composite decking

I saw some garden furniture made out of recycled plastic over the summer

- looked a lot like old railway sleepers, but zero maintenance. Not an absolute "is-it-or-isn't-it" replacement for wood, but with an appeal of its own. I've been similarly wondering about whether it can be used for decking.

Your post's prompted me to have a look and...

In message , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes

IME, any replacement wife is unlikely to be low maintenance ...

I used a similar material to support the tracks for a garden railway as the previous wooden supports had rotted after 10 years and If I'm still here in another 10 will probably have less mobility for painting or replacement. hence it was worth paying the extra cost over timber. Got ours from

Easy to work but one thing I did notice with these synthetic materials is the sawdust is tiny bits of plastic that is not going to rot down soon. Done in one place that won't matter as most people sweep up but who hasn't cut a bit of timber outside over the lawn and left some of the sawdust to disappear . Also I was just using handsaws, you will have to watch the speed of blades with power tools as wood just scorches a bit if too much pressure is applied . The synthetic materials will melt and ruin the job and blade.

G.Harman

I've seen a lot of picnic tables and benches near me made of recycled plastic "planks". Without exception, they've all warped and look absolute s**te now.

These do appear to be "all plastic" and not a resin/wood dust composite.

Only mentioning it to warn folk to avoid the all recycled plastic stuff.

Tim

You probably get what you pay for. Our Parish Council has bought a couple of "park benches" made with recycled plastic and after 4 years they still look as good as new.

Seconded - I remember seeing footpath signposts on the edge of the Peak National park and they looked exactly like weathered wood until you looked really closely.

David

ars old and the rot has truly set in. The wife never enjoyed painting it wi th wood treatment/stain every year, especially with me watching and advisin g. A low maintenance replacement would be ideal.

composite decking (made of wood dust, waste plastic and resin, I believe). In some examples, this material can look very realistic and promises to be maintenance-free. So, is it any good, is it easy to cut/shape and can anyon e recommend one brand over another?

I used a product called EcoDeck for my decking. It is solid so can be cut a nd used the same way as wood, has a 25 year warranty and is almost maintena nce free - just a quick power wash every now and again.

It has been installed for over 3 years now and no obvious signs of deterior ation. It has lightened in colour due to ultraviolet light from the sun, bu t then that is stated in the spec for the product. Wood oil can be applied since it contains wood to darken it again, if I want.

It is the most expensive decking material that you an use.

That shouldn't happen. I'd guess the boards weren't gapped properly, so poor airflow. A properly built deck should last 25 years.

Whilst I've built hundreds of decks, I've never used composite. It's widely used in the USA, Canada etc.

There have been some issues with it breaking down, I'd suggest a quick Google.

It's much more complicated to lay, special clips & trims etc, so much more labour intensive and therefore expensive.

If I were going to use it I'd use Q Deck.

I looked at this ... but was more than 3x price of wood .... and you still needed wooden joists & posts etc.

Was just going to say, I've seen one from them and it was very good. I used a few of their anti slip strips on our garden steps - 5 years on they are still excellent as well :-) Pricey though...

Darren

Just got pricing back from them.

For a Q Deck timber deck board, I pay £2.12 a metre inc VAT. so £7.63 for a 3.6.

This time of year decking becomes as slippery as a skating rink. If composite is an improvement in that respect it might be worth the extra.

Without any treatment? At my son's house the decking faces south but is still pretty treacherous in these weather conditions

Where I'm looking to do decking is on the north side of a building, under trees - hence thinking about alternatives to wood.

So, what's your secret?

Chris

Just decking oil.

Depends on the profile of the boards and the cleanliness.

Proper deck boards

ribbed side up.

Jetwash once a year.