Short version: composite costs more per board and less per decade. Hardwood looks and feels like nothing else — if you'll actually maintain it. Here's how they compare at Colorado altitude, where UV and freeze-thaw cycles punish both, and how to pick for your specific yard rather than in the abstract.
Installed ranges for the Denver metro; the same engineered substructure sits under either surface. Full pricing math lives in the cost guide.
What Colorado actually does to a deck
This comparison reads differently at 5,800 feet than it does in a national buying guide. Three things do most of the damage here. UV: our sun is roughly 25% stronger than sea level, and it bleaches stain and dries wood fibers until boards check and split. Freeze-thaw: thirty-degree daily swings in spring and fall work moisture in and out of wood, backing fasteners out and opening end-grain. Hail: the Front Range sits in one of the most hail-prone corridors in the country, and soft, finished surfaces show every strike. Composite's polymer cap was effectively designed for this checklist — which is why about 90% of what we build is composite. The other 10% is homeowners who want real wood badly enough to care for it, and that's a legitimate choice when it's made with open eyes.
Pick composite if…
You want weekends on the deck, not maintaining it. Modern capped boards (Trex, TimberTech, Deckorators — we install all three; our installer's brand comparison covers which line fits which project) carry real 25–50 year fade and stain warranties. Unlike the first-generation composites from twenty years ago, today's boards don't gray out, don't grow mold in shaded corners, and never see sandpaper. Composite is also the default answer for elevated and walk-out decks — surfaces you really don't want to be refinishing off a ladder.
Pick hardwood if…
Nothing else will do. Ipe, cumaru, and garapa are gorgeous, dense, and cooler underfoot, and clear-grade cedar has a warmth composite still can't fake. The honest trade: budget a re-oil every year or two, or accept the silver-gray patina. Skip the middle ground — a neglected hardwood deck costs more to rescue than it did to build. If you go wood, the build details carry the weight: hidden fasteners, sealed end-grain, gapping sized for our dry air. That's covered on our hardwood & cedar page, along with the annual maintenance plans we offer if you'd rather hand us the oiling.
What about redwood or cedar?
The budget-friendly classic. Lower upfront cost ($25–45 / sq ft installed), but softer boards and yearly staining in our climate. Fine for ground-level decks you plan to replace in 15–20 years; we'd steer walk-outs and high decks to composite.
The wildcards: PVC, mineral board, and modified wood
Two more options bracket the composite range. On the premium end, PVC and mineral-based boards ($50–85 / sq ft installed) are the most weather-proof surfaces made — fully synthetic or mineral-cored, with the coolest-running caps and the longest warranties; they're what we spec for full-sun walk-outs and rooftop decks. And on the wood side, thermally-modified ash splits the difference: real wood that's been kiln-treated for dimensional stability, so it rides out our freeze-thaw cycle far better than untreated hardwood while keeping genuine grain underfoot.
The ten-year math
Day one, wood wins the invoice. Year ten is a different story: a wood deck that's been professionally cleaned and re-stained every other year has quietly spent $3,000–5,000 on upkeep — while fighting fade the whole time — and composite has spent roughly nothing. Past year ten, composite is simply ahead, which is why we describe the choice as paying for the maintenance up front versus paying for it forever. Either way, the substructure should outlast the surface: same engineered framing, footings below frost line, and permits handled regardless of what you walk on.
Quick answers
Is composite decking worth it at Colorado altitude?+
Usually, yes — altitude is exactly where composite earns its premium. At 5,000+ feet our UV is roughly 25% stronger than sea level, which is what fades and dries out wood finishes so fast here. A capped composite board carries a 25–50 year fade and stain warranty instead of an annual refinishing clock, so the harder your deck's sun exposure, the stronger the case.
How much more does composite cost than cedar?+
Plan on roughly $10–25 more per square foot installed: cedar and redwood run about $25–45 per square foot in the Denver area, capped composite about $40–70. Over a decade the gap narrows — cedar wants a clean-and-restain every year or two at $400–900 a round if you hire it out, while composite's maintenance budget is a bottle of deck soap.
Does composite get too hot in the Colorado sun?+
Dark composite in full July sun does get warmer than wood — it's the honest trade-off. It's also solvable: lighter colors run cooler, mineral-based boards like Deckorators shed heat noticeably better than wood-flour composites, and a pergola over the hottest exposure fixes it completely. We factor sun orientation into every design.