Trex Company, Inc. Class Action Settlement Over Alleged Product Defects Receives Final Court Approval
The class lawsuit against Trex Company over Trex decking product which allegedly caused surface flaking on decks has received final court approval by the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, according to a class action settlement press release.
Under the terms of the Trex class action settlement, Trex will continue to fully honor its warranty by replacing product, and will provide partial reimbursement of labor expenses to affected consumers, which amount will be dependent on the size of the deck.
If You Have Thoughts On The Trex Company Decking ProductClass Action Settlement, Share Your Class Action Settlement Comments Below.
Looking for assistance: I installed a Trex deck 2 years ago and within the first 2-3 months the entire deck has black moldy spots all over including the rail system. Bleach and other recommended cleaning treatments have not worked. I notified Trex back on Dec 30, 2010 about the problem by submitting a Trex Warranty Claim Form. It included proof of purchase, proof of ownership and photographs, all of which Trex required for their review. I just received a letter from them dated January 6, 2011 that stated they are not responsible for this. They offered me a free cleaning kit but would have to sign a release form from any further issues. Is there someone who can advise me what steps to follow, who to contact, etc. I live in Pennsylvania. Thank you very much….
Sherry: September 12th 2011. We installed Trex deck two years ago. We started getting mold spots though did not know what they were at first. After the snow melted this spring, they were darker and looked terrible. I researched and found others had the same problem. Corte Clean or Sunny Side Deck cleaners werer suggested. Corte Clean, after scrubbing and scrubbing, partially took the spots out. I spoke with a Corte Clean representative with my frustration. He thought maybe my product was old though it was within the date of appropriate use. I then used Sunny Side Deck cleaner right after the Corte Clean and the deck looked pretty good – for 4 weeks. I had cleaned it the second week of July (we had rain steady until then) and by the second week of August, the spots were coming back – and now there are some boards that looks almost solid with them. I talked with a representatvie of Trex Decking and he gave me a number to call so I may file a claim. But as it sounds from Sam, that will be futile. I did contact a lawyer/company who did the class action suit for Trex Deck flaking issue. It looks like that is the only alternative if the company is not standing behind their product.
My deck is two years old and exhibited black mold after the first year. I guess I will do the same and contact the Trex rep and go from there. I believe Trex is a public company. I wonder if their shareholders even know what a crap product and company have invested in.
OUR TREX HAS BEEN FLAKING AND DETERIORATING FOR 3 YEARS, I CONTACTED THEM THIS YEAR, THEY SAID THEY WOULD REPACE ONE HALF OF THE DECK THAT WAS SHOWING FAILURE, THE NEW TREX IS A DIFFERENT TEXURE,THE SETTLEMENT SAYS THE TEXURE IS SUPPOSE TO MATCH. WHY DON’T THEY REPLACE WITH THE SAME TEXTURE?
I purchased Trex Decking for my 1000 square foot deck six years ago.
Five years later I turned in a claim that my ” Accent Decking” had lost the grain appearance and turned color and had a mold issue. They replaced the product with not much problem. Now only one year later, the new Trex is worse looking than the original. There is no grain look left, it is more white than the original Maderia color, and has a terrible look of mold and mildew all over. I put a claim in and they refused to replace this product which is worse than the original. What now???
Folks,
I am also in this Trex fiasco and negotiating a fair settlement is hell, I just want my retail cost money back.
They offered $1500 their cost, for my $4500 materials retail cost I paid, what shysters, screw us twice, so you can see what you’ll be up against. They are trying to screw us twice, no ethics just deception. Remember we are still out our installation, fasteners cost which is more than materials cost.
Remember Trex Inc hurt you / us financially, now they are using deceptive practices to shaft you / us again.
The replacement material they want to give you is no better than the rotting junk you already have and it won’t match.
Trex material is ground up construction demolition waste debris of garbage waste wood, sheet rock, cardboard, metal scrap nails aluminum etc. So you can understand from garbage comes garbage used as an exterior product is still garbage, junk. This class action law suit is in desperate need of revision, clarity, honesty for customer fairness for the injured party, the customer. They should not be in business, NO more Trex or any other composite junk boards for me. This whole nightmare takes the green out of green, rotting materials and spiral light bulbs containing mercury, insane.
Trex guarantee is only about their corporate profit protection, not the customer.
I am experiencing similar problems with the materials supplied as replacement to the failed material that was the subject of the first lawsuit. In less than two years half of the new decking is failing. Trex is up to their usual BS having denied my present claim twice.
