A new Trex Class Action Lawsuit

I just received this email message in my inbox.  With any luck this lawsuit will actually go somewhere unlike the previous one from Hagens Bermans.


I am an attorney working on the Trex issue and looking for people interested in joining a class action. I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH HAGENS BERMAN'S OFFICE. I am with the Law Offices of Jennifer R. Snyder in the San Francisco Bay Area. Please email be at jennifersnyder10@gmail.com or call 510-825-3822 if you are interested in a Trex action. Jennifer R. Snyder, Esq. 


I informed Jennifer that I would be more than happy to join the class action suit against Trex.  Hopefully I can still join despite the fact that I'm no longer a Trex Deck owner (thank God).  Either way, I'm out $7000 because of their product and refusal to help customers like me.

I stumbled upon this website the other day which has long list of Trex customer complaints regarding their Transcend line.  It's the same story, persistent mold that leaves the owners feeling frustrated and powerless against a company that really doesn't give a rip about customer service or keeping the customers best interests in mind.  I see my "friend" Brittany from Trex has responded a couple of times on this message board.  I think Brittany was the one who ultimately booted a bunch of Trex naysayers off of their Facebook page which in turn spawned the very blog you are reading now.

Please share your experiences on Plumb-n-square's website to get the message out.

Thanks!

Out with the "mold", in with the new.

Well, it's been a long, frustrating journey my friends.  But the Trex saga has come to an end.  At least from my ownership perspective.  The new Ipe deck has been installed at our house and I must say, my wife and I are both very pleased with the results. The picture above is of my original Trex deck.  Blah!  As a reader of this blog, I probably don't need to recap you with the constant nightmare that Trex has proven to be.  The persistant mold, the loss of color, and the eventual deterioration of boards due to multiple applications of bleach-based cleaning solutions. Done!  Finished!  Finito! The next set of pictures are of my newly installed Ipe deck.  What a world of difference!!!  We used Ipe decking with Ipe clips so as not to have an visible screws.  Cedar rail supports with an Ipe finish top rail.  Black aluminum balusters, capped off with some copper post caps. Now according to Trex, mold is an environmental condition that is in no way caused by or encouraged by Trex products.  Okay, fine.  So, here comes the real test with my new deck.  I will do nothing more than sweep my deck and gently hose off for a routine cleaning procedure.  If Trex is correct, that it doesn't matter what material is installed, then I should see black mold covering my deck in approximately 18-24 months.  The clock is ticking Trex.  I'll be very curious to see if my deck turns into a petri dish much like my old deck. Friends and relatives with Ipe decks, or any natural material for that matter, have never has any sort of mold problems with their decks.  Even neighbors who opted for composite material such as Azek haven't had any issues and they are going on three years. I'm told that yearly maintenance for my new deck includes:  washing off with a hose,  and applying penofin oil to bring back the lustrous sheen you see in these pictures.  This type of work is much more acceptable to me than the type of effort I was applying to my Trex deck. The beauty of this is that when I'm done maintaining my deck on an annual basis, I will have something that I can be proud of;  unlike my old Trex deck which after a lot of elbow grease was equivalent to polishing a turd. I hope this blog has been informative and entertaining.  I certainly hope that if you are looking to install a new deck, or replace an existing one, that you weigh all your options carefully before making a decision.  I wish I would have. Cheers!

The circle completes itself.

So the crew that is working to replace my deck has saved several of the Trex decking boards for another person who is interested in repurposing it for his new deck.  Normally I would balk at this and try to talk the guy out of it.  However, since I am not in contact with this gentleman I view this as another way to cheaply get the word out about this poor product.

This poor, unfortunate soul is going to take this free decking and lay it down thinking that he is getting something for nothing; and truly he is.  He's getting a maintenance nightmare for free.  The mold spots are already forming on the deck boards that are in my driveway.  After these boards are installed the mold will continue to increase its presence.  The deck owner will take a couple immediate steps to clean the deck (perhaps a cheap bleach-based cleaning solution) and think that his problem has been solved.  In this case, after about 6-8 weeks his problems are just beginning.

The new deck owner will research, clean, re-clean, and eventually get fed up with the product.  Hopefully telling many people along the way about the troubles he is having with his free Trex decking.

And then the circle will have been completed!  Best of luck new deck owner.  May your word spread faster than the mold on your new deck.

Putting Trex in its place.

Well, today was a monumental day.  Last night I loaded up the last remaining pieces of my Trex deck into my truck.  Let me tell you something, that stuff is heavy!  I had no idea mold weighed so much.  My pickup truck was completely weighted down by all the posts and railings for the deck.

