Although Advantage Lumber refuses to sell, recommend, or have anything to do with composite decking products, we often receive calls from composite deck owners who are having maintenance issues. Surprisingly, they call us for composite deck maintenance advice after they spoke with the manufacturer or the store where they purchased it.

A question that we sometimes get asked is, “I have composite decking that is starting to mold and don’t want to spend the money to replace it. Can’t I just flip over the deck board?

Our answer is always the same. Flipping deck boards is a waste of time and energy. The reason for this is that if your composite deck boards are rotting on the surface chances are its even worse on the underside of the board. “Why?”

Such little light penetrates your deck’s surface gaps that the underside of  any deck board will inevitably be more damp. Even if you decide to take a chance and flip over those parts of your composite deck that are rotting, keep in mind that when you flip the boards you will not be able to screw in the same holes.

You will have to drill new holes, which, let’s face it will make your deck look even worse. You will not only have screws showing but will also have un-used holes from the previous installation.

This begs the question, if flipping composite boards is out of the question, what can you do?

If you’re in the position of having to replace your composite deck, call us. Tell us your horror story and send us pictures of your deck, and we will work out a deal with you to replace your composite deck with some of our hardwood decking.