If anyone is interested in participating in another lawsuit I’ll be happy to collect names at this email address: alf_airtest@comcast.net
Please send your contact info and a short description of your Trex issue. I’ll compile a list , distribute it to all, and maybe one of us can find a law firm willing to tackle this ridiculous problem.
Al Fudge
P.O. Box 86
Issaquah, Washington 98027
I installed a 1,300 square foot TREX deck in 2004. Surface flaking was experienced in 2006. TREX replaced material and paid for labor to replace.
The replacement material is now flaking. TREX has now offered material only replacement with $498 labor settlement or a cash settlement which does not cover cost of buying a different material. To make matters worse the size of the replacement offered is ¼ thinner than current boards, making “selective” replacement impossible.
Joan Fryer. We also have a 2 year old Trex deck . The mold spots first appeared during the first year. I cleaned the mold following the Trex website instructions and that only resulted in a fading of the deck material with little removal of the mold. We also submitted the extensive complaint forms and received a letter today offering 20% off a cleaning solution. I don’t know what we will do with our unusable deck but PLEASE learn from our mistake and DON’T BUY TREX.
I bought my house in 2010 and it had an existing bi-level original trex deck which the seller had installed in approximately 2003/4. I did notice that the trex had black and green spots, and just figured it was dirty since the seller appeared to be somewhat of a negligent slob. Last year I had it powerwashed professionally, and it looked good, so I thought the “dirt” problem was fixed. However, as I know know from doing research, it was mold, not dirt, and like everyone else reports, the mold has returned even worse than it was. it is the original first generation ugly cardboard color looking trex. Now it is decorated with disgusting big black mold spots everywhere. My issue is that since I did not purchase the trex, nor was I the one to have the deck installed, I have no receipts or prrof of purchases or anthing I might need to get in on one of these class action suits or to fight with the Trex company. The only thing I would be able to produce is pictures. Looks like I’m stuck with this moldy crap since I cannot afford to have the deck ripped out and replaced without any type of compensation. …any suggestions?
i will join. same mold problems as everyone else.
i have same problems with my 2 year old trex deck…lots of mold spots. has any tried painting their deck?
I had two new Trex decks installed in 2004 at a rental house in Poulsbo WA, thinking I was getting maintenance-free, trouble free decks. I visited the house end of June2012 and both decks are shot – bad flaking, a lot of the thickness of the planks gone due to flaking/ decomposition. Now I have a huge repair bill for a property two states away from where I live, and no idea if the original contractor is still around to get paperwork (other than his bid for Trex Weatherwood). I thought Trex was the worry free deck product – not a major cheapskate hunk of junk.
We installed 1000 sq ft of trex probably 13+ yrs ago and the swelling is so bad that water pools when cleaning and the boards have warped, stained, etc. I just came across this site regarding the class action suit only to find the original was settled in 2009. We were never notified! I understand that there is a new one and I am wondering what legal firm is representing the consumer for more information? It has been a nightmare and trex blamed it on poor installation! Any info would be helpful!
I installed my Trex deck during the problem time period. It is 900 sq ft with all boards except the edges on a diagonal. Three diamond shapes with alterating colors of madera and the brown really looked nice when installed. Trex has agreed to replace the material only. I have two labor estimates of $5400 plus fasteners. All fasteners are from the bottom with 12″ joist spacing. Trex’s offer is $1596 representing their cost for the materials and$0.18/lf ($164.16) for labor. Nothing for fasteners. I have a stamped concrete area beneath this deck that extends to a pool from the home. What I want to do is install an aluminum deck that idoesn’t leak water to form a dry area all year around under the deck. I have two smaller decks where I have already installed the aluminum and have had no water under them.
Trex says that their offer is in accordance with the class action law suit. I asked for their cost for shipping to be added to their offer since it would be a cost to them if they had to ship material. Their response was that shipping saved was not material and they didn’t consider that. I am considering ordering the material so they will have to pay shipping anyway.
