Has anyone ever experienced a static electrical shock from any brand of composite decking material, whether wood fiber and milk cartons or plastic bags to glue and old hula hoops.
If so, what was the situation; what was the Brand name (if you care to divulge); what time of year; and what part of the country?
Johnny On The Beach………..
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Replies
I got the shock of my life taking the plastic wrapper off of my kids mattress. I think the medical industry should look into SIDS death and static electricity. Just think about it, metal coil springs and plastics and foam!
I wish an answer to SIDS were that simple... that's one call that still bothers the hell out of me.
Heck yes I have! Up in southern Michigan, in the clutches of a 90* day with 70% humidity. I have found that using routers gives you a shock like an auto ignition system. I've noted static elect. discharge when cutting; However, not nearly as severe. I cannot say as I have gotten zapped from a completed structure.
The reason I'm asking is because a client asked about whether I knew of any other instances of static electric shock from a deck using composite material.
Here in the Northwest, high temperatures and dry air are rare so I'm putting the blame on the makeup of the deck material and the soles of the client's shoes, unfortunately I don't know the brand of either.
I was hoping that anyone who lives in a dry area of the U.S. would be able to give me some insight on the problem...........and the brands of composite decking to stay away from.Johnny On The Beach...........
Never heard of getting a shock from the stuff, but I would not say it was impossible as I would have to eat my words as someone else will "shirley" tell me I was wrong. If you are getting static build up, ground the decking. Drive a long copper pipe into the ground and electrically bond the deck to it.
My reasoning comes from the aircraft I work on. Alot of composite materials are used and all must be bonded to the main structure. If it is directly screwed to the main, no problem. But the flight controls have bonding wires from the control to the main frame. If not, a good static discharge can and has welded the bearings of the hinge.
Ok now that I scared you into never flying again, The first paragraph can't be too hard to do IMHO, and with all that extra romex from the "hacks" (check out you know your a hack when....) shouldn't cost too much either.
I could use all that leftover wire the "hacks" leave lying around, ground the entire surface of the deck, and hook it to a low voltage sign that says,
WARNING
STATIC ELECTRICAL CHARGE BUILDING
PREPARE TO BE ZAPPED !
Thanks for the heads-up.Johnny On The Beach...........
> Drive a long copper pipe into the ground and electrically bond the deck to it.
For that to work, the deck material has to have some conductivity. If you're getting static from it, it doesn't.
-- J.S.
You may have been in the only week this year (Seattle area as ref.) where it was dry enough for static from a deck.
Live in Renton WA, GKs trampoline (polypropylene mat) really picked up the static the a few weeks ago, almost no static last week when the humidity went back up. GKids picked up up enough charge their hair was standing straight up.
Ever been in one of the old original Carnegie libraries with the glass floors? Used to have contests seeing who could draw the biggest spark.
Stay away from Carefree Plastic decking - you will get the shock of your life! I built one of these 2 years AGO and that is the customers biggest complaint. Static electricity. They are changing from aluminum to vinyl because every time they reach for the slider they get zapped. They love their deck other than that.Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Thanks for the tip........a couple of months ago I asked if anyone knew about Carefree Decking and if there were any problems with the product, including installation. I got a lot of info, so much so, that I "walked away" from a deck job where the client changed their minds about using TREX and wanted CAREFREE, and am now glad I did.
But this is the first time I've heard of any STATIC shocks from a decking product and I'm REALLY glad you related yours to me. It's one more thing I'll add to my list of "Particulars" when looking up information about a product before using or recommending it.Johnny On The Beach...........
Recently added two GFCI receptacles to a new deck with a composite surface. When finishing up was surprised to get quite a shock when touching the weatherproof boxes. I feared the worst until I also received a shock when I touched the metal storm door. Rubber soled boots in the hot humid south. Go figure! (don't know what brand of composite was used.)
It's getting pretty bad when you have to ask your client if they want their deck "grounded!" I'm gonna do some more research on this one.................Static Electric Shocks From Composite Decking Material.Johnny On The Beach...........
