Used to be when you wanted to build a deck for your house, it would be made of wood. If you lived out West it would probably be redwood or cedar; if you lived in the East, pressure treated lumber was the way to go for cost and availability. Recently, that has all changed. Pressure-treated lumber used to be treated with a chemical that contained arsenic. This was good to prevent rot and to keep bugs from eating away at your new deck, but the arsenic appears to cause illness and cancer when it comes in contact with your skin. Many people walk barefoot on wooden decks so this was a problem. Even bigger, were the thousands of wooden playgrounds built over the years in many parks that contain this dangerous pressure-treated lumber. The U.S. government has since banned lumber treated with arsenic.
New material have since emerged for building decks. The old favorites, redwood and cedar, are still around, but most people can't afford these natural woods. If you can, they make a great choice for a deck as they are weather and insect resistant. Newer materials are made from either recycled products or man-made materials like plastic. New pressure-treated lumber uses safe chemicals that won't harm you but are still reasonably priced. You can even these new materials on a project. One plan is to use the less expensive pressure-treated lumber for the framing and the parts of the deck you don't see. Then use the more expensive recycled material for the decking and stairs. Finally, top it off with maintenance-free vinyl posts and railings. There is even vinyl or vinyl-clad skirt and trim boards to dress up the edge of your deck.
Keep in mind that these new materials can cost much more than traditional lumber. But, they are a good investment. Over time, natural wood products fade, crack, rot, and warp. And if you have applied a stain or finish to the wood, it must be refinished every couple of years. Some deck surfaces require annual washing and refinishing if they have a lot of traffic. Over the lifetime of a home, this can add up to a huge expense. Recycled products, plastics, composites, and vinyl products are virtually maintenance-free. This means that once you pay for your new deck, you won't have to pay for any maintenance from that point on.
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