My Biggest Outdoor Project Regret (I’m Considering Correcting It Sooner Rather Than Later)
About three weeks ago, I told y’all that i wasn’t quite ready to jump into a big project yet (like turning the hallway bathroom into a storage room), so I was going to spend some time doing fun projects. I had originally planned to jump into some outdoor projects, but as soon a I purchased the boards I need to finish up the porch skirting, it started raining. That’s when I turned my attention to the entryway makeover instead.
The entryway makeover is finished. I’ll have new pictures of the whole living room, music room, entryway area for you soon (hopefully tomorrow). So of course, my mind has been consumed with outdoor project ideas. I’m not even sure how much I’ll be able to do since we have even more rain in the forecast for this week, so once again, I might have to concentrate on more indoor projects in the meantime. But I do want to take advantage of any nice days we have by getting outside and working on those outdoor projects.
Anyway, as I’ve been thinking about those projects and planning the order in which I want to tackle those projects, one thing keeps bothering me. It’s honestly my biggest regret so far on the outdoor improvements I’ve made to our house. And that regret is that I used cedar porch boards for our front porch instead of a composite material.
It looks great right after it’s been sealed. Here’s what it looked like right after I finished the porch and steps.
But it just doesn’t stay that way. I’m now several years into dealing with this porch, and I’ve tried several different outdoor porch products. But I have yet to find one that continues to look nice and keep its color for even a year. All of the products I’ve used start to fade and come off within a year of resealing the porch boards.
Obviously, all houses require regular maintenance. But at the same time, as we’ve planned for this to be our forever home, I’ve begun assessing just how many things require regular maintenance. And since Matt can’t help me with any of it, that means it’s either all on me to do it, or I have to hire someone to do it. And y’all know I’m cheap, and I hate hiring out jobs that I know I can do myself. But my time is limited, so these projects, which are really pretty easy, get pushed off to the side while other things demand my immediate attention.
It’s not just one porch, either. Since I had already used cedar porch boards on the front porch, I also decided to use the same cedar porch boards when building the steps on my workshop because I want them to match.
But now I’m at a crossroads. As I’ve been thinking about and planning outdoor projects, I have two more areas that I want to match the front porch and my workshop steps. First, I still need to build the steps to the side door of my studio. I’ve had cinder blocks there for years, but I really need to get the steps built soon before the weather destroys the OSB that isn’t covered by the siding. And of course, I want these steps to match the front porch and the steps on my workshop.
And then I need to build the porch and steps to our new bedroom door. And this definitely has to match the front porch since they’re both on the front of our house.
So if I continue on with the cedar boards for the studio side door steps and the porch and steps to our new bedroom door, I’ve locked myself into having to reseal all four areas at least once every two years. So I’m really considering changing course on the studio steps and the bedroom porch and steps and using composite deck boards on those areas. And then, at some point in the near future, I would redo the front porch with the same composite deck boards.
In all honesty, I really don’t care of if my workshop steps are an exact match to the areas that show from the front of our house, but I would eventually want those done with composite also so that I won’t have to reseal those, either. I really hate to spend the time and money redoing such a big project as our front porch that is already finished and has been finished for years. But after dealing with the front porch for several years now, and dealing with the headache of having to reseal it regularly, I’m just at the point where I’m thinking about long term maintenance of our house. I think it might be worth it to just go ahead and replace those boards sooner than later.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Switch now to the composite boards knowing that you will change up other areas as the cedar becomes unworkable. This is like the decision you made to lighten the floors in your closet. You will love living with the lower maintenance product now and knowing you can switch the other areas as you have need to, time to, and money.
This makes sense to me. There is no need to swap out perfectly serviceable boards at this point. Use composite boards on the two new sets of steps and you can change the others later when they start to become unsightly.
As cedar is such a good outdoor material I would save the boards that you remove if you can and use them for outdoor planters in your patio areas if they are still in decent shape (since it is the aesthetics of their weathering appearance on the porches that bother you).
