Composite Decking

Composite decking is a newcomer on the stage of ways to landscape your garden but has already proven popular.  It is a man-made product that combines wood fibres, plastics and a little bonding agent to bring it all together.  It is then heated up, formed into board shapes and cooled.

By why would you choose the product?  The biggest benefit is that the resulting decking material needs far less maintenance than normal wood decking.  The decking is resistant to rot, damp and insects, is very durable and doesn’t need to be painted, sealed or stained.  It won’t deteriorate under UV rays, warp or crack.  And there’s no risk of splinters when the kids are playing on it.

Another big benefit is that they are highly slip resistant.  One complaint for normal decking is that it can become slippery after the rain or in the frost.  This new composite material is much less likely to lead to slips and trips.  Plus, it comes with a guarantee of 15-25 years, depending on the manufacturer, although the expected lifespan is much longer.

You can currently get two types of composite decking – capped and uncapped.  Uncapped boards are less expensive and don’t have the stain resistant and colour fading resistance of capped boards.  Capped boards have an exterior plastic coating that means they won’t fade or stain and are unaffected by the environment.