and realize the same long-term benefits without breaking the bank. The concept of alternative decking products is certainly not new, the Fortress team just recognized that consumer demand and expectations were not being met. The Deck Railing Cost Comparison seems to show that Iron and Aluminum are the best valued deck railing options. Complete your yard with our framing, railing, & lighting. Home / Products / Composite Decking & Railing / Fortress. Each of these boards is manufactured from 95% recycled material and contains plastic and wood flour. Composite decking is really the better choice for most people. Be sure to see multiple boards installed in a large enough area when making decisions about appearance. The latter is comprised of three series, and there is a price point for everyone. Fiberon’s mid-grade board is called Advantage. Their lowest priced line (Enhance) is a single-density, solid color material with a simple embossed wood-grain pattern–it comes in just three colors. Distinctly different from aluminum kits, Fortress Al13 is attractive and easy to install with its simple bracket system. Fiberon, by comparison, is a composite material made from recycled plastic and wood flour. A step up from Terrain is the Tropical line. Decking Gallery; Home / Fortress decking Fearless & Peerless. At the top end, Trex Transcend features multi-toned color streaking with a deeply embossed, more realistic wood-grain pattern, it’s also available in ten colors for the broadest choice. Their mid-range offering, Arbor, improves on the wood-grain patterning and increases the color choices to seven. Tropical loses the bottom grooves for a denser, heavier board and has more realistic wood-grain patterns in four color choices. For additional insights on wood vs. composite decking, and to see how MoistureShield stacks up against other types of decking materials, check out our Deck Material Comparison Chart . Pre-welded panels attach to Fortress posts easily, making Fortress Railing in either style one of the easiest rail systems to install. This is where the choice moves beyond appearance. Build your dream deck with Trex, the world's best high-performance composite decking brand. Capped Composite decking has an inner core made of recycled wood and plastics. Composite decking lasts longer, there’s no sanding or staining involved, and they’re much more durable. PVC, also called plastic decking, can run between $9.38 and $12.40 per square foot, while Trex composite decking can cost between $11 to $15 per square foot. Judging textures and patterns on just a few boards is much more difficult than seeing multiple boards as they be installed. Fiberon and Timbertech are more closely aligned in price, so the choice largely becomes how they look compared to each other. Both Fiberon and Timbertech are wrapped composite boards. ChoiceDek vs. Trex, UltraDeck vs. Trex, TimberTech vs. Trex, etc. Their top-tier product is Symmetry and is capped on all four sides–making it a good choice when the underside of the deck is visible. Composite Decking. No need for special installation methods. Ipe wood deck boards are relatively inexpensive and last for an absurdly long time. Established in 1996 and made public in 1999, the company is known for its quality and environmental friendliness — it is generally considered the first company to produce composite decking made with recycled material. Company history: The company formed in 1996 through the buyout of a division of Mobil Corporation and went public in 1999. On the top end, Timbertech offers a couple more colors then Fiberon, so make sure you see and feel the products in person to help make your choice. DecksDirect.com only sells deck railing from manufacturers we trust, so you can, too. Overall, Fiberon boards are the more economical choice, with 100 sq. 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