It’s the first real decision every Sunbury homeowner faces before building: composite or wood? Both build a great-looking deck. The difference shows up over the years — especially in central Ohio, where freeze-thaw winters and humid summers are hard on anything left outside. Here’s the honest comparison.
The quick answer
If you want the lowest day-one price and you don’t mind staining every couple of years, wood wins on up-front cost. If you want to build it once and basically forget about it, composite (Trex, TimberTech) wins on the long run — which is why most new Sunbury homeowners choose it.
Side by side
| Factor | Composite (Trex/TimberTech) | Pressure-treated wood |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Higher (~$30–$32/sq ft installed) | Lower material cost |
| Maintenance | Wash occasionally; no staining | Clean & re-stain every 2–3 yrs |
| Lifespan | 25+ years, warrantied | ~10–15 yrs with upkeep |
| Ohio weather | Resists rot, splinters, freeze-thaw cracking | Can warp, splinter, and rot without care |
| Look over time | Holds color; minimal fade | Beautiful new; greys without sealing |
How Ohio weather tips the scale
Central Ohio puts decks through a brutal cycle: water soaks into the boards, freezes, expands, and thaws — over and over, all winter. Untreated or under-maintained wood cracks and splinters under that stress, and summer humidity invites rot. Composite boards don’t absorb water the same way, so they shrug off the freeze-thaw cycle that ages a wood deck fastest.
The lifetime-cost math
Wood looks cheaper on day one, but price the next 15 years: cleaning supplies, stain, and either your weekends or a contractor’s fee every 2–3 years. Stack that on top of a shorter lifespan and the “cheaper” deck often costs about the same as composite by the time you’d be replacing it — minus the years it spent looking tired.
Still torn? We build both, and we’ll give you a free written estimate for composite and wood side by side for your exact deck — so you can compare real numbers, not averages. See our composite deck page or read how much a deck costs in Sunbury.