We built our home in 2006 and were sold the trex decking for our large front porch. We were told this is a maintenance free product for life. We noticed the flaking in less than a year. In June we had some one come out from Trex and he was shocked at the severity of the decay on our covered front porch. He gave me the class action paperwork I needed and helped me with photo documentation. He said should only take 3-4 weeks for a response from the litigation department. Well here we are 3 months in and still nothing….. Our porch is so bad that even the stairs are not safe. My husband said that if we do not get an answer next week then we are hiring an attorney and it will cost them alot more. This is such a shame how they treat people that spend thousands of dollars on their product and then also labor to install. SHAME ON THEM…… I think we will also file a claim against the reatiler with the BBB and Idaho State Attorney Generals office. Maybe this will light a fire?
i noticed the problems on my deck that everyone has experienced and described, i cleaned it regularly but after about the second year after i installed it i noticed some deterioration so i would would clean my 20’x40′ deck and did not give it a second thought but recently i noticed the flaking is getting real bad and more black spots reoccurring decided to look into this problem and from reading everyones comments it looks like I’m on the same bad boat,i opened a claim with trex and it looks to me that if im lucky to get anything from trex its not going to be much,you can be sure that i will tell everyone that will listen about this bad product and the company.
How do you open a claim?
Donna Annis
Donna Annis
irish5454@hotmail.com
How do you open a claim?
What do I do? I have the same problems, flaking bad. I was not aware of a lawsuit going on. I just want Trex to replace it or refund me. What is my next step. Donna Annis April 24,2013.
I have had the black spots for a year or two and have been getting “flaking” over the past year. Built the house about 10 years ago.
Any advice?
John
I’m a contractor and I build decks. My own deck sufferers from the mildew problem which is all-too-common to composite decks with exposed wood particles, like old Trex. (I used CorrectDeck, different plastic, but same problem). Due to these common complaints, such decking is now all but gone from the market and products with a co-extruded or “cap” layer of plastic have become the norm along with all-plastic PVC decking like AZEK.
I too have struggled with various methods and products to combat the mildew that returns each year to my deck. NOTHING works. I tried all kinds of deck cleaners and bleaches and none were any more effective than simply blasting the deck inch by inch with a high-pressure washer.
UNTIL, I chanced upon a product called Wet & Forget. I was really skeptical, but gotta say that the stuff has really helped. You use a deck sprayer to coat your deck then do nothing. Over time, rain activates it and removes the mildew and prevents its regrowth. I find that I need to reapply it every other year. I still have a minimal amout of mildew, but nothing like what it was and simply spraying the deck once every other year is a level of maintenance I can handle.
I too have the horrid flaking problem, purchased and installed in 2005 around our above ground pool. It looked good for a couple of years then the flaking started, this year it looks absolutely horrible, but worse than the flaking, my daughter’s niece fell through the deck where it was so rotted it just fell apart. Thankfully she received only scratches, but, we now cannot use the pool, because we know how unsafe the deck is. Shame on Trek for their deception of a lifetime product.
So they will replace Trex with more Trex?! Plus they WILL NOT PAY TO
TEAR DOWN AND REBUILD! They offer .18 per linear foot as a contribution for labor? Are you kidding? that doesn’t even cover the cost
Of the screws which they are NOT REPLACING EITHER! Are you kidding me? Why should I have to pay to tear down and rebuild because of their garbage decking. This is TOTALLY UNFAIR to consumers and I can’t believe that this company is able to get away with it! Sounds like there is enough of us that got ripped off. In numbers there is strength. Lets get together and unite and fight back!
I put trex in my house that was rebuilt from wildfires since fire proof. I have bad flakeing and two boards have broken. Trex is replacing boards except for post and screws but I don’t have the 8-10 thousand I have been quoted for labor. If there is a new class action I’m in.
I put trex in my house 2 years ago. It has terrible mold and discolor all over the deck. I am sick about it because I saved for years to have a nice deck for my daughter’s graduation party. Thousands of dollars (which I am still paying) and it looks worse than before. I contacted Trex with pictures etc. and they said clean it! I have cleaned it over and over again. My youngest daughter has severe asthma and has been getting hives for months now all over her. I am wondering if she is allergic to the mold! If there is a new class action I’m in! Saw these class actions too late 🙁
Getting ready to sign the settlement, here’s what to look out for:
1. They offer in linear feet so you have to convert to sq. feet to see if it is enough.
It wasn’t enough in my case because I have a two tier deck, they left out one of the tiersa claiming there was only 4% deterioration so only giving 4%. Very crever.
2. Different decking, different colors as well.
3. No allowance for waste
I am ok with the labor part, easy to pull up boards and add the new ones and getting a new deck after 8 years as well. However, how can you replace half a deck with a new color and keep an old color. I went after them because they offer settlement letters without any explanation as to how they arrived at the amount of materials. I argued that you don’t paint a damaged car with a different color and just paint half of it. They caved in and added enough materials to cover the entire deck. That was good. But you really have to read their settlement offer and get a contractor or someone qualified to make sure they are offering enough.
My question is since they are switching the Accent line with the Select, is it the same quality material?