Hi Guys
I thought I'd share my experience with the Menards Ultradeck Fusion composite decking product. I had some vacation time last week and decided that I needed to replace the boards on my 10'x 18' deck next to the house. I checked online inventory for Lowe's, Home Depot, and Menards to see what was available. Menards was the only store that actually had everything in stock that I needed in a product that's not designed to fade quickly over time. I used their deck configurator online, and it spit out a total of 21 20-foot boards that I could cut into 10 foot lengths, and a single 12 foot board to ensure coverage.
The Ultradeck Fusion product uses a T-Clip hidden fastener to hold the boards down. Once the first board is installed with regular style screws down the side of the plank, the T-Clips are installed on the other side. Then the theory is that the next board can be hammered into place with a rubber mallet under the side of each clip. Their configurator recommended 5 bags of 100 fasteners for the project. The screws that come with the T-Clips use a #1 square drive head, and each bag of fasteners comes with 2 square driving bits.
After loading the boards and arriving home, the fun began. After installing the first plank, right away I noticed that the screws that were included with the T-Clip fasteners were probably the softest and worst screws that I've used with any product. Even with brand new bits (I tried Milwaukee and Bosch bits too), the screw heads would strip almost immediately. The entire first bag of screws seemed to have been made of the cheapest grade of metal that could have been found. Finally I got to the second bag which seemed to have a mixture of some decent screws along with some of the same quality of the first bag. The remaining bags also seemed to be a mix of both good and bad.
The next issue that I ran into was the installation of the boards under the T-Clips. In order for the next board to fit simply using a rubber mallet, the T-Clip would have to be left very loose. I noticed in the videos that I watched that some T-Clips have little fins on them, and some don't. Mine had the fins. I would assume I received the latest version of the clips. If I were to snug the clips to a point where I thought the board was secure as shown in the installation videos, then the next board simply wouldn’t go into place far enough with a rubber mallet. In my case my original deck and framing was built over dirt, so I devised a plan to stick a piece of flat steel in between the slats of the previous boards down into the dirt a ways, and then use a squeeze clamp from the flat steel to the board I was trying to install. With the squeeze clamp as tight as I could get it, I could then use the mallet to hit the next board into place. Of course, this method took a lot of time as the steel and clamp had to be repositioned for just about every other clip. The T-Clip and screw issues pretty much doubled the time that it took to complete the project. I did reach out to Menards in regards to the screws. One of their buyers emailed back right away and stated that they were looking into the issues, and that they took them very seriously. He offered to swap the screws out for more, or to return them. At first I was throwing them away, but then I started saving the junk ones. I probably have around 40 of them that I held onto in case they wanted to analyze them. Having dealt with Menards in the past, I decided against trying to return 40 or so bad screws from a 100 count bag. I’m sure they would have laughed me out of the store.
A few days after the purchase I received a Menards 4th of July promotional email stating that the Ultradeck Fusion product was now on sale at $2.19 per linear foot. Since I had paid $2.59 per linear foot a few days earlier, and I still had one unopened bag of screws and T-Clips to return, I decided to make the drive back to Menards to return the unopened screws and hopefully receive a refund for the difference in the price for the boards. The ad states that the Fusion product in Driftwood Gray and Coastal Cedar are on sale (I purchased Coastal Cedar as that’s what they had on hand). In a bullet point it states 1” x 5-3/16” x 8’, 12’ and 16’. Then in the heading of the ad it states 20’ ALSO AVAILABLE. It makes no mention, however, of a higher price for the 20 foot boards. Of course, I was informed right away that the 20 foot boards that I purchased were not a part of the $2.19 per linear foot sale. The manager confirmed. Now keep in mind that I haven’t purchased a lot of 20 foot boards in my life, but when I saw the for sale ad I had no reason to believe that the 20 footers would be more per foot. I understand that there may be additional handling costs to get this product to Menards, but I loaded the boards on my trailer myself. Looking at some of the other wooden boards in the ad I see that 20 footers are listed at a higher cost per foot, but the Ultradeck Fusion ad makes no mention of a higher cost, and I didn't pay attention to the ads for the other products when I first looked. The only mention of additional packaging / handling costs is in regards to the Rosewood and Walnut colors which are special order at all locations. The product I purchased was in stock. After they refused to discount I decided that I’d cancel the order for the cladding that I had placed at the time I picked up the boards. Although it would have looked nice, I really didn’t need it, and after the screw, clip, and pricing issues I was ready to be done with Menards.
When searching for reviews on this product I didn’t really see a lot online. The boards themselves aren’t bad, and seem like they’ll be durable. My only complaint is they are a bit slick when wet. I think this is probably true of a lot of composite decking. The biggest issues, however, are the screws and clips. The screws are almost unusable. They either need to take another look at their metallurgy, go to a Torx head design, or both. If the screws and clips were updated, I’d say that I could recommend the product. Based on what I received and installed, there’s no way I’d use the product again or recommend it. As for Menards, well, I’ve always liked shopping there, but whether I should be or not I’m still upset about them not honoring the price on the 20 foot boards. I’ll likely still shop there once I get over it, but I certainly won’t be making any large purchases there unless I have no other options. Based on my experience, if you're planning a deck project, you might keep the Ultradeck screw and clip information in mind when making your decision.
