JCT

I am new to the site (have 30+ years in business.) I am searching for contractors/deck builders/homeowners who have had significant problems with eon decking mfg, by CPI Plastics Group (Cracking railings/cladding etc.)to post below or contact me at your earliest convenience. voice: 412-653-7379 email: newlife@a1usa.net

Sincerely,

New Life Decks, Inc.

John C. Thomas

bob the builder

First time I installed E-on was this past summer and no problems yet. I have gone to 3 decks that were already installed. I was there to determine if it is a bad product or if the installer was 2 blame. 1 deck is going to be taken off and IPE installed without refund. The other is trying to take installer 2 court for reimburstment, and the other is just trying to get a full refund from E-ON and still working on it. I only saw 1 cracked railing but it was toe screwed and EON says let it float. Cladding on all decks I looked at were cracked but they were not slotted per specs. Basically the customers didn't like the huge gaps on butt seams, surface scratches (which EON said will disappear), creaks when walking. Oh also this deck gives a shock during certain tempatures so grounding the deck is recommended, strange as that sounds. I will save your # and let you know if I have any new information that may be pertainent to your situation...

Bob

JCT

Thanks Bob (the builder)

99% sure the correct answer would be "BAD PRODUCT"...

I'd sure like to talk to the installer who was told to "float" the railings. You see doing so not only negates following the installation guide which then leaves the door open to "voiding the warranty..." (BEEN DOWN THAT ROAD!) As well, the system was never intended to be installed in a "free-floating" method as structurally it cannot maintain the same load!!!

HEY!!! Tell your customer that you are going to Free-Float the replacement rails that have cracked--- What do you think their response would be??? I know they wouldn't hire you back and could likely trash your reputation...

This is the same B.S. response my company received after rails cracked a second time (free-float the rails) I feel this response concludes without a doubt that eon/CPI Plastics Group well knows this is indeed a problem. I firmly believe that the company put the product out to market without fully testing and developing the product to withstand the contractive stresses of colder northern climate winters without cracking---

As for the cladding, I have the original instriction sheet ---YES SHEET (both sides of an 8-1/2x 11" paper) that states NOTHING as to slotted holes for expansion. We were all used as GUINEA PIGS while eon fiddled with the installation guide ---now 22 pages to protect their A$$es.

Finally, I really do feel sorry for the guy being sent to court. Most likely he just got caught in the middle and never ever concluded the massive movement this material has over hot/cold temperature swings would cause the tremendous damage that it does. Please keep me informed

John Thomas
newlife@a1usa.net

Tralene

The more we learn the more we earn
We would be interested in hearing more about this products failures

bob the builder

Apparently this company is going down hill fast...I wonder if all of the warrenty claims are going to be the killer. They claim to have fixed the fading issues with a new U.V. inhibitor and only time will tell. I don't think I mentioned how much melting occurs when cutting. It certainly gums up the blade. Keep some oil handy when cutting, they explain all this in installation manual. It is shipped with plastic to protect the good side of decking, and that's because it scratches so easily. It also seems to chip easier than any other decking I have worked with. Must I keep going. They are marketing to big box stores if that is any indication of there goal to sell to the ignant. I would still however install the product if customer is insistant on it, because after all it is a fine looking product...

Bob

delange

We have been using EON for several years with incredible success. Beautiful colors with almost no fading. Yes, it scratches but amazingly goes away. Don't get gas on it (lot of jet skis down here in palm beach) because it can melt the plastic. Fascia boards on edge really provides a finished look. Don't have the severe temperature changes so cannot speak for the expansion problems. We have not seen a single crack, either. Who cares about a little melted plastic on a saw blade??! Every dock install gets us five more.

Stone Mountain

I had similar problems with EON 5 years ago. Simple solution: DON'T use EON.

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DeckBuilderMan

I read these with interest. While I have not issues with eON products, I tried to glean specifics.

I can clearly tell the main poster has issues with eON. But he seems to protest too strongly, which makes me wonder if it is something else. Maybe he only sells competitor products, or was fired previously from that company, or is paid by a competitor.

It just doesn't sound right. Let's just say his story sounds "biased."

So, what if your saw blade gets some buildup? We do with many composite products.

He didn't say anything about the decking material.

What I read is he is concerned about a decking rail that split. In fact, twice in the same location of the deck within a year. That sounds suspect, even if the product was defective.

Maybe a rail did split on him twice, but his response doesn't sound measured.

I wish the other guy who said he problems for 5 years would be specific. I have a major job that HO wants eON, and I am about to use that product again. Wish the discussion was a bit more rationale and specific, so we could use this information.

Respectfully,

David Hamilton

DecksEtc

How long have you worked for eON???

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RobertCDF

I was thinking the same thing... Funny how these type of threads do that. Comapany reps rarely notice the date. They just see their product getting slammed and must bring it up that its no so bad... Its just us idiot contractors.

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Colorado Springs Custom Decks
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Greg Di

I will no longer install Eon.

Too many problems with it.

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deckman22

The last time I looked at their website you could see major gaps between the decking & skirt board on their model deck. That stuff shrinks more than any decking I've ever seen. I would not even think of using it.

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DeckBuilderMan

Deckman 22 describes something real. Shrinkage and gaps.

the other guys say meaningless comments, like I dont use it anymore too many problems.

I don't work for eON and im actually encouraging you state the problems. Be specific. What is bad about the product.