This morning, despite the heavy downpour that was blanketing most of Wisconsin, my day was bright and full of promise!  I was headed to the dump to finally rid myself of Trex product once and for all.

I took a picture of my truck fully loaded at the dump.  You know, a little memento of all the great times my Trex deck and I shared together.  Like that time I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed mold vigirously for a half hour with a bleach and soap solution per the Trex sales reps recommendations.  Or the time that I spent four hours cleaning the entire deck off with Expert Chemical Cleaner which got my deck clean (temporarily) but ended up killing all my grass around the deck.

Ahh, yes, good times indeed.  But as we all know, everything good must come to an end.  Which brings me to my next picture.  It took about 10 minutes of unloading all the Trex product into a dumpster at my local landfill.

I so badly wanted to say "burn in hell" to my dear four-year-old Trex deck, but you may or may not know that Trex does not burn very easily.  Believe me, I tried.

My next parting line was going to be "rot in hell".  Unfortunately, this composite is comprised mainly of recycled milk jugs and other plastic material that will not decompose in our lifetime (or our children's children's lifetimes for that matter).

So in the end I bid a very simple "if I ever see you again in my lifetime it will be too soon, Trex."

While the Trex may be off my property, it will NEVER be off my mind.  Not a discussion about decks or decking material will go by without me sharing my story of Trex decking, the persistent mold, and the poor customer service provided by that company.

With so many other positive products out on the market there really isn't a reason that I can think of for selecting this product.

Cheers to moving forward and some Trex-free living!

Trex and the Social Media Conundrum

Today my neighbor stopped by and eyed up the large pile of Trex decking that was sitting in my yard. Her husband is a DIY kind of guy and she thought that maybe he could use the decking material for a new project. She suggested perhaps he could use the Trex material for a chair. I informed her of all the problems that we've had in the past with our deck and the persistent mold. She mentioned that it was unbelievable that in today's market that a company would not bend over backwards to make right by the customer.

She had heard great things about Trex in the past that they were supposed to have a really good product. I said that might be true now. I too have heard good things about their transcends line of product. So congratulations to Trex for putting out a good product. But what about all the unfortunate customers who purchased one of their inferior products. Don't you think that the best course of action would be to admit you have a bad product, satisfy the customer and move on?

Before social media avenues such as Twitter and Facebook came into our lives a company could get away with upsetting a handful of customers and not having to care. That was so last century, however. In this century consumers have the power to tell hundreds of thousands of people exactly what they think of a companies product via social media. Gone are the days when a company can turn a blind eye to an unhappy customer.

I read an excellent book titled: Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World by Pete Blackshaw.  It discusses this very subject about the powers of social media and how, if a company wants to see the next century (or decade even) it must listen to the voice of the customer and respond appropriately to make things right.

When a group of unhappy customers confronted Trex on their Facebook page, Trex took the 20th century approach and blocked all users posting negative comments from their page.  Essentially burying their heads in the sand; thinking that maybe if they close their eyes the problem would just fix itself or go away.  Bad idea.  Instead what this did was it moved the anger against Trex outside a forum which was under their control.  Customers created their own Facebook pages and website.  They have gone into material supply stores and if they see someone even looking at Trex they will share their story.  Yes indeed, happy customers tell three friends, angry customers tell 3000 strangers.

The power of social media:  listen to your customers and act accordingly or you won't have any customers to listen to.

A fresh pile of Trex Decking.

Look at this pile of garbage in my yard!  And by "garbage" I mean crap.  And by "crap" I mean Trex Decking.

That is my dog Brody in the background.  He took a dump on one of the Trex boards and it instantly increased in value and appeal.

It still really irks me they in which Trex has decided to do business. They have released a shoddy product and instead of doing the right thing, they have chosen to hide behind their warranty.  Despite the fact that many customers have shelled out their hard-earned cash for a product that they were led to believe would be low-maintenance.  I've yet to speak with a Trex customer who is outraged at the fact that there is some maintenance involved with their deck.  Their problem, and mine too, is the amount of work (both time and money) that is required to keep our Trex decks visibly mold free.  It's disgusting and not something any customer should have to deal with.

It has come to my attention that Lowes has started putting pressure on Trex to refund money to customers who purchased Trex material through them.  Huge kudos goes out to Lowes home improvement for sticking up to the little guy.  Unfortunately for me, our builder purchased our Trex decking from "Joes Lumber Yard."  I haven't tried, but I'm guessing Joey isn't going to go to bat for me and try to get my money back.

Bottom line here:  if you purchased your Trex decking from Lowes, Home Depot, or any other major supplier and you are having persistent mold issues please contact your supplier.  They just might be able to help you out.  The money does not come easy however. Reports from customers who were able to procure a refund claim that Trex puts up quite the stall tactics in coughing up the cash.