Shock me on the Deck
This exact scenario is happening to us (we are in the pacific northwest). We just completed a new Azek deck with cable railing. On warm days - the exact time we want to be using the deck - one gets an electrical shock when one touched the railing OR the handle to the sliding glas door. Our contractor, who is super solution oriented, contacted the azek rep - he won't admit to the problem. i've also posted a comment to the azek facebook page.
Our contractor will try to "ground" the deck with a metal strip underneath the deck
Go out and discuss this problem so we vocalize this to the composite decking companies so they find a solution or at least make customers aware of it!
I'd be more inclined to suspect the cable railing.
In any event, you need to get someone with a voltmeter (and the knowledge to use it) on the problem, to figure out where the voltage is coming from.
shock me on the Deck
I find it interesting, no frustrating and absolutely mind boggling that I am having the exact same SHOCKING problem on my TimberTech deck, installed in december 2010....and the more I research all these builders sites, the more I find this "PROBLEM" has existed for at least the past TEN YEARS!!!!
My contractor said he asked the local lumber company what the best product was....and was told TimberTech. We moved into our home in Dec 2010 and have been getting shocked ever since. The problem is SO BAD that my dogs won't go out on the deck due to touching the metal railing with wet noses gets them a horrific jolt. And if you try to pet your dog out there, YOU BOTH get the bad shock!! And don't even try to go back inside your home, and touch the door handle....Whoa!!! You can actually see the sparks...looks like a lightning bolt.
The very worst part is contacting the manufacturer. First they said they would only deal with the contractor. When stalling didn't work, they realized the homeowner was who they needed to deal with....they claim they have an "airtight" warranty, which protects them in every possible way, and they owe us nothing but replacement costs. My cost for this large deck was $31,000. All that TimberTech will pay is $12,000. I have been trying for the past two years to get them to give me what it will cost in labor fees to tear out the electically charged planks... let alone more labor to reinstall new decking materials!!!! No Deal...!!!! They are NOT responsible...how can that be!?!?!? If your car has defective parts, it's recalled ... same as most other things you purchase.
And I have read the same complaints about Trex and Aztec, or other composite decking companies....no responsibility, just lots of ca-ca on their websites and brochures that makes you think you're getting a lifetime warranty!!
Bob Villa's website even had folks wanting to start a class-action suit....and that was several years ago. My attorney said you spend more than your deck costs trying to get any settlement out of these people. Whatever happened to fair deals?
Everything I've read seems to indicate no one has found a solution to the problem. Is there a material you can spray on the surface of the planks that will stop the shocks? And not be something you need to re-apply every half hour! Is there some kind of carpeting you could cover the deck with that would stop the shocks? Some folks have suggested copper wires underneath, and others have said that the planks need to be the conduit, and it's the dogs and people, not the planks that are gathering the electricity?
HELP!!! Anybody out there have a good answer?! How can we let others know how bad this is!?!? I wish I'd known....
THANKS!!
Hmm really old thread resurrected, must be an Easter phenomenon <G> ?
Is your product wood/plastic composite or straight PVC? PVC is a GRET static generator if not treated.
Spray with any polymer which contain amine groups, which may be salted to form a quaternary ammonium salt.
e.g. ammonium hydroxide
anti static outdoor carpet is commercially available.
For brands and places to buy, search for ESD coatings, esd carpet, conductive carpet, anti-static coatings, etc..
This presumably would only be a problem in dry (arid) weather. Where do you live?
There are anti-static sprays you can buy (at a computer store), intended for use on carpet, but they should work here, at least until the next heavy rain. And probably any sort of paint would work.
How do you know it's "static"
How do you know it's "static" electricity?
I dislike the OP, as it seems more like a fishing trip by a wanna-be lawyer than an honest inquiry.
Strictly speaking, most static electricity is created when things rub against each other - examples include a wool suit against the plastic mesh of a desk chair to your socks walking across a carpet.
Indeed, I once lived in an apartment building where the carpeted hall, together with the simple motion of walking to your door, created enough stat to make a pretty good spark when your key got near the doorknob.
Plastics factories, especially ones where they recycle (grind up) plastic, are notorious for their static-caused fires.
I expect the next question will be whether wood decks make slivers ...
Carbon
Automotine tire mfg. used to add carbon (and still do as far as I know) or other material to the rubber in the tire mfanufacturing process to constantly "drain" statIc electricity to ground. Adding something to the plastic planks to make them conductive seems to be a simple solution to a very common problem (which I have too). Doesn't help existing installs but it could eliminate future problems.
