I have a trex deck at my main house (10 years old) and there is significant but minor-in-degree warping. My deck is grey and it looks a lot like wood. It has a rougher grain than what is on the boardwalk and thus looks more realistic.
RR: Thank you for explaining the relationship of wisdom to age. Your “warning” will come in handy in the future. But I never said anything about age. I said that the “adults in the room” made a responsible decision by weighing all the factors and then making the best choice for all concerned.
That’s all there is to it—it’s just an expression.
I have yet to hear any validated reasons why Trex is “better” than wood. Sure, the manufacturer has a limited warranty for 10 years (not the 25 years that I have heard many mistakenly touting). That’s not so good. And this new board formulation has only been around for what, 2 years? (and don’t tell me “they got it right” this time. It’s way to early to tell how it will age).
To Dr. Carol’s point, I have heard many complaints that Trex is more slippery than wood when icy/slushy (due to the underlying water layer sliding so freely on the plastic). Frankly, that’s just common sense.
And Paul, your implication that adults know best needs to be tempered with the warning that “wisdom and old age don’t always come hand in hand. Sometimes old age arrives on its own” 🙂
I’m a 4-season hard-core boardwalk fan. The only time I *don’t* use the OG boardwalk is when it’s completely impassable because of snow and ice. I never noticed that the “test” (?) composite segment north of the pavilion was any more slippery than any of the wooden decking. (But since it gets covered in water, sand and ice, the terrazzo floor in the Casino ruin is slippery much of the time.)
I did manage to catch the toe of my sneaker on an irregularity on the weathered wooden decking on the north boardwalk this past Sunday — ice isn’t the only thing users need to be cautious about.
Paul,
You write I am not an adult because I prefer wood or because I do not agree with you or the 125 to 58 majority who prefer (accept) Trex.
I consider that somewhat childish.
I installed a Trex deck at my home (not in OG, of course) about 10 years ago. The material develops mildew spots that are difficult to clean and very unsightly, and it is incredibly slippery when it is icy out. I hope the newer Trex doesn’t have these issues.
Fat Al. That’s a given. Trex looks phony, and wood has charisma and character. If appearance were the only criteria, then, as you say, wood would be the way. In fact, in 1992, when the OG boardwalk was destroyed, wood was the only choice.
I have so many wonderful memories up on the Coney Island boardwalk many years ago. We were kids, always in our bare feet and living with the constant risk of splinters. My mom was good at removing them. But the wood boardwalk had a certain feel to it as you walked and it even made a certain sound as sandals clacked on the surface. The wood boardwalk had a patina derived from falling ice cream, pizza, potato knishes, and millions of wet/sandy feet. On Tuesday evenings we would go up on the boards and watch fireworks sent aloft from a barge out in the ocean.
Sometimes the sand would get so hot that you could not walk on it…..you ran to the nearest cool zone, usually, as described by the Drifters, under the boardwalk. And sometimes the wood boardwalk also got painfully hot. And don’t forget the smell in the air which came from cotton candy, suntan lotion, and all the foods: hot dogs, pizza, corn on the cob. Some people say that wood boardwalks have a certain smell, but it’s hard to dissect out all the components that made up the fragrance in the air.
Children remember the aromas, tastes,textures and visuals of their world when they grew up. That’s nostalgia, and wooden boardwalks are part of that mix for many of us who went to the ocean in the summer.
For teenagers, the admixture included a potent dose of eroticism stoked by the visuals combined with the other sensory stimuli producing a potent happy mixture of feelings without much insight. When you’re young, you go with the flow and the mystery. No need to worry about anything else. No wonder so many of us crave a wooden boardwalk. It reminds us of the sheer joy of being kids at the beach.
But now, Trex seems like the best choice for a variety of reasons, and you all should know that it is more expensive than wood. This is not a money-saving decision, at least not for the short term.
Like Fat Al says, wood is the visual/emotional favorite, but Trex is the choice of the adults in the room. —Paul
I can’t speak to the quality/durability/cost of the synthetic boards (which alone might fully justify the choice), but I do agree that they are not the best-looking choice.