Stay tuned for exciting developments.

Saying 'Bye Bye Bye' to Trex decking baby!

My persistently moldy Trex deck has been completely cleared off.  Our new deck installers will make short work of removing this shoddy product from my yard.  The IPE is being delivered today, and hopefully we'll have a brand new deck in less than 10 days.

My wife and I are SO excited to finally close the chapter on Trex in our lives.  What a nightmare!  I have had to clean my deck every 6-8 weeks during summer to keep the mold at bay.  These cleaning applications typically take about 4 hours and cost around $200.  That is a far cry from the "maintenance free living" slogan that I was sold on by Trex in the first place.

The company replacing my deck mentioned that they might have a guy who would be willing to take the Trex decking off of my hands.  I told them that I wouldn't give this product to my worst enemy (well, okay, maybe I'd give this to a Trex employee to watch them suffer).  There is no suitable place for this product other than in my local landfill.  I do wish it could be recycled though.  I contacted Trex regarding this but never heard back.  I must have struck a couple of nerves over there.  

That's the update for now.  Please check back in the next couple of weeks to see progress of my new deck being installed.  I look forward to some "Trex Free Living"!

I have just collected three quotes to replace my Trex Deck with Ipe which is a Brazilian hardwood.  I chose this material because it is very hardy/durable, and unlike Trex, it truly is maintenance free.  I can stain the deck once a year to bring back it's lustrous sheen or let it go to a faded gray.  Both look great.  Both are much better options than the current Trex situation.

Now, what about my current trex boards?  I spoke with one decking contractor and he said about the only thing you can do with Trex is toss it in the landfill.  This comment came as no surprise to me; I knew that was really all it was good for anyways.    I plan on renting a dumpster and taking the Trex deck down all by myself. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy removing EVERY screw, board, railing and post on this deck.  I don't know if it's possible to put into words how excited I will be to finally rid my house of Trex and their products.

Please stay tuned as I will post pictures and hopefully videos as I transform my deck into something MUCH better than what it is today.

Snowing in Wisconsin

It's snowing hardcore in Wisconsin right now.  I love it when it snows because that is the only time I like to look out the window at my deck...when it's completely covered by a thick layer of snow.

Every time I look at my Trex deck I throw up a little in my mouth.

Trex Class Action Lawsuit

The following was posted to Facebook from a user group created by angry Trex Deck owners:

"Talked to a gentleman from the attorney's office of Hagens Berman in, I believe California, that is suppose to be handling the lawsuit against TREX.  He claims that th class action lawsuit should be starting very soon.  I told him I had filed for acceptance to the suite and he sent me a questionnaire to fill out and return.  We talked about all the people having issues with TREX and the problems with the mold returning in 6-8 weeks after cleaning.

I also mentioned that when I purchased TREX ACCENT decking in 2007, I was not given any form of warranty and never told about Mold issues or so called "low maintenance" decking.  I was sold on the "maintenance free" decking.  Matter of fact I never received any form of warranty explanation until I filled out a TREX questionnaire and complaint form...they happily slipped one in their return mailing to me...oh, and with denials of any wrong doing."

I have asked this user to keep the group updated regarding this class action.  If it becomes anything I will post information here.

Decking Season 2012!!!

Deck season is just around the corner.  I'm pretty excited for this year!  This is the last year I will be dealing with cleaning my persistently moldy Trex deck!  That's right, I'm completely tearing down my deck and replacing it with real wood.

My train of thought is that if I have to put this much time/energy/money into maintaining a deck I might as well have the real thing.  I'll be building the new deck out Ipe (Brazilian hardwood).

Removing Trex decking products from my property is going to be a monumental day at the household.  If I could, I'd like to ship my cruddy Trex deck to Trex and let them try to deal with it.

Stay tuned for pictures.

Trex Removed from Home Depot Online

A number of customers have complained to Home Depot regarding just how bad a product Trex decking is.  I went out to check some product reviews of Trex on Home Depots website only to find that you can no longer view Trex decking products on their website.  If we were actually able to get Home Depot to remove this product from their website this is a huge win.

My Trex Deck Blog

I built a Trex Deck about four years ago.  Trex billed its decking products at the time as "no-maintenance".  Since then my deck has been a nightmare of persistent mold that requires numerous cleaning materials just to make the deck look presentable.

I have tried to work with Trex regarding their poor product but it has gotten me nothing but more frustration.  I'm short on time now, but I look to use this blog as an entry way to warn other customers about Trex Decking and the many problems they will face with this poor product.