$ensible Home May 28,2006 00:00 by James_Dulley Dear Jim: Our
wood deck gets hot, almost too warm to be comfortable, in the
summer sun. It seems to make adjacent rooms hotter. I am also
tired of the maintenance. What decking options do I have to keep
it cooler? - Ron H.  Dear Ron: An old dark discolored deck can
become comfortably warm in the summer. This heat will reradiate
in through windows and make your house walls warmer. If the
prevailing breezes are over the hot deck, you will not be able
to open windows for natural ventilation and instead will use
energy-guzzling air-conditioning.  You actually have quite a few
options for keeping the deck cooler and reducing or eliminating
regular deck maintenance. If you have priced high-quality deck
treating chemicals lately, you know how expensive it can be to
keep a wood deck well-maintained. Also, treating a deck is not a
fun task.  The option you select will depend somewhat upon your
budget. All alternative decking materials are going to be more
expensive to in