09/11/2026
Getting closer to wrapping up this lake house project. The homeowner wanted to refresh the look of the decks while also cutting down on future maintenance, so we swapped out the traditional 2x2 wood balusters for black Trex hog panels.
This was the perfect property for the change. With views like this, the black panels really open everything up instead of looking through rows of wood balusters. It gives the railing a cleaner, more updated look without taking away from the view.
A lot of the existing wood framing was still in great shape, so the homeowner wanted to reuse as much as possible to save on unnecessary material costs while replacing and updating what was needed.
The panels that used to be sold under Wild Hog are now Trex, the same company known for composite decking. The only downside is the price. The 8’ panels are now $97.99 each, and this project required over 50 of them just for the railing inserts alone.
Definitely a big improvement, but it still blows my mind how expensive building materials have gotten nowadays.