Lisa wanted composite for our deck. It's four times the cost of b grade pressure treated (which I wouldn't use).
Personally, I think it's a senseless waste of money. If a young family has kids, it makes great sense to use it for the deck and pickets to save splinters. Aside from that, so long as a deck gets good traffic and is UV treated/stained when it needs it (not months or years after it needs it like most guys do it), it makes no sense at all.
A properly cared for deck will last forever if a person puts one weekend a year into caring for it. It just gets better looking as it ages, too.
This is said provided the deck is built right. Cups down, drilled/piloted and screwed-not nailed, extra foundation support, and crossbracing wherever you have starts and stops. The more crossbracing a guy can work in, the better.
If at all possible, it's best to never have a seam in the decking, period. If you do, it should be facemitered.
All the little stuff adds up to a super high quality product that can be enjoyed for a lifetime, even if it costs a little more. Add up all the cost for the little extras to do it right, and you'll still not come up with a price that looks like you used.
That all said, I love the way some composite looks for the first few years. I'm not crazy about how it looks when it snags and scratches though.
Take all that for what it's worth, it's just my personal preference and experience.
This is yet another "smoke what you like, like what you smoke" thing. If you really like composite and have seen it in action and it's performing well and it'll bring you joy, by all means, use it.
Just don't buy the "zero maintenance" thing. You still have to take care of staining the stuff under the deck, and you still have to clean the stuff real good with a mild cleaner and scrubber and light pressure washer.
It's not a work saver, regardless what they try to sell ya.
