Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2013
- Posts
- 9,335
Ouch, my area is not much smaller than yours if your still doing 26 sq metres.
Composite decking pros and cons
- Thread starter IvanDobskey
- Start date
Just way too expensive for me 
I'll probably just rip up the old decking and lay some slabs.
I'll probably just rip up the old decking and lay some slabs.
Associate
We've done solid timber and composite in the past.
Composite from now on! No contest.
The composite was more expensive initially.
But since then the only maintenance I've carried out is to brush the decking down with soapy water and to tighten one or two screws, so little ongoing costs.
The pros are that our composite needs little maintenance, keeps its colour well (tinted look)cuts and fits easily and precisely. It cleans and drains really well too. It has a fabulous grip where some composites don't seem to.
We found when looking for the right product that some composites were actually quite slippy and some suffered from degradation and heat warping quite badly. Some hollow core types felt very flimsy although ours is a hollow profile. I don't know if this had improved in general as this was a couple of years ago. You may have seen a trend in park benches being refitted with composite boards? I've noticed many of these have kind of started to rot or degrade and some are sagging badly.
Point being I'm not sure composite products are all entirely bomb proof yet and could degrade in similar ways.
The only negative that bugs me about ours is longitudinal expansion and contraction with heat, meaning the end to end gaps can open up or close up quite a lot.
Composite from now on! No contest.
The composite was more expensive initially.
But since then the only maintenance I've carried out is to brush the decking down with soapy water and to tighten one or two screws, so little ongoing costs.
The pros are that our composite needs little maintenance, keeps its colour well (tinted look)cuts and fits easily and precisely. It cleans and drains really well too. It has a fabulous grip where some composites don't seem to.
We found when looking for the right product that some composites were actually quite slippy and some suffered from degradation and heat warping quite badly. Some hollow core types felt very flimsy although ours is a hollow profile. I don't know if this had improved in general as this was a couple of years ago. You may have seen a trend in park benches being refitted with composite boards? I've noticed many of these have kind of started to rot or degrade and some are sagging badly.
Point being I'm not sure composite products are all entirely bomb proof yet and could degrade in similar ways.
The only negative that bugs me about ours is longitudinal expansion and contraction with heat, meaning the end to end gaps can open up or close up quite a lot.
Associate
Really interesting thread. New here. Been looking for some latest thoughts on composite decking. I've been looking at for awhile and got samples from about 8-9 different companies. From what I've read and how the samples seem to be :
- Don't go with hollow boards- the water may get in then freeze in cold weather, expand when it warms up and then crack.
- boards that are caped on all 4 sides are the best.
- the cheaper boards can be false economy in the long run.
Altho it's expensive I'm now torn between millboard enhanced grain or trex easy clean reserve. Similar price, seem top end, and from a good test on both, don't scratch without a serious amount of force being applied.
What did people use as a substructure? I've read that if you are going to the expense of composite, people suggest put it on metal or composite /plastic joists, as if you put on wood, the wood will likely rot way before the boards go!
Any tips on good value composite substructure?
- Don't go with hollow boards- the water may get in then freeze in cold weather, expand when it warms up and then crack.
- boards that are caped on all 4 sides are the best.
- the cheaper boards can be false economy in the long run.
Altho it's expensive I'm now torn between millboard enhanced grain or trex easy clean reserve. Similar price, seem top end, and from a good test on both, don't scratch without a serious amount of force being applied.
What did people use as a substructure? I've read that if you are going to the expense of composite, people suggest put it on metal or composite /plastic joists, as if you put on wood, the wood will likely rot way before the boards go!
Any tips on good value composite substructure?
At current prices timber and composite substructure may be about the same anyway. I looked at Envirobuild for plastic timber but in the end decided to go with timber based on cost but it was good quality on the samples. I am using Trex Protect tape to cover the tops of all joists and beams which will help to prevent rot. As long as everything can dry out it should last. I am also using C24 graded timber and all 2x6 for structure. Have also used galvanised joist hangers rather than direct attach with screws. All hangers are insulated from timber with epdm tape and all the timber is being painted in fence paint for a bit more protection.
Soldato
^ This is pretty much what I did, taped the top of the horizontal supports, used joist hangers and quality timber. The vertical supports are on slabs.
We have plans to do an extension in 6/7 years unless we move so the whole lot will have to be lifted then anyway, I can see what condition the frame is in then.
We have plans to do an extension in 6/7 years unless we move so the whole lot will have to be lifted then anyway, I can see what condition the frame is in then.