Should You Get Wood Or Composite Decking?

Should You Get Wood Or Composite Decking?

Maintenance - Most decks need to be sanded, thoroughly cleaned and stained or sealed about every two to five years . Pressure-treated pine sells for about half the price, while premium woods like cedar and redwood cost slightly less than composite.

Is Composite Decking Cheaper Than Wood Decking?

What's The Right Choice For Your Deck?

“Often people fall into the hope that their deck is going to look like floorboards inside,” says Rod Aulburn, owner of Sydney company Get Decked Out. The deck pictured here was built using capped Fiberon boards in Ipe with the dining zone picked out in Tudor. Most timber decking alternatives are known as ‘composite’ decking, and are a wood-plastic hybrid. These include brand names such as ModWood, Trex , CleverDeck and Ekodeck. Other alternatives are fibre-cement decking boards, and timber that’s been chemically modified to resist weathering and decay.

• Now, if you plan to do all the maintenance on your wooden deck yourself , a wooden deck may still be cheaper than composite decking material.
• Aluminium composite decking panels which contain wooden starch and plastic .
• This is due to the fact that the better part of the composite mixture (around 60 to 80%) is made of pieces of wood.
• This material is well-established in practice as it looks stylish – it’s not easy to distinguish between composite and natural wood at first sight.
• Gaining in popularity are composite decking materials, composed primarily of a mix of recycled plastic and wood fibers.
• Further, advancements in this type of decking have made its look-and-feel downright attractive, by many accounts.

One of the most important things to consider when choosing your decking is how much maintenance you’re prepared to put into it. For most homeowners, the key benefit of composite wood is its lack of maintenance.

and unlike its wooden alternative, rarely needs more than a gentle hosing down once to twice a year. of 25 years on our Frontier range and 15 years on our Pioneer range.

Wood is a relatively common and economical choice at present. But people want outdoor spaces to be more beautiful and practical. As more and more builders and homeowners learn about this high-performance composite decking, it has become a new choice for many people. You can build a deck on land that is not level, which makes it a great option for sloping landscapes or uneven yards. Waterproofing materials might be required in some cases to avoid compromising your home’s foundation. Overall, a concrete patio will generally be cheaper to install compared to a deck. Of course, there’s no rule that prevents you from having both a deck and a patio.

What Is The Most Durable Decking Material?

The market for alternative decking materials has exploded over the past few years, and there are a multitude of different products available, at a wide range of price points. If you’d like to enjoy next summer from your brand new deck, now is the time to start planning and get it built.

So, if you ever plan to sell your house, choosing hardwood decking will allow you to get the most for your home's resale value. All you have to do with your composite decking is power-wash it every year. This keeps it clean and in good condition, no other work required.

Now, Lets Talk About Composite Decking:

Simply dry sweep the deck with a bristled broom to rid the surface of any debris and to keep the space between deck boards clear. And if you accidentally spill something like ketchup during a barbecue on the deck, just use warm water and non-bleach dish soap and a sponge to remove it. Because wood is more porous, it’s susceptible to stains, and that could make cleaning it more difficult, and may require more frequent care. In fact, DuraLife was the first composite decking manufacturer to use polypropylene instead of polyethylene, and also the first to introduce a capped composite decking product. Polypropylene makes it stronger, stiffer, and harder than other composites, so it can span longer distances and withstand higher temperatures with less expansion and contraction. When it comes to the “wood vs composite” debate, there are no correct answers. Wooden decks are natural, come in at lower prices, and they’re generally better for when you’re living in areas with a lot of sunny days.

Plenty of decking packs and raw materials are perfectly easy to work with on the whole. Therefore, you could save yourself hundreds by just picking up the tools and materials yourself and looking into a cheap online guide. Therefore, if you do want to treat your wood decking – I’m going to sound harsh here – do it yourself. There’s a lot of talk around as to whether or not treatment chemicals are harmful, too.