Monday, July 31, 2006

Lost in Deck Hell

Well I think I can safely say my husband and I are so frustrated by the obstacles, misleading information, and general hassle of doing anything home improvement-wise, that we are ready to throw our hands in the air and let the very expensive professionals do their work...almost.

We are attempting to rebuild our crappy wooden, builder-grade deck with composite decking so our lazy butts don't have to - not that we do anyway - stain and maintain for years to come.

Trex, Ultra-Deck, Eon, ChoiceDek, Veranda, Timber Tech - Aaaaaaah! Too many choices, too many contradictions. I quit!!!

We finished our entire basement from bare nothing to full electric, tin ceiling, drywall, electrical, carpet, etc. with less hassle than this project. We're not stupid, my husband is a freaking genius, but this is ridiculous.

Yesterday we went to Home Depot literally going to order whatever they had because we can't figure out what we really need or want and can't look at another brochure/website. Guess what? That "desk" isn't open on Sundays. WTF? When do home do-it-yourselfers work on their projects? Weekends...duh! Now they are no better than the freakin' post office in my book (someday I'll publish that book).

Anyone have any advice or experience with composite decking to share?

3 comments:

Christine said...

Oh no! I'm am no help with this. We're (ha! we're! actually my husband and friends) are getting started on our deck next weekend. I'm afraid. We are using regular wood though...maybe that will make it better. Husband is like you two, he could probably build a house from scratch, by himself, but the fact that this is a nightmare for you guys is scaring me. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

He spray painted the outline of it in the grass on saturday. It's our virtual deck for now. Our patio furniture (inherited from cory!), does look nice on our e-deck though!

: )

Melody said...

Virtual deck? Cool - no splinters, no staining, no nails - I'm liking this dea.

The construction part will be the easiest. Our frustration is on materials, availability, installation requirements, compatability, etc.

I just wish I could wiggle my nose and it all be done. Oh that's right, I'm not a witch....just a -----.

Becky said...

maybe you should leave your deck as is and spray latex all over itso you don't need to stain it again- just kidding. I have absolutely NO IDEA what I am talking about. I have never done any kind of construction work- ever. I plan to keep it that way... Too girly.