Fifth Avenue Forum

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

We have Trex on our front porch to the front door. The stuff is nice. Only issue is mold tends to grow near the cracks, but it's also where the sun don't shine (insert jokes here).

Ah, didn't know you could do that. Will go with the 4 then, as I like the design more. What do the sensors do?

And don't be alarmed by the red mic muted light on the ecobee when you do so - it goes away after a few minutes and stays off. I don't use the Follow Me feature of ecobee, and rather set a schedule for the week. I have sensors in most of the rooms, and use Comfort Profiles for that. Each Comfort Profile, which is where you set your heating and cooling temps, allows you to select which sensors you want to use for it. For instance, my Sleep profile only has the master bedroom and my daughter's bedroom selected, so if I have it set to 70°, it will use the average between those two sensors to determine when to turn on/off the system.

If you have people spending time all over the house, maybe it's worth turning on the Follow Me feature, where the sensors' occupancy sensor helps figure that out.

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

After 6 months of using it, my recommendation would be to get the full boards as opposed to what you buy at Lowe's which is grooved boards.

I'd pay just a bit more for it to feel more solid under my feet, but it's a preference thing. Otherwise, it's been perfect. My second gripe is we picked a lighter color, so dirt shows everywhere, but a powerwash is all that's needed and it's back to normal.

Ah, didn't know you could do that. Will go with the 4 then, as I like the design more. What do the sensors do?

And don't be alarmed by the red mic muted light on the ecobee when you do so - it goes away after a few minutes and stays off. I don't use the Follow Me feature of ecobee, and rather set a schedule for the week. I have sensors in most of the rooms, and use Comfort Profiles for that. Each Comfort Profile, which is where you set your heating and cooling temps, allows you to select which sensors you want to use for it. For instance, my Sleep profile only has the master bedroom and my daughter's bedroom selected, so if I have it set to 70°, it will use the average between those two sensors to determine when to turn on/off the system.

If you have people spending time all over the house, maybe it's worth turning on the Follow Me feature, where the sensors' occupancy sensor helps figure that out.

Ah awesome, Ecobee 4 it is then.

Ah, didn't know you could do that. Will go with the 4 then, as I like the design more. What do the sensors do?

And don't be alarmed by the red mic muted light on the ecobee when you do so - it goes away after a few minutes and stays off. I don't use the Follow Me feature of ecobee, and rather set a schedule for the week. I have sensors in most of the rooms, and use Comfort Profiles for that. Each Comfort Profile, which is where you set your heating and cooling temps, allows you to select which sensors you want to use for it. For instance, my Sleep profile only has the master bedroom and my daughter's bedroom selected, so if I have it set to 70°, it will use the average between those two sensors to determine when to turn on/off the system.

If you have people spending time all over the house, maybe it's worth turning on the Follow Me feature, where the sensors' occupancy sensor helps figure that out.

Ah awesome, Ecobee 4 it is then.

Also, so you know, the SmartSensor is the newer sensor design. The Remote Sensor is the old version. You can usually find deals on the SmartSensor 2-packs. I have no Remote Sensors in use anymore.

Got it, thanks for you input @NTP66

Cabot Deck Correct acquired... will post updates after it's applied.

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

After 6 months of using it, my recommendation would be to get the full boards as opposed to what you buy at Lowe's which is grooved boards.

I'd pay just a bit more for it to feel more solid under my feet, but it's a preference thing. Otherwise, it's been perfect. My second gripe is we picked a lighter color, so dirt shows everywhere, but a powerwash is all that's needed and it's back to normal.

if you get un-grooved, how do you secure to the frame?

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

After 6 months of using it, my recommendation would be to get the full boards as opposed to what you buy at Lowe's which is grooved boards.

I'd pay just a bit more for it to feel more solid under my feet, but it's a preference thing. Otherwise, it's been perfect. My second gripe is we picked a lighter color, so dirt shows everywhere, but a powerwash is all that's needed and it's back to normal.

if you get un-grooved, how do you secure to the frame?

So there are clips, still I believe. Our neighbor did one ungrooved and they used the same clips we did IIRC. Either way, there's a fastening system.

is there a lumber shortage or just an increase in prices? like will I have trouble finding wood at a home improvement store?

I disabled the microphone on my ecobee 4, so that problem was solved immediately.

I can vouch for Ecobee4 as well, and have my microphone disabled too for this very reason

is there a lumber shortage or just an increase in prices? like will I have trouble finding wood at a home improvement store?

Little of both I think? I've read ad that a lot of lumber comes from Canada and their covid restrictions put a dent in the supply.

