Composite & PVC Decks in Buxton, Maine

Census estimates put Buxton's median home built around 1981, with about 19 percent of the housing predating 1940 and roughly 28 percent predating 1960. The town's oldest houses cluster in its historic river villages, where 19th-century homes grew up around water-powered mills and dams on the Saco River. Away from those villages, Buxton's housing spreads across a rural landscape of farmhouses, capes and newer homes built on larger lots, reflecting a town that has stayed more agricultural and less densely developed than its neighbors closer to Portland or the coast.

Building permits in Buxton go through the Code Enforcement Office on Portland Road, and the application specifically asks whether a property sits in a FEMA flood zone or the Shoreland Zoning District, reflecting the town's Saco River frontage. Buxton has no public water or sewer utility town-wide; the Code Enforcement Office even provides free well-water test kits for residents, and most exterior work here happens on properties served by a private well and an on-site septic system rather than municipal infrastructure, though that mainly affects site work rather than siding, roofing, window or deck permitting directly.

Buxton sits inland along the Saco River, so its weather runs to a typical southern Maine winter: freeze-thaw cycling that works on old clapboard, paint and roof shingles, and a snow load that has to be planned for on every roof. The river villages of Bar Mills, West Buxton, Salmon Falls and the others sit low relative to the Saco River, and the town's building-permit process specifically asks whether a property falls within a FEMA flood zone or the Shoreland Zoning District, reflecting how much of the town's older housing sits close to the water. Away from the river, exposure is a more ordinary rural Maine winter.

Composite and PVC decking do not need staining, do not splinter, and resist rot, which is why they have become the default for new decks in Maine. Composite boards blend wood fiber and plastic under a protective cap; PVC boards are all synthetic and lighter. The North Deering farmhouse on this site got a rebuilt deck with AZEK composite decking. The framing underneath is still wood, so it is built to last as long as the boards on top.

• Layout, size and board color are chosen with the owner at the estimate visit.
• Footings and framing are built to code, with joist spacing that suits the board manufacturer's span rules.
• Joist tape or flashing protects the tops of joists and the ledger.
• Boards go down with hidden fasteners or color-matched screws and the expansion gaps the product requires.
• Matching railings, stair treads, fascia and landings finish the deck.

• You are done staining and sealing a wood deck every year or two
• The deck is in shade or near water where wood stays damp
• You want a deck that stays barefoot-friendly with no splinters

• Composite versus PVC, and the product line
• Deck size, height and shape
• Railing system and stairs
• Hidden-fastener versus face-screw installation
• Footing and framing conditions

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our deck building page, and the details of this service are on the composite and PVC decks overview.

For a deeper walkthrough of materials, code details and photos, see our full Composite & PVC Decks: What Changes From Pressure-Treated Lumber guide.

Back to the Buxton exterior services overview, or see every town on our service areas page.