The USPL plastic wood products are 100% polypropylene (I believe). No wood products involved.
The TREX product has some woodfibers/sawdust, or whatever, in it. Note, however, this is a 1st class product! But,TREX is about twice the cost of pressure treated lumber. Also, TREX has no "structural beams". i.e. no 4x4 to be a foundation for a deck. Just the "decking" material. USPL is about 20% more than pressure treated lumber and has some structural beam sizes. Which is best? I don't know. My info says, "Both are top notch building materials."
As I stated, "I'm in Florida". Making a deck out of wood here is about like putting a large dessert out for the termites. Also, the maintenance of applying "wood preservative/conditioners" is not much fun. The sun and rain tears hell out of the wood deck structure. Besides the sun, it also rains here "on occasion" (it's been raining pretty steadily here for the last two weeks). Floridians MUST apply the "Thomsons" (sp?), or some equivalent, wood preservative AT LEAST once a year. If not the wood discolors, splinters, and kind of "falls apart". I know. My dock at my place on Miami Beach (Parkview Island) is wood and requires A LOT of attention. The salt air and sun are bad for wood products. Trust me.
Also, these wood preservatives are NOT environmentally friendly.
Regards. |