Go towards composite, if you know it’s a good choice with your intense sun and heat (won’t warp, etc) Eliminating a consistent maintenance task you don’t enjoy won’t be something you regret long term. You’ll never say, I wish I spent more time refinishing the porch! There are plenty of maintenance tasks you can’t get around, make this one easier on yourself (especially as you consider aging in the home. You’re young now, but time goes quickly).
Long term plans do not include a large deck out back, right? that’s the only thing which might give pause at the expense. But I think I remember a stone/concrete patio, not a wood deck in the plans.
Composition deck boards are game changer! My brother put them on his deck at his Lake Havasu,Arizona home. Direct sun every day and the sun is brutal. Summer temperatures up to 115-120*. No maintenance required, hose it off and enjoy!
I feel your frustration having to replace the front porch and steps that you spent considerable time and money on. Composite does seem to be a good option. I would suggest buying enough material to do all the areas at one time. You never know when the materials might be discontinued or if dye lots vary. I researched various brands of composite when we had a screen porch built and found some are strictly a plastic type and others contain wood which can become moldy. I would encourage you to check into that.
Completely agree! Good advice to purchase the same materials for all the porches at the same time, even if the installation will be done in stages. We have a composite deck now, after dealing with a wooden deck for 15 years. I will never go back to a wooden deck, even though I usually prefer natural materials. The maintenance that a wooden deck requires is such a headache (prep time, sealing time, working around weather, etc).
I agree. We went with composite boards and have been pleased with how they have held up.
I’m a composite wood girl from way back, if all I have to do is pressure wash it, it’s installed here at the farm, the cost be damned. Because time is money. When we replaced all the wood on the front of the house a couple of years ago, we used Timber Tech, and all the vinyl, and composite materials they had and concrete…lots and lots of concrete. We had them take the front porch off and then fill in the cinderblock hole with concrete right up to the threshold. The front of our house is going nowhere in a hurricane or tornado. No more carpenter bees, no more termites, no more anything, just a lovely hose off at the end of the winter. I had them stamp all the concrete in a lovely Belgium block and the colored the concrete a glorious grey. It really turned out lovely and makes the house look about three times its value. Not bad for a really big project that came in under $65K. The wider sidewalk accommodates anyone in a wheelchair or with mobility issues. They even extended the sidewalk for me to a patio right in front of our master bedroom. These materials are not cheap, but they last forever practically and take very little maintenance. I can send you photos if you would like.
Cheers to you, Matt and the Fur Babies!
Agreed! This should make it easier in the long run and doing it now will help you know your direction going forward.
I’ve been re-sealing a large deck for 35 years! I think we’ve spent more on product than a composite deck would cost (slight exaggeration). I finally found a sealing product I love but absolutely hate when spring rolls around and we have to decide whether it’s a re-sealing year or not. It’s a lot of work and we annually contemplate replacing the boards with composite. Definitely do your homework on the different types available.
I think you should all the new steps with the composite boards and then change out the others later. Thinking of long term maintenance your best bet is the composite.
I vote for concrete. It isn’t going anywhere and all you need to do is hose or pressure wash and it looks great. I loved the composite material until I saw a deck at a local marina. They were constantly fixing the wood, so they replaced it with the composite and the composite warped within the first couple of years!! I couldn’t believe it, but I am in Florida and we have brutal heat and it was on the water so maybe that was the difference.
Wondering if you saw OUR deck! We live in Florida too, and our dock was replaced with composite material, it was a NIGHTMARE. After a year or two things were warped, peeling, and a total mess. We had to go through a warranty process, and they gave us new material…nothing for the labor involved. We eventually sold the lot our boat dock was on, and Hurricane Ian finished off that dock for good. I was going to warn Kristi…that material is not foolproof either. And, Very expensive. My daughter in NY has had nothing but trouble with her deck too…wooden decks are hell. I think Texas heat and sun is almost as tough on things as Florida. I vote for concrete too.
Oh and Yes, this was TREX we used.
You are right. I been to Grand Isle in Louisiana and the composit does not like salt water. But l don’t know of anything that does.
