Composite decking - yes or no

Asker

MaisyHudson28 said:

We used NeoTimber, as out of all the samples we received, they seemed to provide the best samples, the hollowed out holes are round so there is more material compared to others we looked at with huge squares cut out. 

The service we received was exceptional, very little maintenance, just simply have to use soapy water once a year, wasn't priced too high compared to others either and although there was delivery costs, we have always felt that when paying out for a luxury product delivery costs come hand in hand with that and whats £100 more. Really happy with our deck and looking forward to enjoying summer on it this year. 

I got the NeoTimber and I agree their service was good and their samples seemed better to me than the others, just about. 

However I would say while the decking area looks good and is non-slip as I had hoped I'm generally quite disappointed in it and am on the verge of regret.

It comes with capping which is great but what they dont say is at the ends of the planks where there's no capping when it's wet the ends swell up and look awful.    Whenit dries out it settles down to what lookskindof bearable.

I've not bothered complaining as I have little trust in British companies and their warranty policies, especially since Brexit my experience has been companies will promise warranties but absolutely not honour them in the slightest so I just couldn't be bothered and to be fair I can live with it.   Unfair to suggest Neotimber will be like this, they'll probbaly be fine but I can live with it at the moment, just worried for how long it will last.

Yank2020

Any thoughts on Envirobuild or Dinodecking (as advertised by Alan Titchmarsh 🙄)

greencode

Yank2020 said:

Any thoughts on Envirobuild or Dinodecking (as advertised by Alan Titchmarsh 🙄)

I had Ash Dino Decking about 2 years ago. Wearing really well. What I would say is when you install it make sure there's a slight gradient as the water does build up pretty badly. If I were doing it again, I'd actually use reclaimed scaffold boards. I recently used those for my dad's decking and they look fantastic. Really cheap too at £1 per foot.

cornishrex1

I know it is really expensive. But we laid Millboard as a big veranda across the front of our house in 2013. It was an investment purchase.  It looks almost as good now as it did when it was laid in 2013. Perfect everywhere apart from a bit of scuffing on the nub of the front step (which you can’t notice against the pale grey colour), and a bit of rust stain in the corner somewhere under an old bucket (which im sure I could get out if I tried). And that’s with constant footfall from people coming to an from the front door, chairs, tables, parties, barbecues etc. Probably about 35-40 sq metres, a 10 metre stretch across the front of the house. And it was worth every Penny. I only look again now because we’re getting some more composite for a different area of the garden, and I’m trying to work out if there is a cheaper brand which is by now as good on terms of looks and longevity. We paid a lot less for Millboard back in 2013 than what it sells for now though …. Gosh it’s gone up in price !! But you certainly couldn’t scratch the surface of that and get the top.layer coming off.

onthebench

I’m looking at composite decking once we build an extension this summer. I’ve got some samples from Dinodecking, Envirobuild (Hyperion) and Millboard, so covering the price range from budget to really pricey. The top end Millboard stuff is close to £150 a sq metre which even for the modest area we want to cover would be £3k just for the boards. It does look very nice though, especially the “driftwood” textured stuff. 

My wife actually says out of all of them she prefers the look of the cheapest Dino boards which come in at one third of the price! (Money saving tip: find a wife with cheap tastes 😃)

@greencode have you noticed much fading with the Dino? We are looking at the Stone colour which is already quite pale to begin with but has darker wood grain. I’m a bit worried that if the wood grain fades then it could look too washed out. We probably won’t be ordering for another three months so I’m planning to leave the samples outside over the summer to see what they look like after a good amount of rain and (hopefully) sun. 

greencode

onthebench said:

@greencode have you noticed much fading with the Dino? We are looking at the Stone colour which is already quite pale to begin with but has darker wood grain. I’m a bit worried that if the wood grain fades then it could look too washed out. We probably won’t be ordering for another three months so I’m planning to leave the samples outside over the summer to see what they look like after a good amount of rain and (hopefully) sun. 

It has definitely faded. I've got an offcut that's been kept out of the sun so what I'll do is take a photo of the decking next to the offcut so you can see. A few things,

1. I wouldn't have got a lighter colour as I would be nervous that it would fade too much and looked really washed out but that said, maybe darker colours fade more than lighter ones. 

