Building and Construction - Composite Material for Deck

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Composite Material for Deck - Advice Needed

Don Cohen

2006-06-23, 1:25 pm

I had a Geodeck installed around August, 2002, and it looked beautiful.
Within a year, the boards were showing significant shrinkage. I called
Kadant Composites. They acknowledged this was their issue, and they paid -
materials and labor - to have the deck completely rebuilt with new material.
I was pretty impressed. This was around July, 2003.

It is now June, 2006. We found cracks, chunks falling out, etc. I was pretty
horrified. I called Kadant again, and they once more acknowledge this was a
manufacturing defect and the product had been recalled. They said that they
had gone beyond the original warrantee initially, in paying labor, and would
no longer do that. They offered free materials to replace the deck, or a
refund on costs for the original materials.

I can't believe I've had to go through all of this, when I paid more for a
deck that would be less maintenance than wood!!!

Anyway, I'm very unsure which way to go. Kadant indicates that they've had
no further problems with Geodeck material in the almost 3 years since the
recall. I would just be looking at labor cost (doing it myself is definitely
not an option).

Or do I get the refund (in my case about $2k) and go with different
material? I've been reading/searching this forum, and the recommendations
are diverse: Boardwalk, WeatherBest, CorrectDeck, IPE, etc (all new to me,
by the way). The deck is 18 feet x 24 feet. There is a rail around about
half of it, with a small set of steps. I have no idea what kind of material
cost I'm looking at for any of this.

I want minimum maintenance, maximum reliability. I'm not as concerned about
color fade as long as it is reasonably consistent and predictable. We're
north of Charlotte, NC, so the deck gets considerable heat and sun.

(Or do I try to go with IPE - any idea of cost relative to some of these
composites??)

Any practical advice greatly appreciated!

--
Don Cohen
Photo Website at:
http://www.dlcphoto.com

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Don Cohen

2006-06-24, 1:25 pm

Anybody who can offer some information here?

Thanks again.

--
Don
Photo Website at:
http://www.dlcphotography.net

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"Don Cohen" <doncohen@lens-cap.alltel.net> wrote in message
news:jY2dnSjhG43ongHZnZ2dnUVZ_sOdnZ2d@adelphia.com...
>I had a Geodeck installed around August, 2002, and it looked beautiful.
>Within a year, the boards were showing significant shrinkage. I called
>Kadant Composites. They acknowledged this was their issue, and they paid -
>materials and labor - to have the deck completely rebuilt with new
>material. I was pretty impressed. This was around July, 2003.
>
> It is now June, 2006. We found cracks, chunks falling out, etc. I was
> pretty horrified. I called Kadant again, and they once more acknowledge
> this was a manufacturing defect and the product had been recalled. They
> said that they had gone beyond the original warrantee initially, in paying
> labor, and would no longer do that. They offered free materials to replace
> the deck, or a refund on costs for the original materials.
>
> I can't believe I've had to go through all of this, when I paid more for a
> deck that would be less maintenance than wood!!!
>
> Anyway, I'm very unsure which way to go. Kadant indicates that they've had
> no further problems with Geodeck material in the almost 3 years since the
> recall. I would just be looking at labor cost (doing it myself is
> definitely not an option).
>
> Or do I get the refund (in my case about $2k) and go with different
> material? I've been reading/searching this forum, and the recommendations
> are diverse: Boardwalk, WeatherBest, CorrectDeck, IPE, etc (all new to me,
> by the way). The deck is 18 feet x 24 feet. There is a rail around about
> half of it, with a small set of steps. I have no idea what kind of
> material cost I'm looking at for any of this.
>
> I want minimum maintenance, maximum reliability. I'm not as concerned
> about color fade as long as it is reasonably consistent and predictable.
> We're north of Charlotte, NC, so the deck gets considerable heat and sun.
>
> (Or do I try to go with IPE - any idea of cost relative to some of these
> composites??)
>
> Any practical advice greatly appreciated!
>
> --
> Don Cohen
> Photo Website at:
> http://www.dlcphoto.com
>
> [Remove the "lens cap" for email]
>
>

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