Has anyone ever used CALI brand LVP?
This brand has been around for a while! No experience with their LVP, but we seriously considered getting their decking material. I ordered the samples and was impressed with the quality. We eventually went with a different material because it was one of the choices our contractor had (and we liked the contractor a lot). An acquaintance used their bamboo flooring and raved about how dog proof it was.
I would order a few samples of their LVP and check how scratch resistant it is. Scratching seems to be the biggest issue with LVP.
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Can we talk about fences and decks here?
We are getting ready to put a privacy fence up between us and our neighbors, because they cut all of the lower branches off a bunch of trees that used to go much closer to the ground, and their backyard is not a pleasant site to view.
We are thinking Cedar, because supposedly it lasts longer than pine.
That means around the perimeter of our back yard we will have 3 different types of fence - one section of split rail with mesh to keep dogs in, one very old section of privacy fence, and now the cedar.
Any opinions on whether the various fences will impact the sale of our house? We considered white PVC also, bc it’s pretty close to maintenance free, but my H really doesn’t like that option.
Also - deck. It sounds like it will cost $40K-ish (or more) to replace our deck (it’s close to 675 SF). We’ve been told PVC would be much better than TREX. Do others agree with that? Part of the reason we are thinking of doing the deck is because our current one is well over 20 years old, and it looks old. Right now we wind up paying a couple thousand every couple of years to maintain it. We are thinking it could be a detractor from sale also, so we figure we might as well replace it and get some use out of it before we sell. (We have no idea when we will sell, but it MAY be in the next 5 years). Do people think a newer deck would help improve sale? The fence guy who came to give us the fence estimate said that since COVID people really value their outdoor living spaces more than they used to.
Thanks for any opinions.
1214mom, where are you geographically? What types of decks do you see in the listings of homes for sale? Maybe there’s something that “fits” your neighborhood?
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We live in Maryland. I just verified we are considered a HCOL area. We are starting to pay attention to what exists around here, but we tend to like worrying about travel much more than home projects :).
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We inherited a cedar fence along 3/4 of the yard. It’s over 10 years old and looks great and has held up really well. We did have one section come down when hit by a large tree branch in a storm but it was easy to have just that one section replaced.
The other 1/4 is a black iron rail fence that the neighbors installed on the shared property line before we moved in. I don’t love that it isn’t one continuous product but that is the norm in our neighborhood and doesn’t seem to impact property values. I particularly didn’t like the iron rail fence because of the lack of privacy but we planted evergreens, shrubs and vines so in the summer you can barely see the fence at all.
We have a Trex like (it’s not Trex but a competitor) composite decking for our landing and stairs going down to our brick patio and it looks the same as the day we installed it 7 years ago. We’e been pleased. Didn’t consider PVC so can’t speak to comparing the products.
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We have friends who put in ducted central air…and when they did that they also converted to forced hot air heating…and removed all of the steam radiators. It created a nice clean line of floor space.
@momofboiler1 yes, they give good heat, but some folks don’t like the look
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You need the advice of a civil engineer to know what’s underground…and a structural engineer to let you know what kind of structure will be a sound one. If you are working with an architect, please be sure you have these other two professionals on the team.
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If the deck is not falling apart and can be maintained, I don’t think you should replace it solely for the sake of selling the house. We hired a contractor to rebuild our rotting cedar deck because the previous owners who built it weren’t taking care of it. It has not been stained since it was installed. Unsealed cedar decking in our rainy PNW area means quick rot and demise. I spent several days cleaning and staining the large-ish (about 1,600 sft) deck after we purchased the house. It lasted a few years with my annual maintenance, but I was concerned that grandkids can end up with splinters in their feet… plus the deck was clearly on its last legs. We spent a small fortune on the rebuild, but the investment was worth it for us. We initially wanted to use a CALI decking, but our contractor had a few other composites they could get faster, so we picked from that. We went with a decking material by a company called Dekorators. It is Trex-like material that has higher mineral content and came in colors we liked. It also felt less slippery than other composite decking materials, which is important in our rainy climate.
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@1214mom I’m with your husband regarding white vinyl fencing. It looks great in photos but in practice will get dusty and even moldy and will have to be scrubbed and cleaned periodically. I’d rather look at grey cedar fence than dirty white vinyl. 
I’m surprised pine is even an option for a fence! Here, that wood would be rotten in a couple of years. Cedar lasts longer, but will need annual staining unless one wants it to become naturally grey.
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We love our Trex deck! Zero maintenance and the person who installed it said it was much easier to work with than any of the competitors’ products. We are aware we will not recoup the price when we sell, but it for us, and it is much more attractive than aging wood.
Regarding fencing, have you considered well placed hemlocks? They grow fast and in our yard they provide an eye pleasing screen from the neighboring yard.
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We replaced a large deck on an oceanfront property with Trex decking three years ago. I was concerned that it would look fake against the shingled house. It actually looks great and has held up well. It’s used as a vacation rental and many guests are repeat guests and we have gotten positive feedback. Fixing the old deck was going to be expensive and the Trex material will hopefully last a very long time.
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Our friends just recently sold their house with a composite deck that was built in 1996 by the original owner. I believe that was the earliest Trex decking. They had that house since Y2K, and when they sold it, the 30 year old deck still looked great.
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Regarding the fencing: If you think you might replace the other sections of fence one of these days, consider what you’d like the whole yard to be fenced with and select that material.
Regarding the deck: We had a pressure-treated wood deck in this house for 12 years and the upkeep and occasional board replacement was driving me nuts. Two years ago we had it completely replaced with Fiberon, which is Home Depot’s version of Trex. It looks great and, if it needs it, can easily be washed with soapy water and a brush. That said, it did cost a bloody fortune, but hopefully we’ll never have to do anything to it.
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The neighbor already has tall trees where we would need to plant them - they just cut off the bottom several feet of branches for some reason. I think wife said they were rotting.
I’ve been told that PVC is actually “better” than TREX, but my “going in” position was I wanted TREX.
Has anyone done PVC or compared TREX to it?
This is a good comparison of PVC and composite materials:
For some reason it looks like a link to pergolas but it is not.
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It seems like our bathroom remodel is finally going forward. We’ve been waiting for a particular person for months and it seems that we are at the front of the queue!
My problem? I am incredibly indecisive and second guess all my decisions. I know once we get the cabinets ordered, everything will fall into place. I’m still undecided if I want white cabinets or sage? Do I want to paint my oak window or not? I have tile picked out that is large neutral color and champagne bronze fixtures. The cabinets will be ordered on Tuesday of next week!
Another picture
The oak trimmed window I’m thinking of painting. Note that all of the windows in the house have this trim. Chat GPT says to replace the floors with hardwood (or tile in the bathroom) before I commit to painting them. They think they might work in this house. I would rather not paint all the windows in the house if I can get away with it
