"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Teak decks look wonderful. All wooden decks looks great, even pitch pine.
Nothing provides better sure footing than wood. The down fall of all
wooden decks is the maintenance and cost. The total cost of wooden deck
ownership in comparison to steel, aluminum or fiberglass can easily exceed
5 times over time. The best of the available woods is teak. All others
will cost more in the end, there is no free lunch. I am also certain many
will disagree with me. I have a teak deck and I did it well. Ignore my
advise at your own risk. I can write a book on the lessons I have learned.
Please don't respond to me about teak over the top of other materials,
that just makes the problems even worse.
Steve

"mmc" wrote in message
g.com...
I've heard cherry is a good alternative to teak and was wondering about
using the plastic deck lumber for things like handholds, toe and rub
rails.
Anyone here have experience with plastic lumber for exterior trim?


Thanks Steve,
I was more thinking for the plastic about hand rails, maybe toe and rub
rails for very run of the mill production small boats. Something I wouldn't
spend big teak bucks on.
For the cherry, I have a 40 year old little classic sail boat that I'm
wanting to replace all the topside wood on but don't want to have more into
a refit than the boat is worth. I haven't priced the lumber I need yet and
teak may work out or might go with one of the mahoganys. I don't care to
deal with a true hardwood or anything that isn't an attractive (to my eyes)
color.
I like teak decks, but they're not a first choice in FL.

If you want to stick with a real wood, but save a lot of money, I'd
recommend IPE. It is a LOT cheaper than teak, but holds up similarly
well in a marine environment.

Actually I was going to ask about Ipe but couldn't remember the name! I like
the look from the pics I've seen.
Thanks Salty.