Dan and Phyllis Ford’s mahogany deck and rails has been re-stained twice in Cabot’s Mahogany Flame Timber Oil, most recently in 2007. Their deck was installed in 2000 by Robert Reed Associates, York Harbor, Maine.
Renovations
Decked Out
It's all about what's under foot. Your builder is the best advisor, but here is a primer on some of the most popular deck choices in New England.

Mike and Naomi Gauthier’s unpainted back deck, made from the composite material CorrectDeck, installed in 2007 by Houde Home Construction, Cape Neddick, Maine.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that promotes responsible stewardship of the world’s forests. To find out more, visit www.fsc.org.

In New England, our decks take a beating. Decks should look good, but their materials must also be hardy enough to withstand the heat of summer and the long winters of multiple cycles of freeze and thaw. The Deck Industry Association names five major types of decking materials; softwoods, hardwoods, plastics, fiberglass, and composites.

With all these choices, how do you determine what would work best for you and the environment? Your builder is the best advisor, but here is a primer on some of the most popular choices in New England.

Cedar
Cedar has reportedly been used as far back as in the construction of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Many consider cedar to be the product of choice in outdoor decking: it smells great, stays straight, grays beautifully over time, and has a variety of grain patterns and textures. Most importantly it is naturally resistant to rot and not tasty to insects. Cool to the touch in hot summer months, it is less expensive and more readily available than redwood, which it is most commonly compared against. But it is not a strong wood and most builders generally won’t use it for framing, frequently preferring to use a pressure treated hardwood frame and then adding cedar fascia boarding to match an all-cedar deck. Staining is recommended to extend the natural protection, especially in saltwater regions.

Green Factor: A softwood, it’s easy to work with but be cautious when cutting as the dust can be a lung and skin irritant. Primarily found in the Pacific Northwest these trees can grow as high as 200 feet and 10 feet across at the base. The rapid dwindling of old growth cedar forests has been an enormous source of concern. Look for a Forest Stewardship Council (FCS) product label to verify accreditation of sustainable harvesting practices. Go to fcsus.org to find out more.

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Mahogany
Builders love mahogany for its easy machining and resiliency. The moderately soft wood can be identified by the woven look:  short grain, straight, and tight. The heartwood is well known for its ability to withstand rot and insect infestation. Sapwood (wood cut closer to the bark) is considered slightly less durable. Some believe mahogany not quite hardy enough to go untreated in marine environments so if you live on the Seacoast you may want to consider staining, otherwise enjoy the silver hue it will eventually develop. A neat little fact is that up until the late 1960s, mahogany was the original material of the legendary Chris Craft boat. It is still often used in both indoor and outdoor furniture by craftsmen for its lustrous, nearly purple color. Beware: there are a lot of woods out there that purists claim have nothing to do with genuine mahogany, particularly “Philippine mahogany,” which is a marketing term for a whole collection of other species unrelated to mahogany so check with your builder before you snap up that so-called “deal.”

Green Factor: Mahogany is from southern Mexico, Central America, Colombia and even into the Amazon. Check for certification but most mahogany is still plentiful and harvested from sustainable plantation farming.

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Redwood
Like cedar, its genus cousin, redwood has a pleasant woodsy fragrance after an afternoon baking in the sun. Freshly lumbered this softwood has a deep reddish color that morphs to black and then eventually to dark grey. Stronger than cedar it can be used for framing your deck but posts cannot be buried in the ground or they will rot. Redwood is more prone to chipping than cedar so use care when cutting and caution when inhaling as it too is considered a lung and skin irritant. Availability has driven the cost of redwood through the roof and reduced its popularity from what it once was.

Green Factor: Redwood trees are the largest living organisms on earth, and vigorous campaigns have been underway to protect the old growth groves. It has been reported that less than 8 percent of current logging of redwoods is from old growth areas, but that is little comfort when weighed against the belief that only 4 percent of the world’s old growth forests remain. There are many companies that manage and harvest new growth redwood so check for certification.

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Pressure Treated
Pressure-treated wood has been injected with rot and insect retardant chemicals prior to being delivered to your lumberyard. The most common deck material in the eastern United States is southern yellow pine, favored for its strength and structure, which easily absorbs preservatives. Hem-fir is cheaper and most commonly available but watch out because it can be prone to warping and splitting.

You can tell the wood has been pressure treated by the green tinge that only disappears after extensive exposure to the elements. Considered a hassle-free alternative to staining or painting, pressure treatment protects wood from the elements longer than hand-applied treatments, sometimes lasting as long as 40 years.

Pressure-treated wood is processed in a retort, a cylindrical chamber that creates a high-pressure vacuum, which forces the chemicals into the boards. Be aware that there has been considerable concern about some types of pressure-treated wood because some of the preservatives can be carcinogenic and otherwise harmful to the environment, animals and humans. The American Wood Protection Association has set retention levels that should be clearly stamped with a seal. They range from .25 per cubic foot for above ground use only to 2.50 lbs per cubic foot for marine grade saltwater contact.

Green Factor: Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) was at one time the most popular compound to treat pressure-treated wood, but in 2004 the Environmental Protection Agency restricted it for being extremely toxic—it’s been reported that a half dozen tablespoons of CCA can kill a 1 ton cow in a matter of days. Alkaline Copper Quat (ACQ) is thought to be a safer substitute but is also corrosive to steel so extra precautions should be taken with your selection of hardware. 

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Siberian Larch
Very new to the North American Market, Siberian larch is an extremely hard, coniferous softwood from the heart of Siberia. Called the “Tree of Eternity,” it is similar to cedar and redwood in that it is resistant to decay and will go gray over time. Unlike cedar, this wood is much harder and considered more mechanically stable. Larch comes in either Latewood, which is harder, or Earlywood, which can wear under foot over time. Staining is recommended to protect it from further checking.

Green Factors: The FSC certified Siberian larch as a sustainable resource in 2002.  Many are hopeful that these protection efforts and the vast amount of availability (over 1 billion acres in the Russian Boreal Forests) will take the pressure off the quickly disappearing South American rainforests.

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Composites
Composites are a combination of wood and plastic in varying degrees that can produce an attractive and long-lasting deck. But don’t expect to save money, at least not right away, since most composite decking costs two to five times more than wood, a factor that, depending on what you might compare it against, may make itself up over time.

The variety of new composite materials to the market is staggering. Once ignored by quality homebuilders for being so obviously fake in appearance, composites are quickly becoming a popular decking choice because companies are getting so much better at replicating the “real” wood look. Things to look for and ask about are propensity to mold, color fading,  ease to work with, cost, and, of course, beauty. Watch your building codes; some products have yet to be fully approved by the International Code Council’s Evaluation Service. Researching composites can be tricky so talk to your builder and find out what her favorite is; most often they have tried out several and have come up with a preference.

Green Factor: Composites are generally considered to be long lasting with little or no staining required so to that end, many manufacturers declare themselves to be “green.” Some truly are a green alternative, Trex and Correct Deck, for example, are both made of post-consumer waste materials and are recyclable.

However, composites have their critics as well, particularly on the eventual demolition end. Some, not all, composite decking materials are made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is highly carcinogenic when burned, and can leach and contaminate groundwater when dumped in landfills. And like any plastic, PVC or not, the decomposition rate is measured in hundreds if not thousands of years.