Pvc Plastic Decking, What Is It And Should I Use It?

This dual-sided composite decking features a natural wood grain with two colour options in one - giving you the freedom to be creative with your decking design. The ‘capped’ outer layer creates a protective barrier to help protect against fading and weathering, ensuring a long life. The hollow construction makes this board lightweight and helps with heat absorption. These boards are secured with end clips, which are then screwed in place - this gives you a seamless finish with no fixings on show. All ecodek products have received a ‘carbon negative’ status in the production of their composite decking boards, making them an ideal choice for eco-conscious developments.

What Is Capped Composite Decking?

In these studies, pressure-treated timber stained the same colour as Trex was actually hotter than Trex in the same test conditions. Early-generation composite decking (Trex Origins®, Trex Accents®, Trex Profiles®, Trex Brasilia® and Trex Contours®) represented a breakthrough for low-maintenance and durability. While timber decking inevitably suffered splinters, warping and rotting, and required considerable maintenance, early-generation Trex never had to be stained and did not rot, warp or twist like timber. Periodic cleanings with a composite deck cleaner were far easier than the dreaded sanding and staining required to maintain timber decks. As the category evolved, this early-generation composite was offered in additional colours and with grain patterns that offered a more natural appearance. Even so, all early generation wood-plastic composites, whether Trex or a competitor's product, were not stain, scratch or mould-free, and did fade slightly in colour as they naturally weathered.

Why Choose Composite Over Traditional Timber?

Do Composite Fencing Panels Need Space?

Composite boards are specially formed with recycled wood and polyethylene, heated to a set temperature to form together and shaped into the boards you see today. The addition of a capped layer ups the price due to production costs, but it’s thanks to this that you can enjoy a more stress-free decking experience with more weather protection. What’s more, there is less fear of needing replacement decking boards or repairs due to splintering, cracking, warping, and quicker discolouration. This allows us to be versatile with the colours we recommend – many of our clients choose to design areas of their decking in accordance with how it would be used and where the decking is positioned. Choosing an Ash colour for extra sunny spots is often the perfect solution.

When using non-capped boards, make sure they have a deep non-slip grain or ribbed texture. Check the boards are made from high density plastic products and hardwood fibres. This will keep the board safe and one that will last for years to come. You will need to keep all deck areas clean, but capped and high grade composites are always recommended to reduce the amount of maintenance needed. The capping also enables a wood grained effect decking to be an effective nonslip deck.

Composite decking, on the other hand, can withstand such heat without the possibility of these additional hazards occurring. This is due to its state-of-the-art manufacture where highly reflective pigments are used to give composite deck boards their colour and fantastic heat-resistant properties. This is a question we are regularly asked, unlike timber decking, composite decking must be installed using Cladco T Clips.

Why Choose Composite Decking?

• Not only that, once exposed to high temperatures, wood decking can also shrink, splinter and crack, posing bigger issues than just hot feet.
• Composite deck boards with a lighter surface tend to retain less heat in comparison to darker finishes.
• Composite decking, on the other hand, can withstand such heat without the possibility of these additional hazards occurring.
• Natural wood decking, however, can become too hot to walk on barefoot when it is exposed to the summer sun over a prolonged period of time.
• So, if you want to make absolutely certain that your composite deck will be as cool as possible during the summer, greys, cedars and whites are your best option.

Some cheaper composite decking boards still have this problem, but when you are dealing with high-quality composite boards like ours here at Ecoscape, you don’t have such a problem with it. Being a particular mixture of recycled materials, such as wood and plastic, automatically merits composite decking with a high level of protection that isn’t naturally present in timber decking. When you think of what your decking is up against, you can see how wooden decking is vulnerable to the effects of rain, snow, frost, heat, pests and insects and this isn’t even mentioning wear and tear. The makers of composite decking mix those materials in a factory with an adhesive and heat the mixture until they combine to form composite decking boards. What the material is ready, they cut them into various shapes so that homeowners can use them to build outdoor decking.

This means the expansion and shrinkage of the hollow boards decrease making the board more stable over time and temperature variances. By reducing the material used in manufacture, will reduce cost and weight, but this is at a cost which is strength. Well solid boards are available and quite often offered as the premium or most expensive versions of a composite decking range.

Using wood decking in the UK can be very demanding as maintaining and applying coats of protection to wood can be time consuming and frustrating, especially living in a country that rains as much as we do! Composite decking materials can tackle rain whilst avoiding moisture being absorbed as it is made from wood fibers and two types of polypropylene whilst also disregarding any toxic chemicals or preservatives.