Elk Crosstibers Decking & Timbertech Railings - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Stickman · 03-22-2008, 09:13 PM

I will be working with two products in the up coming weeks of which are both new to me. Any thoughts on the products or tips would be great.

The first being the decking material which is by Elk and is called Crosstimbers The Orginal. This system uses the EZ-Build™ or Sabre™ clip concealed fasteners to secure the boards. http://www.elkcorp.com/products/deck...mbers_deck.cfm

The second being the Railing system which by Timbertech and is called the Radiance Railing system.
http://www.timbertech.com/Products/R...ianceRail.aspx

This install is on a large deck that is being refaced. The deck sits approx 2 foot off ground level. Deck is approx 35 wide x 15 deep. The railing system will be installed on the sides only. The entire front of the deck will be stairs. The stairs are a add on to the original layout of the deck and will be on 12"oc as per elk specs. Any tips or thoughts on the products or installation of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

buildenterprise · 03-23-2008, 06:38 AM

Get some pics on here for us if you can, we love to see before and after pics.

MALCO.New.York · 03-23-2008, 06:48 AM

"Elk". Nuff said!

Stickman · 03-23-2008, 10:23 AM

For sure many pictures will be taken. The deck is ripped off already not sure If the owner has a photo of it prior but I will have one of the framing prior to the new install.

Malco New York, Can you please explain yourself further, this is new to me and I would be greatly apprecative to know ahead of time if if there was some history about this stuff.

**BuiltByMAC** · 03-23-2008, 10:48 AM

Start here...

TT Radiance Rail is a nice system, they're coming out with three new colors next month. Black and White are available now... Sandridge (light tan), River Rock (grey) and Mt. Cedar (brown) will be available soon. These colors will match the TT XLM decking for a color-coordinated look.

Mac

Stickman · 03-23-2008, 11:10 AM

Thanks for all the tips and info, keep it coming.

RobertCDF · 03-23-2008, 03:52 PM

I think cross timbers is a crappy product. They just redid their manufacturing and brought it up to crappy from horrible.
Buddy of mine has done a few more and is having issues with some of it crumbling (less than 6 months old) it stains easy and is just generally crappy.

Mr. D · 03-23-2008, 08:51 PM

read and follow the installation instructions. then after a year it should start looking like pooh anyhow. i will only do composite if, wait i won't do composite decking ever again.

buildenterprise · 03-23-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. D

read and follow the installation instructions. then after a year it should start looking like pooh anyhow. i will only do composite if, wait i won't do composite decking ever again.

Good luck getting anywhere in the deck-building business then....

RobertCDF · 03-23-2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. D

read and follow the installation instructions. then after a year it should start looking like pooh anyhow. i will only do composite if, wait i won't do composite decking ever again.

Just work with a QUALITY brand. Then maybe you can make some more money.

Stickman · 03-24-2008, 09:47 AM

I am more concerned with the instalation end of it then the product. The material has been bought already. As for the reviews I am not sure what to say as I have read many GREAT reviews on the product online, off this site.

RobertCDF · 03-24-2008, 09:12 PM

I did not like the install very much. It seems like the stuff grows and shrinks while you are working with it. We started adding 1/8" to all numbers for boards over 10' when we were installing cross timbers. I know it was the product because we never had problems with other material we worked with.

Greg Di · 03-24-2008, 09:17 PM

Radiance Rail is easy to install.

Do yourself a favor and make a plywood template for the bracket installations. TT has you use a cardboard template which they give you, but it's not terribly accurate.

Stickman · 03-25-2008, 10:13 AM

Thanks Greg, I will for certain make a better template. Thanks for the great tip. Robert thanks as well man, these are the type of things I am looking to hear. This deck gets full sun for about 3/4 of the day. So I am sure it will have allot of temp changes. Keep the thoughts coming. Looking forward to doing this job as it is my first larger deck job or deck refit or what ever you guys call it in your trade

RobertCDF · 03-25-2008, 10:19 AM

I call them reskins. I don't know what others call it. we don't get to do to many around here because the frames are usually trashed.