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Benefits Of Composite Decking

  • Luke
  • May 1, 2019

Benefits Of Composite Decking


There is no question if customers like it, they love it. The colour and texture of the new natural line rival some of the best exotic woods that will retain its beauty and appearance for many years.

The key reasons that customers are switching to a composite deck are little or no maintenance, anti-slip resistance and a long product life that is green, sustainable and friendlier to our environment.

 

Its long-life span is a testament to the quality and the leaps in technology that composite decking has undertaken since its first introduction in the mid to late 1990s. High quality composite decking offers a lifespan beyond 25 years when compared to wood’s lifespan of 8 to 12 years. It’s easy to see why composite has become so popular.

The choices for Composite decking have been further transformed with the introduction of shielded or capped (co-extrusion) composite decking. Capped composite decking acts as a shield or barrier around the decking boards centre or honeycomb core. The term “shield” means exactly that, each decking board has a capped or shield surrounding the entire board which offers protection from mother nature’s harshest elements increasing the life span of your new deck. The shield also offers protection from mould, mildew, spills, stains and UV fading.

The 10 main advantages and benefits of composite decking:

1 Composite Decking Is Eco-Friendly

Made from up to 90 to 99% recycled materials, composite decking is a truly eco-friendly product in a time that caring for the environment really does matter.

Produced with recycled wood fibres and HDPE plastic with no toxic chemicals, composite decking helps to reduce plastic which would end up in landfills. They can be used to make many garden features like raised garden beds and planters, which is normally made from pressure treated wood which has been know to leach chemicals into soil.

2 Life Span

Composite decking will last for a minimum of 25 years compared to a wood life span of 10-15 years. This is mainly due to there resistance to moisture. Moisture is the key reason why wood suffers structural fail from rotting and decay, with resistance to moisture composite decking boards will never rot, decay or splinter like wood. This helps to increase there life span and outlast their wooden cousin.

3 Low Maintenance

Composite decking is truly a low-maintenance hassle-free product that provides our customers with extra leisure time to relax and enjoy their beautiful new garden deck. There is no requirements to sanding, stain, paint and even seal your decking boards. All they require is a simply clean once a month with hot soapy water.

4 No Painting

No more spending you summer maintaining your wood decking. Composite decking as mentioned doesn’t require the need to be painted to protect or maintain its colour stability. Composite decking does lose colour which is key to remember when purchasing your decking boards. The colour will reduce, retaining its base colour and not completely changing and requiring the boards to be paint to bring them back to life.

5 Composite Decking Doesn’t Warp, Splint Or Crack

Composite decking is child and pet-friendly, giving that extra piece of mind when loved ones are playing in the garden. The main issue in which is surrounding safety on your deck in slip but also splinters and cracks, which is a well known issue with wooden decking. As mentioned moisture is the key reason this happens and due to composite decking ability to absorb minimal amount of water this issue is almost completely eliminate, but key to this is leaving gaps during installation.

6 Slip Resistance

Composite decking offers exceptional non-slip properties, even in the wettest of weather. Slip resistance is key to some customers and main reason this comes up is due to the fact how slippy wood can be in wet conditions. Wood becomes slippery due to wet condition but also due to mould, mildew and algae. Composite decking absorb a low amount of water and is restistant to mould, mildew and algae, this gives composite boards a huge advantage over time and in wet conditions. Composite decking can become slippy when wet but nowhere near as slippy as wood

7 Scratch Resistant

Composite decking can stand up against pet’s claws or high heel shoes, but note not all, the scratch resistance of composite decking is very much down to the treatment and production of the board. Take our signature range this has low scratch resistance here our home choice premier range has high. The production and surface treatment of the board can increase or decrease the boards scratch resistant, so don’t forget to ask your supplier or order a sample and check.

8 UV Protection

All Composite Decking has built in UV protection, but this protect does differ depending upon the boards you choose. Uncapped composite decking has resistant properties but due to its wood fibre surface colour change will happen and normally up to a 30% in reduction. Quality capped or shielded (co-extrusion) composite decking provides high fade protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. There PE protective surface layer reduces the amount of colour change, where installation we have been back to have seen no noticeable change in over 8 years. Choosing capped composite decking requires no more painting, sealing or staining your wood deck every year. The colour consistency of capped boards is extremely consist with no noticeable changes.

9 Water Resistant

Capped (co-extrusion) composite decking is water resistant absorbing less than 1% on test results, this enables capped composite decking to resistant mould, mildew and increases its stain resistance to common beer and even wine spills. Its worth noting that this is on caped composite boards , uncapped composite absorb 3 to 4% of water on test results and with its wood fibre surface layer, if water is left for long periods this can become a breeding ground for mould and mildew and stain can occur with common spills like beer and wine.

10 Warranty

Depending on your choice of composite decking it will come with an industry standard limited warranty of between 10 & 25 years. Giving you peace of mind when purchasing. Composite decking warranties are limited, meaning as the product gets older the percentage of replacement will decrease in time. Its key to note to ensure your warranty is valid the installation process must be followed ensuring gaps, airflow, joist centre and drainage.

The different years of warranty will very much depend on the type of composite decking you pick. Each composite decking boards is priced different, depending on the quality, finish, treatment and production of the boards. These differences alter performance and therefore alter the warranty time frame.

Quick Summary

Composite decking has many advantages compared to wood and other materials. These advantages will best serve your new decking project over its years of service to benefit form both savings in costs and time.

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