Let me preface this question with: I know... I get it... these type of products aren't good for the wood, sanding and staining is a better option, I'm going to ruin the deck, blah, blah, blah. I get it.

Anyone ever use a deckover or deckover like product? Any recommendations? Our deck is 25 years old and I just want to get a couple more years out of it before replacing the whole damn thing. Looking for some sort of paint like material that will allow me to walk on it barefoot and not have a foot full of splinters. Which btw would make a great band name.

My deck was/is is pretty bad shape after years of neglect. The worst parts are southern-facing and receive direct sunlight most of the year. My son couldn't crawl or walk on it without getting splinters. I would have loved to sand the thing, but the screw heads were mostly rotten and many were proud of the surface due to cupping and warping. There was extensive pitting of the wood too.

I had considered flipping over or replacing the decking, but I decided to go with the Sherwin Williams SuperDeck coating to encapsulate the wood. I waited until one of SW sales and got it about 40% off "retail".

Between extensive cleaning and prepping per the manufacturer's instructions and the two coats, I spent about 30 hours. My deck wraps around the house, so I think it's about 600 square feet. It looked great, and there were no splinters. I finished up last June.

A few weeks ago after some rain, I noticed some bubbling on the most damaged boards. There are a few places where the coating is lifting up from the surface and flaking away. There are some heavy traffic areas that have held up great, but the parts that are bubbling haven't been used much. There were a few times this winter when the snow just sat on it, which I'm sure didn't help matters much. My thought is that these areas were pretty damaged already, which allowed water to penetrate under it and lift it. I'm probably going to try another coat this summer, or at least touch up the damaged spots in the hopes of sealing it a bit better. The parts that were covered are perfect, but the wood wasn't that damaged there in the first place.

TLDNR: Sherwin Williams SuperDeck is fine...I guess. If you're just looking to get a few more years out of it, it'll do in a pinch. I wouldn't dream of walking on my deck in bare feet before, but I have no qualms about doing it now. In that respect, it's worth the money.

is there a lumber shortage or just an increase in prices? like will I have trouble finding wood at a home improvement store?

You’ll have a hard time finding quality lumber. Not sure what area you are in but would suggest a smaller yard that has a different source. Inventory was crushed for improvement projects during COVID. Mills were shut down so supply for the big boxes was tough. They switched to other suppliers that have inferior product. It’s a mess.

I've had much better luck getting lumber from smaller retailers than Lowes/Home Depot.

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

After 6 months of using it, my recommendation would be to get the full boards as opposed to what you buy at Lowe's which is grooved boards.

I'd pay just a bit more for it to feel more solid under my feet, but it's a preference thing. Otherwise, it's been perfect. My second gripe is we picked a lighter color, so dirt shows everywhere, but a powerwash is all that's needed and it's back to normal.

Can you powerwash trex normally, or do you have to be careful?

After hearing how much Morkle loves the trex stuff, I'm going with it when we finally do rip this out, but I'd love to get just a shmidge more use out of what we've got now, so a couple hundred bucks on paint and paint supplies is worth it if we can get it to go another 2 years, 3-5 years would be incredible.

After 6 months of using it, my recommendation would be to get the full boards as opposed to what you buy at Lowe's which is grooved boards.

I'd pay just a bit more for it to feel more solid under my feet, but it's a preference thing. Otherwise, it's been perfect. My second gripe is we picked a lighter color, so dirt shows everywhere, but a powerwash is all that's needed and it's back to normal.

Can you powerwash trex normally, or do you have to be careful?

Power wash as much as you want. I use the soap setting and low pressure on mine but have blasted it before too. We have the transcend but don’t think that should matter

Yea, I powerwash as much as I want. It's on warranty and scratch/stain proof within reason.

Work has begun on our tile floor. It's loud as hell downstairs, two of the cats are scared under my bed, and the other is screaming bloody murder because she wants to be involved in the work.

I figure this should go here:

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Speaking of HD, somehow their estimate to redo our kitchen was MORE than the private contractor. We weren't going with them anyway, as I've heard way too many horror stories with the contractors they use. But we were hoping to use them as a barometer for the low end of pricing. So much for that.

speaking of HD, does anyone actually prefer lowes to HD?

speaking of HD, does anyone actually prefer lowes to HD?

Lowe's is more convenient, so I go there a little more often. Their garden department is almost always better when it comes to flowers and the like; HD never has as much variety. I don't think their name brand tools are better than the other, Kobalt and Husky, so that's a wash.