Trex Deck

Hi All,

It's been quite some time since I've posted & hope everyone is doing well.  I've been busy for a flurry of reasons.  There have been various projects around the house and outside, but the big one is our new Trex Deck.  We went with Trex because the HOA mandated the deck be built of composite material.  A patio would have been just as costly and isn't permeable.

The original concept was a little different with the upper deck even with the house.  This was on the cusp of needing a railing which would have been $1,000 along (just for the top section).  Original plan also had built-in benches and a more elaborate step.  To get back into our budget, what you see below is the revision that got us there.

• Notes
• Height - The height of the deck is under 30" from grade to the house (I may have said that wrong) so it doesn't require railing or fence.  We plan on putting bushes around the lower areas.
• Grill - We took the wheels off the grill and bolted it to the deck.  Our contractor put extra blocking for this reason.  The idea is to at least slow a theft attempt.  They'll likely have to make some noise or spend some time getting it loose.  Hopefully it's enough of a deturant, I don't want to haul another grill up there!
• Lighting - The lighting is your basic low-voltage kit from Lowes / Hope Depot.  If you have any thought of putting additional fixtures in, run the wire just in case.  It will make life much easier.  We would have probably put a 2nd row of lights on the step down if we had thought of it.  By the time I did it was too late (to do it easily)  Overall I highly recommend the lighting, our neighbors have the Timbertech version on their railing and the light caps look awesome.  They give just the right amount of ambient light without attracting bugs.

Overall we're very pleased with the final product.  It was completed on time and the quality is excellent.