2. I have noticed that you can can buy composite wood revivers so I may look at getting some and see whether that helps.

3. Personally I wouldn't have composite decking again. I recently laid some decking for my dad using reclaimed scaffolding boards and it looks amazing and is really easy to maintain (i'll try to get a pic of that too in the next few days)

onthebench

greencode said:

3. Personally I wouldn't have composite decking again. I recently laid some decking for my dad using reclaimed scaffolding boards and it looks amazing and is really easy to maintain (i'll try to get a pic of that too in the next few days)

Scaffolding boards to me say "splinters" - and "rot", having used them to make raised beds (admittedly a rather different use case from decking). I just want maintenance-free decking.

Did you use the "Classic" or "Premium" Dino boards? I have put my samples out in the garden and have been testing them for staining using some things I reckon are likely to get spilt on them - ketchup, oil, red wine etc. I definitely notice that the "Classic" (cheapest) Dino boards soak up water and liquids, more like wood, while the Premium (and other brands) make it bead up on the surface. Oil and red wine have left a stain on the Classic boards, which may well fade over time. The Premium Dino and other brands show no sign of staining.

The Premium Dino boards have more of a plastic coating but on the wood grain they do seem to be shedding fibres, whereas the Hyperion boards don't and feel a lot more upmarket (but they do cost a fair bit more).

greencode

onthebench said:

greencode said:

3. Personally I wouldn't have composite decking again. I recently laid some decking for my dad using reclaimed scaffolding boards and it looks amazing and is really easy to maintain (i'll try to get a pic of that too in the next few days)

Scaffolding boards to me say "splinters" - and "rot", having used them to make raised beds (admittedly a rather different use case from decking). I just want maintenance-free decking.

Did you use the "Classic" or "Premium" Dino boards? I have put my samples out in the garden and have been testing them for staining using some things I reckon are likely to get spilt on them - ketchup, oil, red wine etc. I definitely notice that the "Classic" (cheapest) Dino boards soak up water and liquids, more like wood, while the Premium (and other brands) make it bead up on the surface. Oil and red wine have left a stain on the Classic boards, which may well fade over time. The Premium Dino and other brands show no sign of staining.

The Premium Dino boards have more of a plastic coating but on the wood grain they do seem to be shedding fibres, whereas the Hyperion boards don't and feel a lot more upmarket (but they do cost a fair bit more).

Why does is say splinters and rot?!?!? I got reclaimed boards, used a sander to get them nice and smooth and then used No Nonsense Clear Decking Sealer and Protector.

Composite decking is advertised as maintenance free - it's not. It fades, it gets dirty, it gets moss and algae etc. Nothing is maintenance free.

I used Classic - they didn't have the Premium range 2.5 years ago when I installed it. It also does not soak up water. It sits on top, which is actually another issue as you really need quite a big drop to allow water to run off.

Here's the pic of the board that's been sitting inside purchased and the actual decking.



Here's the scaffold board decking

onthebench

greencode said:

Why does is say splinters and rot?!?!? I got reclaimed boards, used a sander to get them nice and smooth and then used No Nonsense Clear Decking Sealer and Protector.

[...]

Here's the scaffold board decking

That does look pretty good. I just based my comments on my experience using reclaimed scaffold boards to build raised beds etc. They seem like pretty rough low quality wood (although I imagine different grades are available) and I have found they have warped quite a lot - when used in raised beds the boards have cupped so the corners don't meet properly. I'd be worried about that happening on the deck, although I guess sealing it should help to prevent that.


It does look like your Dino boards have faded a lot. It's interesting what you say about water not soaking in. When I poured water over the samples I have, most of the samples caused water to bead up as if sitting on plastic, but the cheaper Dino board sample almost immediately went a darker shade of grey as the water soaked into the surface. Wiping off the water after a few minutes, the more expensive "capped" boards showed no sign of having been wet, but the Dino board still looked dark and wet.

It's also the only board that has been stained by oil and red wine (the oil has left a permanent "wet looking" spot on the board and the wine has left a faint purplish stain).

So that together with the fading issue means I think I will eliminate the Dino Classic from my shortlist. At the moment I am leaning towards the Hyperion boards but I'll see what they look like after a few weeks of sun and rain (and any other substances I can think of throwing at them!)