wood deck covering/coating

[Lund]

Whats a ballpark estimate per sq/ft for the cost of dura deck?

It was 6 years ago so i would have to look back in my files for what it cost. Your best bet is to call them and have someone come out and give you a quote on the install, quotes are free. If you do most all the prep work your self, like i did it cuts alot of the cost down. They can also give you suggestion on what you need to do.
I do remember it wasn't exactly cheap at the time but today, 6 years later it was a very good investment and improvement. You can get different grades of Duradeck, determined by its thinkness which is sold by length of warranty. I believe i have 25yrs, i was told you can get 50yr warranty Duradeck.

Worth while to check them out.

 

[Lund]

Duradeck would be nice and solve all of my waterproofing problems in the shed underneath but I have absolutely no slope to my deck. I am a bit worried about water puddling on the deck. I wonder if the plywood installed on top of the deck could be installed with a bit of a slope away from the house to deal with the runoff?

I had a regular wood boarded deck and when i closed it up with the plywood i sloped it, its no big deal to do.
My deck is 10ft off the ground and now we use the lower section as a patio. The Duradeck completely seals any weather from the roof under the patio area. I even installed pocket lights in the ceiling, so water leaking from the deck is a non issue.

 

[ferniesnow]

DuraDek is nice. It is slippery when wet and in the winter with a slight dusting of snow. Preparation for DuraDeking is required. Sloping (minimum of 1/4" over 4 ft.) and GSI fir plywood (not OSB nor anything treated) has to be laid down as the glue used for the DuraDeking has to be on new wood. I did an extensive prep last summer and it is expensive. I used tapered "stringers" @ 16" on centers to get the proper slope and the DuraDek installer required 3/4" fir plywood on top of the stringers. They want a solid base with no flex. DuraDek is expensive and there is no warranty unless it is installed by a qualified installer.

The other thing one has to consider is putting in the railing. DuraDek people do not want the screws/lag bolts to penetrate the material. They want brackets attached to the fascia of the decking so that the railing is supported above the DuraDek material. A good read from the DuraDek site

https://www.duradek.com/installation-detail/

 

[snochuk]

DuraDek is nice. It is slippery when wet and in the winter with a slight dusting of snow. Preparation for DuraDeking is required. Sloping (minimum of 1/4" over 4 ft.) and GSI fir plywood (not OSB nor anything treated) has to be laid down as the glue used for the DuraDeking has to be on new wood. I did an extensive prep last summer and it is expensive. I used tapered "stringers" @ 16" on centers to get the proper slope and the DuraDek installer required 3/4" fir plywood on top of the stringers. They want a solid base with no flex. DuraDek is expensive and there is no warranty unless it is installed by a qualified installer.

The other thing one has to consider is putting in the railing. DuraDek people do not want the screws/lag bolts to penetrate the material. They want brackets attached to the fascia of the decking so that the railing is supported above the DuraDek material. A good read from the DuraDek site

https://www.duradek.com/installation-detail/

For the railing I used Vynil rail system over a steel post. Made 1/4" thick rubber gasket for under each steel base plate that extends 1/4" around the baseplate, there is a vynil cover that hides the base plate and covers the gasket. Also put sikaflex 1A caulking (Industrial grade rubber in a tube) under the gasket and filled the predrilled lag bolt hole with sikaflex before the lag bolts went in. If this does not seal not sure what would. Still no warranty if there is a leak failure at the handail base. My deck is 16'X20'X6' high and has siding to match the house - it is my garden shed to keep stuff out of the garage so there is room for more sleds.

 

[Lund]

I have aluminum hand railing's on mine and when it was installed they also put a gasket, same people that did the decking a Duradeck contractor.
I did alot of the prep work and the contractor came did the final prep work, got it layed down and i got the warranty paperwork that went with it.
It is slippery with a skiff of snow but not just water, i hose it off almost weekly during the summer and its never slippery.

If i had to do it again, i would definitely do it again, well worth it. But if i do it will be at a different home cause i doubt this one will ever need replacing while i'm there.

 

[gates559]

Like I posted. Basically I just add more wood preservative chemical. It just soaks in. Looks just like treated wood in the lumber yard. If we keep the house I will put composite.

get a commercial grade acrylic sealer. Not from a box store.