I thought I'd share my experience with the Menards Ultradeck Fusion composite decking product. I had some vacation time last week and decided that I needed to replace the boards on my 10'x 18' deck next to the house. I checked online inventory for Lowe's, Home Depot, and Menards to see what was available. Menards was the only store that actually had everything in stock that I needed in a product that's not designed to fade quickly over time. I used their deck configurator online, and it spit out a total of 21 20-foot boards that I could cut into 10 foot lengths, and a single 12 foot board to ensure coverage.
The Ultradeck Fusion product uses a T-Clip hidden fastener to hold the boards down. Once the first board is installed with regular style screws down the side of the plank, the T-Clips are installed on the other side. Then the theory is that the next board can be hammered into place with a rubber mallet under the side of each clip. Their configurator recommended 5 bags of 100 fasteners for the project. The screws that come with the T-Clips use a #1 square drive head, and each bag of fasteners comes with 2 square driving bits.
After loading the boards and arriving home, the fun began. After installing the first plank, right away I noticed that the screws that were included with the T-Clip fasteners were probably the softest and worst screws that I've used with any product. Even with brand new bits (I tried Milwaukee and Bosch bits too), the screw heads would strip almost immediately. The entire first bag of screws seemed to have been made of the cheapest grade of metal that could have been found. Finally I got to the second bag which seemed to have a mixture of some decent screws along with some of the same quality of the first bag. The remaining bags also seemed to be a mix of both good and bad.
The next issue that I ran into was the installation of the boards under the T-Clips. In order for the next board to fit simply using a rubber mallet, the T-Clip would have to be left very loose. I noticed in the videos that I watched that some T-Clips have little fins on them, and some don't. Mine had the fins. I would assume I received the latest version of the clips. If I were to snug the clips to a point where I thought the board was secure as shown in the installation videos, then the next board simply wouldn’t go into place far enough with a rubber mallet. In my case my original deck and framing was built over dirt, so I devised a plan to stick a piece of flat steel in between the slats of the previous boards down into the dirt a ways, and then use a squeeze clamp from the flat steel to the board I was trying to install. With the squeeze clamp as tight as I could get it, I could then use the mallet to hit the next board into place. Of course, this method took a lot of time as the steel and clamp had to be repositioned for just about every other clip. The T-Clip and screw issues pretty much doubled the time that it took to complete the project. I did reach out to Menards in regards to the screws. One of their buyers emailed back right away and stated that they were looking into the issues, and that they took them very seriously. He offered to swap the screws out for more, or to return them. At first I was throwing them away, but then I started saving the junk ones. I probably have around 40 of them that I held onto in case they wanted to analyze them. Having dealt with Menards in the past, I decided against trying to return 40 or so bad screws from a 100 count bag. I’m sure they would have laughed me out of the store.
A few days after the purchase I received a Menards 4th of July promotional email stating that the Ultradeck Fusion product was now on sale at $2.19 per linear foot. Since I had paid $2.59 per linear foot a few days earlier, and I still had one unopened bag of screws and T-Clips to return, I decided to make the drive back to Menards to return the unopened screws and hopefully receive a refund for the difference in the price for the boards. The ad states that the Fusion product in Driftwood Gray and Coastal Cedar are on sale (I purchased Coastal Cedar as that’s what they had on hand). In a bullet point it states 1” x 5-3/16” x 8’, 12’ and 16’. Then in the heading of the ad it states 20’ ALSO AVAILABLE. It makes no mention, however, of a higher price for the 20 foot boards. Of course, I was informed right away that the 20 foot boards that I purchased were not a part of the $2.19 per linear foot sale. The manager confirmed. Now keep in mind that I haven’t purchased a lot of 20 foot boards in my life, but when I saw the for sale ad I had no reason to believe that the 20 footers would be more per foot. I understand that there may be additional handling costs to get this product to Menards, but I loaded the boards on my trailer myself. Looking at some of the other wooden boards in the ad I see that 20 footers are listed at a higher cost per foot, but the Ultradeck Fusion ad makes no mention of a higher cost, and I didn't pay attention to the ads for the other products when I first looked. The only mention of additional packaging / handling costs is in regards to the Rosewood and Walnut colors which are special order at all locations. The product I purchased was in stock. After they refused to discount I decided that I’d cancel the order for the cladding that I had placed at the time I picked up the boards. Although it would have looked nice, I really didn’t need it, and after the screw, clip, and pricing issues I was ready to be done with Menards.
When searching for reviews on this product I didn’t really see a lot online. The boards themselves aren’t bad, and seem like they’ll be durable. My only complaint is they are a bit slick when wet. I think this is probably true of a lot of composite decking. The biggest issues, however, are the screws and clips. The screws are almost unusable. They either need to take another look at their metallurgy, go to a Torx head design, or both. If the screws and clips were updated, I’d say that I could recommend the product. Based on what I received and installed, there’s no way I’d use the product again or recommend it. As for Menards, well, I’ve always liked shopping there, but whether I should be or not I’m still upset about them not honoring the price on the 20 foot boards. I’ll likely still shop there once I get over it, but I certainly won’t be making any large purchases there unless I have no other options. Based on my experience, if you're planning a deck project, you might keep the Ultradeck screw and clip information in mind when making your decision.
