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Sorry Spence, but dat's what we in the trades face in every bid. I build with Weather Best for my composit deck products, but you're not off base with the materials price. I have one job where the client wants me to just remove and redeck and put on new composite rails, thinking he's going to save money...but the PT is the cheapest part of the job. I fear he might be paying up if we have to mess around with existing structure/framing that isn't good enough to receive the new deck screws... The rails systems are expensive (110 for 6' plus sleeves) but they are slick and you aren't going to need any maintenance, (just watch out for hamburger grease, does stain) Ratio for materials/labor including demo and disposal Generally runs about 50/50 on a job like that.
That said, these composites have been around for 5-6 years, so we really don't KNOW what their lifespan is, but so far so good all but the very early products. Gotta agree with Steve on the mahogany though,,,, nice wood and at BIG discount from fir. Just my .02
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