I think I’m the lone hold out and think the wood adds luxury to one’s house, esp as every home renovation these days seems to do a lot of plastic materials (full disclosure, I’m a century house owner). I love the product architects use, PENOFIN. I’m near the ocean and it holds up beautifully; so easy to recoat too.
My experience is plastic Trex fades and warps and shows dog nail scratches, that it is a lot of marketing to get us to believe it’s perfect. I also think you have much more fun things to do than redoing the skillful carpentry things you’ve done. Try doing Trex going forward and see what you like best?
TREX was the first on the market decades ago and I believe there are many more iterations of composite decking out there. In our community in S Az we don’t have decks so much, but a lot of the outdoor furniture doesn’t hold up to the brutal sun and triple digits over time. We can’t have the faux wicker stuff because the sun eats in within a season!
I detested our Trex. It was SO hot in summer. Also, if you get any frost, snow and/or ice, it is very slippery. You have to put a special application on so you won’t fall. We went back to wood, and I’m very happy.
I would do the steps in composite (maybe as close to matching the cedar as possible), and then hire out the redoing of the porch once it needs resealing again.
This is a great idea IMHO. When you finally take off the cedar, save it for planter boxes or raised garden beds.
We went with Yellawiid when we replaced our cedar deck. I found opaque stain weathered much better than clear stain and lasted much longer. Going on ten years & have only painted again once. No rot so far.
Nothing like the look of real cedar but the maintenance is a pain, composite cant be beat for one and done! Yes it’s more expensive up front but no more expense in taking care of it. Companies are coming up with more realistic products all the time. Stay away from Trex or cheaper versions. They now have composites that don’t get scalding hot in the sun and slip resistant. Have you thought about concrete? You could then do thin brick over it, very cottage-y 🙂
Since this is your forever house you need to keep in mind when your 80+, are you going to be restaining your deck or wanting to pay someone to do it and even re-build when the boards give up?
Seems pretty simple to me, use composite for anything new
and in the future re-do the other areas where there’s cedar.
Don’t overthink this and make yourself nuts.
This was my exact thought, too, Cathy. Seems like a no-brainer to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In my mind, it makes zero sense to spend more time and money installing more cedar if the goal is to replace the existing cedar with a lower maintenance product. Additionally, I doubt anyone will notice (or really care) — other than Kristi — that all surfaces don’t exactly match from the get-go. I have to think most people realize home renovation is a transitional process for the majority of us.
I’m very much agreeing with your sentiment on upfront cost vs maintenance. I bought a new home this past year and every project is budgeted for easy maintenence. When I replaced all the worn out carpet and vinyl tiles with white oak engineered hardwood, my flooring guy told me I had expensive taste not for the wood but for the ceramic-reinforced German sealing and polyurethane system I used. When it was done though he agreed it was one of the nicest and probably most durable floors he’d installed in some years. Except for repairs to my existing wood fence, all my outdoor projects use UV stabilized PVC because I don’t intend to spend my retirement repainting or resealing. I’m also too “cheap” to hire out things I can easily do myself so keeping maintaince down is part of my philosophy now.
I agree with your plan! Composite boards are amazingly easy to maintain. I replaced the boards on my front porch and steps with them a few years ago and never looked back. To make use of the cedar boards that were still in good condition, I used them to make raised planter boxes and now have a small vegetable garden.
Have you tried the ancient woodworker’s technique to preserve wood exposed to the elements?
1 part white vinegar
1 part boiled linseed oil (Don’t use raw) Buy from store.
1 part turpentine (from your paint or hardware store)
Combine all 3 ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake like crazy. Then rub it into the wood with a piece of 0000-grade steel wool. Wipe off with soft cloth. Years of grime melt away, leaving you with a smooth, beautiful surface.
Do some research. There are many ancient wooden fretworks in Europe that have survived hundreds of years with this finish and spraying more on every few years. Much cheaper than any of the new chemical finishes.
But all the materials now. They may change “dye lots” and you won’t be able to get boards to match.
I’ve got composite boards on my studio and I love them. But one word of caution, make sure you verify the joist spacing underneath is correct. IIRC they need MORE support than industry standard building requires. I want to say12″ instead of 16″. I’ve seen tons in our area installed at the 16″ spacing and they are sagging especially those in the south or west sun.
