Charlie: Sharon in the Heights says, “Do you recommend Trex flooring for the front porch in a pier and beam home?” And also, “What do you recommend for a water shield underlay for the porch flooring?”
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Tom: First off, Trex is a great decking material. So, any kind of decking details you have, it’s going to let water through, so it’s not a waterproofing material. If you look at the old decks, they used a tongue and groove and put a slope to it and then it would just shed the water to the outside. But as far as the Trex goes, it’s a great product.
Charlie: The only downside, it’s going to be about 35 to 40 percent more than the wood.
Tom: Yeah it is, but you know what? After about ten years and it looks great, it’s worth every single penny. People who actually bite the bullet up front, and then ten years later they’re still looking at a beautiful product, they’ll tell you the same thing.
Charlie: But I will tell you this, Sharon, there is more than one Trex out there. If you’re going to bite the bullet, bite the big one and go for the …
Tom: Transcend.
Charlie: Yeah, that’s the upgraded one and they have a lot more choices in it.
Tom: It’s gorgeous.
Charlie: And as far as a water shield underlayment for porch flooring, is there such thing?
Tom: You can’t do it with Trex. The water’s going to go through or you have to do a roof underneath there somewhere, you can’t put it on … It’s gotta breathe, so you can’t put it on something that’s going to hold water or where water is going to sit. No product, decking-wise is going to be a good product for that.