I’m very happy to have a boardwalk of any stripe, but as someone who walks barefoot everywhere all year long, I’m sorry that the new “boards” are so hot. I can walk barefoot over glass; I can walk barefoot through snow; but ironically, the new Ocean Grove boardwalk will be one of the few places on Earth where I will need to wear shoes.
Bob: The safety issue hasn’t been discussed much, but there was considerable danger last summer as people walked on Ocean Avenue along with bikers, all of whom were dodging the cars including those which were parking, unparking, turning,stopping and accelerating. On Main Avenue also, despite the signs, there are many who won’t stop for a pedestrian. Cars, people and tight spaces (which exist all over the Grove) don’t mix very well, and the oceanfront last season was a worrisome place. The new boardwalk will make a big difference.
Oh My: It only took 92 days to build the Great Auditorium in the winter of 1893-1894. The iron work took 20 days, and no work was allowed on Sundays. (ref: “The Great Auditorium” —the definitive source of information on “Ocean Grove’s Architectural Treasure” by Bell,Bell, and Dufresne, 2012. Available at at the Historical Society of Ocean Grove museum.
The Trex weathers to a more toned-down color from what I’ve found. North of the pavillion, there is a (test?) section of boardwalk that appears to be a gray composite boardwalk decking of some type, and I don’t think it’s weathered into something particularly attractive.
I wouldn’t really care too much if the new boardwalk is pink, as long as we can avoid a physical interaction with an out-of-state driver who isn’t familiar with NJ pedestrian traffic laws.
I think the boardwalk should be wood. I will miss the smell of the wood as you walked along. Asbury has a beautiful boardwalk; why not pick that wood/ Trex boards lose their shape and are hot to walk on.
At this point, I couldn’t care less what it’s covered with. I’m reminded of the line from Rex Harrison to Chuck Heston in The Agony and The Ecstasy, When will you make an end! Seems like the slowest construction project in history of the town! Well, except for the Parkview, of course.
My friends who work in the local ER are happy with the Trex. They used to pull a lot of boardwalk splinters out.
I have a trex deck at my main house (10 years old) and there is significant but minor-in-degree warping. My deck is grey and it looks a lot like wood. It has a rougher grain than what is on the boardwalk and thus looks more realistic.
RR: Thank you for explaining the relationship of wisdom to age. Your “warning” will come in handy in the future. But I never said anything about age. I said that the “adults in the room” made a responsible decision by weighing all the factors and then making the best choice for all concerned.
That’s all there is to it—it’s just an expression.
I have yet to hear any validated reasons why Trex is “better” than wood. Sure, the manufacturer has a limited warranty for 10 years (not the 25 years that I have heard many mistakenly touting). That’s not so good. And this new board formulation has only been around for what, 2 years? (and don’t tell me “they got it right” this time. It’s way to early to tell how it will age).
To Dr. Carol’s point, I have heard many complaints that Trex is more slippery than wood when icy/slushy (due to the underlying water layer sliding so freely on the plastic). Frankly, that’s just common sense.
And Paul, your implication that adults know best needs to be tempered with the warning that “wisdom and old age don’t always come hand in hand. Sometimes old age arrives on its own” 🙂
I’m a 4-season hard-core boardwalk fan. The only time I *don’t* use the OG boardwalk is when it’s completely impassable because of snow and ice. I never noticed that the “test” (?) composite segment north of the pavilion was any more slippery than any of the wooden decking. (But since it gets covered in water, sand and ice, the terrazzo floor in the Casino ruin is slippery much of the time.)
I did manage to catch the toe of my sneaker on an irregularity on the weathered wooden decking on the north boardwalk this past Sunday — ice isn’t the only thing users need to be cautious about.
Dr Carol. Would you walk on the OG boardwalk when it’s icy out? Maybe it’s slippery because of the ice?
Ken: Get real. All I meant is that rational reasoning trumps emotional reactions when a decision is to be made in a situation like this one.—Paul
Paul,
You write I am not an adult because I prefer wood or because I do not agree with you or the 125 to 58 majority who prefer (accept) Trex.
I consider that somewhat childish.
I installed a Trex deck at my home (not in OG, of course) about 10 years ago. The material develops mildew spots that are difficult to clean and very unsightly, and it is incredibly slippery when it is icy out. I hope the newer Trex doesn’t have these issues.