Oh and they also get hotter than regular boards.
FYI on composite, make sure your joist are at least 18 inches apart or less for proper support. I made the mistake of buying and loading up the boards to replace my large deck, come to find out I had 2 ft centers. That fun to return. I got my exercise in for sure. Lol. Composite decking would’ve been too soft in the middle (at least for the brand that I bought). I could have added Joists in between but ended up, deciding to re-stain the deck instead. I feel your frustration on having to stain every few years where I live. If I were going to live here longer, I would’ve gone through the trouble of adding extra joist.
I wanted to go with composite the first time (8 years ago) but my contractor talked me out of it. He said it gets way too hot especially since I have pets, it also warps so he does not recommend. He is a very reputable contractor in my area and has a lot of experience so I took his word into consideration.
I hope this helps, I had no idea.
You’ve really made a good case for using composite boards for your home although struggling with the cost. In the end, the ease of composite will outweigh the maintenance you need to do. Go for it, don’t look back.
There’s no perfect solution. Composites have maintenance issues too. The biggest flaw in composites is color matching. The sun affects most to a point sometimes warps (there’s specific stairs the neighborhood has that need constant repair that have Trex). The maintenance is removing organic stuff (mildew, algae, & bird poop). I had a neighbor complain they went for composites and disliked the level of maintenance to keep it OK for them (they had shade from trees). If you have a stain or overspray, it is less forgiving to fix, and likely can’t paint it too evenly. If you get a scratch/dent from life, can’t sand it out. I bet eventually bigger brands may start to sell 2 part resin putty kits to fill deep dents and scratches or you’ll have to create color matched caulk. The last difficulty is installation, it can be specialized for specific fasteners, coatings and screws, as well. The size and location for the 4 areas really are all fairly simple & rectangular. If working to make them all similar may be a unexpectedly specialized task since they are on different areas with different exposures.
Interesting alternatives (don’t expect their use, just a specialized as composites, likely more) there’s a system that lets you install stone decks (https://paverdeck.com/). As well as There are new composites that are tounge and groove, with an extra lower groove to carry the water away. Like a pre-built underdrain (Duxxbak). If you use that, the direction of the boards matters greatly. both are interesting alternates but seem like advanced DIY materials.
Have you considered wood looking tile? I saw some just the other day for someone’s kitchen and they looked really close to real wood. They were in a herringbone pattern for the kitchen but probably can be used anyway you want.
Composition deck boards are game changer! My brother put them on his deck at his Lake Havasu,Arizona home. Direct sun every day and the sun is brutal. Summer temperatures up to 115-120*. No maintenance required, hose it off and enjoy!
When we built our porch 24 years ago, we used Timber Tech tongue and groove for the porch floor. It has grayed, just like cedar does. I love how we can be out there barefoot and not have to worry about splinters. Maintenance is easy. Building with it was a dream.
Granted…I’m speaking as an Octogenarian…. But if this is to be your “Forever Home”…. Think the replacement of ALL Steps/Porches, as an investment in your future… Yes, in our “Youth” there is very little we can’t ask our bodies to do… now Fast Forward… to your 60’s …70’s …hopefully your 80’s….perhaps you will be still capable…. But think of all the time, effort and frankly, money you will have saved ……to do it now…! “One & DONE!
Your thoughts about replacing your porch deck with some sort of composition material got me thinking. I looked on the Consumer Reports website for what they covered, and found that they just finished a three year test of all sorts of decking materials. They tested the different decking materials for three years, both in Florida and Arizona (!), which should give a really good look at each material’s durability.
Here is the link to their Buying Guide: https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/decking/buying-guide/
They have specific reviews and recommendations, but those are paywalled.
https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/decking/c33144/
You should be able to get access through your local library.
What about the expense? I’d want everything to match. Bite the bullet and get it done. You might hire someone so it gets finished. Have you gotten the shutter hung back up yet?
The rain was very much needed so I am glad it rained. You will always have some unfinished project inside to work on.
What is the status of the catio?