Building and Construction - Composite Decking Yellowing in Sun! (Dow Symmatrix)

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Composite Decking Yellowing in Sun! (Dow Symmatrix)

Thomas G. Marshall

2006-08-21, 5:25 pm

A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large
sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.

It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the
same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.

The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide
problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood
particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."

Seems sketchy to me.

It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.

Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded
just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much
information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.

Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.

marks542004@yahoo.com

2006-08-21, 5:25 pm

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
> A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large
> sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.
>
> It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the
> same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.
>
> The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide
> problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood
> particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."
>
> Seems sketchy to me.
>
> It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.
>
> Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded
> just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much
> information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.
>
> Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.

Assuming there is a warrenty on the product I would send the company a
letter confirming the salesmans comments and wait a week or two. If the
stuff goes to an acceptable color then all is well, if not then you
need to arrange a return,

In my opinion if this is a known issue then the customer should be
advised of it. I would hate to have a half built deck that turned a
urine yellow color...it would freak me right out.

Thomas G. Marshall

2006-08-21, 9:25 pm

marks542004@yahoo.com said something like:
> Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
>
> Assuming there is a warrenty on the product I would send the company a
> letter confirming the salesmans comments and wait a week or two. If the
> stuff goes to an acceptable color then all is well, if not then you
> need to arrange a return,
>
> In my opinion if this is a known issue then the customer should be
> advised of it. I would hate to have a half built deck that turned a
> urine yellow color...it would freak me right out.

Yeah, well, they're very hesitant to spend all the energy in installing it
without knowing for sure if it'll return to normal. It's been well past the
week that the company claimed it would take for the yellow to "fade back to
gray".

Have any of you ever heard of this "industry wide problem" with gray
composites? Seems really fishy...

--
Puzzle: You are given a deck of cards all face down
except for 10 cards mixed in which are face up.
If you are in a pitch black room, how do you divide
the deck into two piles (may be uneven) that each
contain the same number of face-up cards?
Answer (rot13): Sebz naljurer va gur qrpx, qrny bhg
gra pneqf naq syvc gurz bire.

taz

2006-08-21, 9:25 pm

Weird, I have had a trex composite deck in my back yard for over ten
years and it has faded to a light grey / tan. Never would've installed
it if it turned yellow.

I cannot for the life of me understand where the salesperson is coming
from saying this is an industry wide problem and it is caused by the
tannin within the wood fibres.
Sounds like a bunch of crap to me. I would have it replaced within the
warranty period or go with another brand that has a good reputation.

Regards,

TAz

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
> A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large
> sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.
>
> It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the
> same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.
>
> The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide
> problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood
> particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."
>
> Seems sketchy to me.
>
> It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.
>
> Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded
> just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much
> information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.
>
> Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.

Andy Asberry

2006-08-22, 5:25 pm

On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:21:59 GMT, "Thomas G. Marshall"
<tgm2tothe10thpower@replacetextwithnumber.hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large
>sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.
>
>It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the
>same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.
>
>The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide
>problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood
>particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."
>
>Seems sketchy to me.
>
>It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.
>
>Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded
>just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much
>information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.
>
>Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.
>

Under their "fifteen" year warranty, one of the exclusions is
"variations or change in color...".

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

Thomas G. Marshall

2006-08-22, 5:25 pm

taz said something like:
>
> Thomas G. Marshall wrote:

....[snip]...

>
> Weird, I have had a trex composite deck in my back yard for over ten
> years and it has faded to a light grey / tan. Never would've installed
> it if it turned yellow.

(post converted to bottom posting to aid with interleaving)
Was the Trex Gray to start with? The Symmatrix color that they are using
is called "driftwood", which is just a fancy word for medium flat gray.

> I cannot for the life of me understand where the salesperson is coming
> from saying this is an industry wide problem and it is caused by the
> tannin within the wood fibres.
> Sounds like a bunch of crap to me.

This has got to be crap, yes. The biggest red flag about this entire thing
is that if it were truly an industry wide problem then this would have been
the first thing told to the customer, or else they would have had their
phones ringing off the hook ever since they offered this product.

....[snip]...

Thomas G. Marshall

2006-08-22, 5:25 pm

Andy Asberry said something like:
> On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:21:59 GMT, "Thomas G. Marshall"
> <tgm2tothe10thpower@replacetextwithnumber.hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Under their "fifteen" year warranty, one of the exclusions is
> "variations or change in color...".

Good point actually, but it doesn't really apply to them I don't believe
because the stuff is still sitting in their driveway bought very recently.
I *think* they have the ability to return it, but they're still trying to
decipher whether or not this "industry wide problem" is something to
believe.

Andy Asberry

2006-08-23, 9:25 pm

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:10:38 GMT, "Thomas G. Marshall"
<tgm2tothe10thpower@replacetextwithnumber.hotmail.com> wrote:

>Andy Asberry said something like:
>
>
>Good point actually, but it doesn't really apply to them I don't believe
>because the stuff is still sitting in their driveway bought very recently.
>I *think* they have the ability to return it, but they're still trying to
>decipher whether or not this "industry wide problem" is something to
>believe.
>
My point was that once it is installed, there is no warranty for
color.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

EOliver

2006-08-27, 1:25 pm

Veranda and Latitudes both have information on their websites that say
their gray decking will turn yellow or brown. They also state that they
should be even in 30 - 60 days.

http://www.verandadeck.com/installation/index.htm
http://www.ufpi.com/product/latitudes/faq.htm

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
> A friend of mine has purchased enough of Dow Symmatrix for a fairly large
> sized deck. Grey color which is officially called "driftwood" apparently.
>
> It is yellowing in the sun while sitting in the driveway. Almost to the
> same yellow that old newspaper gets after a few decades out in the open.
>
> The salesman told her words to the effect of "That's an industry wide
> problem with gray composites: they yellow due to the tannin within the wood
> particles but it'll fade back to gray in a week."
>
> Seems sketchy to me.
>
> It's been a few weeks and it's only staying yellow.
>
> Has anyone seen this? My composite decking was Rhino Deck, and it faded
> just fine from brown to light light brown with no yellowing---not much
> information for my friend but it was the only comparison I had.
>
> Any suggestions? She's nervous enough to return the entire thing.

MDT at Paragon Home Inspections, LLC

2006-08-27, 1:25 pm

Composites often change color substantially as they age, for example
the "gray" Trex starts out as a reddish brown and "grays" in 3-6 months
of exposure to full sun, you purchase these materials based on the
final result you want - in my experience the eventual result is usually
quite uniform, and and pretty close to the result depicted in the
manufacturer's brochures.

BTW, one thing to watch with a lot of these materials is salt applied
to decks and stairs in winter conditions- some of these materials will
stain baldly, the stain extends some distance into the material, and
I'm aware of no way to remove it.

Michael Thomas
Paragon Home Inspection, LLC
Chicago, IL
mdt@paragoninspectsDOTcom
847-475-5668.

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