Front Porch: Composite Decking, GeoDeck, Fairway Vinyl Railings, no maintenance, front porches, porch designs

Incidentally, notice the use of the beautiful gray composite decking. Low maintenance is the way to go. I don't recommend borrowing money, but if it takes getting a loan to afford composite decking... then do it. Why? Simple: The cost of painting or staining will eventually eat up the difference between pressure treated and composite. And from that "break even" point on you are throwing money away that you could have been saving. From an investment stand point it makes very good sense. What is that "break even" point? My calculations tell me it is 1 to 2 years depending on what you paint or stain with and whether or not you do it yourself. But after two years you are essentially throwing money away if you did not build with a low maintenace composite material.

I'll tell you something else, too, while I'm at it. You may balk at the extra expense of going composite and vinyl, but you will get your money back (and then some) when you sell. Think about it: No/low maintenance decks and porches are only becoming more popular every year (industry is growing 25% a year). How attractive will your house be to a buyer if your deck or porch is in pressure treated that they KNOW they will be maintaining? How attractive will it be if it is in vinyl or composite? How much more will you sell the house for if it is composite/vinyl? It makes a tremendous amount of sense to go no/low maintenance and go composite/vinyl now. You will save while you live there and you will recoup your investment when you sell.

Incidentally, due to problems with other composites, we only recommend one: GeoDeck flooring and railings and Fairway Vinyl Railings. Click on the links to learn more.