If it is just one guy who is super pissed about the company not the product, then I say Ok, he had some bad experience with their claims desk or something and now is on a mission to trash a company.

But if 10 different people are giving specific claims, like static electricity problem, or too flammable, or cracks in winter, then sounds like product problems that we all want to know about. Simple claims about products sucks are meaningless.

I have poured burning cooking oil on several products. Also dropped ketchup, a burrito, as well as boiling water.

The boiling water did nothing to all the decking materials.

The burrito and ketchup after about 10 minutes left bad stains on ALL composites.

Worst of all was the cooking oil. All of the composites left a permament terrible mark. So bad, you would have to consider replacing the board.

While both eON and Azek just washed off. Its an impressive test. THe PVCs performed better than the composites on these tests.

Try if for yourself.

Issues I have heard of both Azek and eON are both arent very strong. They sag. carry a 20 footer and you have to hold it above your head to keep it from the ends hitting the ground.

You have to build structure at 12" OC, no matter what manufacturer says. if you don't you get the sag and noise of decking bending under weight between joists.

If it is big temperature swing like Minnesota, super cold, super hot in summer, then I would say PVCs shrink/grow too much for butt end to end.
So use breaker board or design it differently or dont use those products.

As far as fire ratings, I have heard that PVCs are bad. I poured boiling water (some joker says his house burned down because his kids put a styrofoam cup of noodles and let it sit on a PVC deck to cool and caught fire. What BS), and poured hot cooking oil and even a torch. The wood products caught fire BEFORE the PVC. So these claims that it catchs fire too easily are also crap.

My view is to go with wood, or PVC that looks like real wood. Too many problems with Composites (mildew, mold, stains, doesnt look real, and way too hot to stand on barefoot in direct heat).

Dave Hamilton

neolitic

Here are a few more detailed opinions.
http://www.contractortalk.com/f50/correct-deck-vs-eon-27266/

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John Hyatt

Is there Anyone using Eon that has not had problems with it??, besices this sales rep.

On another deck site that got shut down by the spamer bandits,sigh, the Nat eon sales rep go on saying the same Bul#%it this guy is throwing up after a few posts he actually recomended using crayons to fix the scratches or for really deep ones a wax stick from home cheppo. Belive me we did not let that guy go. We had a great time on the 100 year party for the invention of Crayons. J.

amulree

Although I work/live in Charlotte, NC I used this product at our lake house about 60 miles of Toronto-approximately 1500sf plus stairs. Installed 2005. We had used ipe in Charlotte but it was more difficult to get there and this product was highly recommended by Home Depot-exclusive retailer. It looks great but I would not recommend it to anyone! Problems: It easily cracks in cold temperature; I have had problems with boards and fascia cladding; When it is wet it is slippery; Boards expand and contract and is very very slippery with snow on it; It scratches and does not clean well; It stains easily.
I have no problem spending money for a quality product but this is not a quality product - and I spent a lot of money! I am going to get a few more years out of it and then replace it.

Dmax Consulting

What is eon decking? Is it wood or composite?

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jclem

[quote=amulree;469966] and this product was highly recommended by Home Depot-exclusive retailer.


I don't know about anyone else, but for me this would've been a major red flag saying "stay away from this product".

I've only seen one Eon deck. It was on a 2yr old, $2 million plus house. Most of the deck was under a roof, but it still didn't look very good--large gaps, a couple lifting planks, some split ends in both railings and planks. Perhaps this was all due to installer error, I don't know (I wasn't there to work on the deck, so these are just casual observations), but I do know that I don't plan on trying Eon.

Dave Bartnik

Eon seems to have the highest expansion/contraction of all the composites. In fact calling it a composite itself is wrong as it is all plastic. It melts and binds to saw blades like none of the other 18 brands I've worked with. In the Ontario climate, the boards constantly make noise as they rub against the clips. "Crick crack" all day long. If you happen to install aluminum railings on it, watch out! It will shear the lag bolts right off. An EON customer service rep. once called me to do a repair to a deck that another builder made. They offered me $2.00/sq. ft. to remove all the decking and then put silicone caulking along every joist surface and re-lay the decking. This was to minimize the noise complaints from the owner. I wouldn't do it for twice the money. The amount of static electricity that builds up on this product is shocking - ha ha. If you really insist working with this product, get a very low tooth count blade and almost hack through it to make your cuts. Design your deck so that there are no butt joints. Better yet, use Azek.

Orville

Eon and any other manufacturer has to defend their product in this day and age. They search the internet to find disgruntled clients that squalk and then minimize and discredit them. This public forum is full of manufacturer reps that print their responses and improve their bonuses by quelling dissention.

Terry and Dave are part of our Builder Group and collectively we are working pretty much only with Azek and even with that we have a waiver signed that confirms that we will charge them an hourly rate to replace any man made product that proves to be defective.

We are not the manufacturers and I for one believe that if a manufacturer creates something that proves to be defective--they should pay to replace it.

My Major problem with Eon was due to their marketing.

decks-fences.blogspot.com/2007/02/false-advertising-by-eon-cpi-plastics.html

The other reason, aside from reacting with UV that I personally wouldn't use or reccomend it is the cheap sound when you walk on it. I heard a client refer to it as orgasmic-- that it groans all day as the sun moves across it.

Here's an attractive photo of an Eon deck installed by a home-owner and coached through the process by Home Depot.

decks-fences.blogspot.com/search?q=eon

Expansion is an issue.

L