Deck Material - Ergodock?

[sirsloop]

I'm planning on putting a deck out back of my house. I was initially sold on Trex Transcend deck boards, as they are encased in a golf ball like material. The more I read about Trex the less I like it. They seem extremely slippery, allegedly have issues with howling in the wind, and are $$$. I really worry about it being slippery as I'm going to have 10 steps off the deck, and I have a dog thats 7yrs old that will need to use it. I also have a couple young kids and I dont want them wiping out on a slippery deck.

I came across this product called Ergodock. I think the company started out manufacturing a marine dock anti-slip mat. They recently came out with a product called Ergowood that looks like it would work well for a home backyard deck. It looks like a regular treated pine board covered with the same water-permeable rubberized coating. I watched their videos and it appears extremely anti-slip, does not pool water like regular deck boards, and its cheaper than going composite. Their FAQ says the stuff is tough as nails. Highly UV and stain resistant, extremely durable, wont scratch, soft to stand on, not as hot as regular decking. You use regular fasteners on it, and the rubberized coating hides all the screw heads.

Has anyone ever seen or used this stuff? Am I crazy or does this this stuff seems totally awesome for a home deck??

http://ergodockusa.com/products

 

[Rewind97]

What's the cost vs just treated wood?

 

[sirsloop]

The website has some rough numbers, but i'm not sure for which products. Here's what their FAQ says.

Treated Wood $12.00 to $18.00 per ft2 installed by contractor. Continual painting/staining/maintenance required.

Exotic Wood $14.00 to $28.00 per ft2 installed by contractor. Continual painting/staining/maintenance required.

Composite Decking $18.00 to $32.00 per ft2 installed by contractor.

ErgoDock™ $10.00 to $20.00 per ft2 installed by contractor.

So considering their company sells mats and boards... what are mats, $10/sqft and boards are $20/sqft? I'll need to call and get more info from them. Whats shipping, etc. Does the material peel off the boards over time or after some freezing cycles?

I just spoke to a local contractor about it. He cautioned me about using new products like this, and said I would be on my own if the product had issues. He is obviously going the "safe" route and backing only billion dollar decking companies. He's in the business of cranking out cookie cutter decks, not putting out a product that doesn't have years and thousands of installs under its belt. On one hand I agree with that logic. On the other hand I have a feeling this could be a far superior decking product, but it gets no market share because concerned contractors don't want to risk using it. I've read a lot of negative reviews on composite decking for the reasons I mentioned above... neither the contractor nor the decking manufacturer have any reason to bring them to light. Once the deck is in, people just live with it.

 

[Rewind97]

I'm interested as well. Our deck needs the boards replaced and not sure which way to go with it.

 

[sirsloop]

what kind of deck boards do you have now? Wood or composite? What is the age? Just fried from UV?

 

[Rewind97]

Right now I just have treated wood deck boards that came from lowes. They are 15 years old and on an open deck (no cover) so definitely fried from the UV. A couple of them are getting rotten on the ends.