But that would add a penny or so per foot to manufacture and you know they won't do it. The manufactures already know the solution to the problem, they don't want to act on it. They would rather plead stupidity and hide behind a warranty.
ATTENTION ATTORNIES: HOW ABOUT A CLASS ACTION SUIT?
Is there any manufacturer that has solved the static issue?
Our company is about to replace the deck boards of rotting mahogany deck (go figure). The homeowner is no longer interested in expensive wood, that may or may not fall apart. We've given the usual speech about Ipe, etc. They are strongly for a synthetic or PVC style deck board. Unfortunately the last deck we did used a PVC wrapped decking and the static issue became a real issue. We are actively searching for a manufacturer that has solved this for their product? Any word on this? Or other thoughts?
~Steve (no longer in Tucson, now eastern PA)
Crap same problem!
Just installed a $36,000 deck for a client and used lumberrock decking, I had never used this material before. Now I wish I hadn't, I'm having a terrible issue with the static shock, you can actually stand in one place and touch 1 screw and get zapped then never move your feet and touch the next screw and get zapped, and on and on.... I'm thinking about countersinking everything and covering trim nail and screw holes with a vinyl filler to see if that helps, also when the client BBQ's and they touch the BBQ they get zapped and same for their metal chairs that they sit in. I have probably built 100 decks out of trex and never had this issue. It would be great to know if spraying something on the deck would help.
Plastic deck static shock
Yes, the plastic decks will charge your body as you walk across and then as you contact something conductive you will feel an annoying shock. This is what is happening as you touch a metal door knob. Don't waste your time trying to ground the plastic deck. That will do no good. Also, don't waste your time and money putting anti-static coatings on the deck surface, they will only wear off. And grounding wood decking won't help. Forget trying to stop the electrical tribocharging of your body, better to focus on getting the charge off of your body in a controlled manner.
All materials have an electrical property called surface resistivity. For static discharge control, there are 3 surface resistance ranges to be concerned with: conductive, static dissipative and insulative. Conductive materials have a surface resistance less than 1Meg Ohm, static dissipative is 1M to 10G and insulative is greater that 10G. Since your stuck with the deck, put a static dissipative covering over the door handle/ knob where you get the shock. This will allow the charge from your body to leave, but since the surface your hand is contacting is now less conductive, you will discharge but at a slower rate and not feel the annoying zap. The goal here is to have the material you touch (the door knob) have a surface resistance in a specific range, not conducive, not insulative but rather static dissipative. The bags you may have seen electronic parts shipped or stored in have static dissipative coatings, like those metallized bags or the pink polyethylene bags. Try to locate some of these bag materials and wrap the door knob with either of these materials. The covered knob doesn't have to be grounded. All your doing is controlling the discharge rate by making it slower, so that you don't feel the shock. Our bodies start to feel static discharge around 3000V levels. These levels, while a nuciance to us, can also damage electronic parts, this is why you see people that work with electronic devices ground their conductive bodies by wearing a wrist strap that shunts the same charges you get from a deck to ground. You certainly wouldn't want to wear a wrist strap with the other end connected to earth ground while walking around your deck. There may also be spray paints that have surface resistivites in the static dissipative range. Google it. The door knob could then be painted with the dissipative paint. If you don't want to cover the door knob with either the static dissipative bag material or paint, just use the back of your hand and let it be the first part of your body to touch the metal doorknob, since the back of your hand has less sensitive nerves, you won't feel the zap like you do with your fingers.
June ‘19, we put in an Azek decking (around 70’ x40’ and an upper deck 30’x25’). We also used the SS cables to optimize the view. From day one we have gotten shocked if you touch a cable or a door knob. We told the builder who asked an electrician, etc and no one could answer why. We are mid Atlantic and humidity is heavy here so I don’t think that factors in. I can deal with it but the problem is our dog. She walks on to the deck and then begins to bark, she won’t budge when you call her fearing further shocks. I have to go and drag her off by the collar (too heavy to lift). If anyone has any suggestions I would be grateful. I tried booties but she would have nothing to do with them.