Fat Al. That’s a given. Trex looks phony, and wood has charisma and character. If appearance were the only criteria, then, as you say, wood would be the way. In fact, in 1992, when the OG boardwalk was destroyed, wood was the only choice.
I have so many wonderful memories up on the Coney Island boardwalk many years ago. We were kids, always in our bare feet and living with the constant risk of splinters. My mom was good at removing them. But the wood boardwalk had a certain feel to it as you walked and it even made a certain sound as sandals clacked on the surface. The wood boardwalk had a patina derived from falling ice cream, pizza, potato knishes, and millions of wet/sandy feet. On Tuesday evenings we would go up on the boards and watch fireworks sent aloft from a barge out in the ocean.
Sometimes the sand would get so hot that you could not walk on it…..you ran to the nearest cool zone, usually, as described by the Drifters, under the boardwalk. And sometimes the wood boardwalk also got painfully hot. And don’t forget the smell in the air which came from cotton candy, suntan lotion, and all the foods: hot dogs, pizza, corn on the cob. Some people say that wood boardwalks have a certain smell, but it’s hard to dissect out all the components that made up the fragrance in the air.
Children remember the aromas, tastes,textures and visuals of their world when they grew up. That’s nostalgia, and wooden boardwalks are part of that mix for many of us who went to the ocean in the summer.
For teenagers, the admixture included a potent dose of eroticism stoked by the visuals combined with the other sensory stimuli producing a potent happy mixture of feelings without much insight. When you’re young, you go with the flow and the mystery. No need to worry about anything else. No wonder so many of us crave a wooden boardwalk. It reminds us of the sheer joy of being kids at the beach.
But now, Trex seems like the best choice for a variety of reasons, and you all should know that it is more expensive than wood. This is not a money-saving decision, at least not for the short term.
Like Fat Al says, wood is the visual/emotional favorite, but Trex is the choice of the adults in the room. —Paul
I can’t speak to the quality/durability/cost of the synthetic boards (which alone might fully justify the choice), but I do agree that they are not the best-looking choice.
I’m very happy to have a boardwalk of any stripe, but as someone who walks barefoot everywhere all year long, I’m sorry that the new “boards” are so hot. I can walk barefoot over glass; I can walk barefoot through snow; but ironically, the new Ocean Grove boardwalk will be one of the few places on Earth where I will need to wear shoes.
And why the reddish trex instead of the weathered grey test boards?
Bob: The safety issue hasn’t been discussed much, but there was considerable danger last summer as people walked on Ocean Avenue along with bikers, all of whom were dodging the cars including those which were parking, unparking, turning,stopping and accelerating. On Main Avenue also, despite the signs, there are many who won’t stop for a pedestrian. Cars, people and tight spaces (which exist all over the Grove) don’t mix very well, and the oceanfront last season was a worrisome place. The new boardwalk will make a big difference.
Oh My: It only took 92 days to build the Great Auditorium in the winter of 1893-1894. The iron work took 20 days, and no work was allowed on Sundays. (ref: “The Great Auditorium” —the definitive source of information on “Ocean Grove’s Architectural Treasure” by Bell,Bell, and Dufresne, 2012. Available at at the Historical Society of Ocean Grove museum.
The Trex weathers to a more toned-down color from what I’ve found. North of the pavillion, there is a (test?) section of boardwalk that appears to be a gray composite boardwalk decking of some type, and I don’t think it’s weathered into something particularly attractive.
I wouldn’t really care too much if the new boardwalk is pink, as long as we can avoid a physical interaction with an out-of-state driver who isn’t familiar with NJ pedestrian traffic laws.
I think the boardwalk should be wood. I will miss the smell of the wood as you walked along. Asbury has a beautiful boardwalk; why not pick that wood/ Trex boards lose their shape and are hot to walk on.
At this point, I couldn’t care less what it’s covered with. I’m reminded of the line from Rex Harrison to Chuck Heston in The Agony and The Ecstasy, When will you make an end! Seems like the slowest construction project in history of the town! Well, except for the Parkview, of course.
Once a splinter, “always” a splinter.