That fancy composite decking at my sister's place in Denver looked awful after 2 winters

I visited my sister last month and she spent nearly $9,000 on one of those high end composite deck brands. It looked great in the showroom but up close the boards were fading unevenly and there were these weird chalky streaks all over. She said she power washes it every spring but it still looks worse than my treated pine deck that I stain every other year. The color was supposed to be a warm brown but it turned this weird grayish tan. I mean, I get that you don't want to maintain wood, but paying that much for something that fades like a cheap t-shirt seems off. Anyone else seen composite decking go south after a few seasons, or did she just pick a bad brand? Is there a trick to keeping that stuff from fading, or is it just marketing hype? I'm about to redo my own deck and now I'm second guessing the whole upgrade.

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piper_kim21d ago

Did she happen to check what the actual warranty says about fading, cause most of those composite brands have fine print that basically says some color change is expected and not covered? I looked into this myself when my neighbor put in that Trex stuff and now I'm wondering if the chalky streaks are from using a regular pressure washer with too much PSI, which can actually eat the protective layer off the boards. Did she use one of those surface cleaners or just a straight nozzle, cause that makes a huge difference in how fast the color goes. Also, is her deck facing south or west where it gets hammered by sun all day, because I've seen the same brand hold up way better on a north facing porch. I'm not saying composite is all hype, but the marketing really plays up the no maintenance thing while skipping over the fact that you still gotta baby it with specific cleaners and soft brushes. Before you drop your own money, I'd ask the dealer straight up what their personal deck looks like after three seasons, not what the brochure says.