Complete Landscape Renovation with Sport Court & Outdoor Living in Millcreek

Composite decking combines polymer materials with wood-based content — typically reclaimed wood fiber and plastic. The wood fiber contributes to the board's natural appearance and texture, but it also means the material can respond to moisture and temperature differently than a fully synthetic product.

TimberTech Advanced PVC collections — Vintage, Landmark, and Harvest+ — use fully synthetic PVC construction with no wood fiber at all. That difference in composition affects how the board handles moisture exposure, how it behaves in wet or pool-adjacent applications, its weight, and how it responds to heat.

Neither material is universally better. The right choice depends on the specific project: the site conditions, the application, the aesthetic goals, and how the deck will be used. We evaluate both options on every project where decking is part of the scope.

Both systems address the same problem — keeping the space below an elevated deck dry — but they do it from different positions in the assembly.

Trex RainEscape is an above-joist system. Troughs and downspouts are installed between the joists, above the framing, before the decking goes down. Water that falls on the deck surface is collected in the trough system and routed away through downspouts before it ever reaches the space below. Trex publishes a 25-year limited residential warranty on RainEscape.

TimberTech DrySpace is an under-deck system. It is installed below the decking and joist area, collecting water that passes through the deck surface and routing it away from the space below. TimberTech publishes a 25-year limited residential warranty on DrySpace.

The two systems are not interchangeable. The right approach depends on whether the deck is new construction or an existing structure, the framing configuration, and what the homeowner wants to do with the space below. For new construction, the above-joist approach of RainEscape integrates more cleanly into the framing design. For an existing elevated deck, DrySpace may be the more practical retrofit option.

If you are planning an elevated deck with usable space below, include that in the scope conversation from the start.

WUI stands for Wildland-Urban Interface — the zone where developed residential areas meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland vegetation. In Utah, a significant portion of the Wasatch Front falls within or adjacent to WUI zones, and local jurisdictions may require or recommend building materials that meet specific fire-performance standards.

WUI compliance and flame-spread classifications are product-specific and collection-specific — not brand-wide claims. TimberTech's published fire performance data, for example, lists Vintage and Landmark Advanced PVC as WUI compliant, Class A flame-spread rated, and ignition resistant. Other TimberTech collections carry different classifications. Trex Transcend Lineage and Transcend carry WUI/fire-performance classification. Other Trex collections do not.

If your property is in a WUI zone or your jurisdiction has specific fire-performance requirements for decking, we evaluate the exact collection and product specification against those requirements — not a general brand claim.