The Decking Decision

In our experience, the three most common decking board options are treated lumber, cedar, and composite decking. While all three will give you a beautiful and long-lasting deck, there are some key factors that may help you chose the best option for your project. Here is a comparison chart that we developed for a quick overview of how each option stacks up.

Treated Lumber

Here is an example of a deck we built with treated lumber. Generally, after building a deck with treated lumber, you need to wait for 1 year to stain the deck for the first time.

Cedar

We refinished this deck by replacing the decking boards and railing with cedar, while preserving the deck’s existing substructure.

Composite

We built this deck with Trex decking systems, allowing for easier integration of lighting, multi-color decking board designs, and matching railing systems.