Decking - wood or composite

vegasvisitor

Thinking about getting a small area of decking (about 11 square metres). It's level ground, on top of a patio and in front of a patio door. I was considering regular decking, then realised that I could get composite decking, and that they did greys etc.

Any pros and cons for each type? I realise composite is more expensive. I would hope it would last longer and be easier to clean/maintain. Someone mentioned that composite can be noisy/creaky.

Any other thoughts? Also considering building it myself if possible. Not sure if I'm brave enough though.

thebaldwindowfitter

even with yearly treatment my timber decking only lasted 8 years and it had been pressure treated

trailingspouse

We've just had our wooden decking removed and replaced with a paved patio.

a) it was slippery in wet weather and very slippery in icy weather
b) it had only been in for 10 years (we'd owned it for 2 years) but was looking very dilapitated

So - I can't comment on composite, but I wouldn't go for wood.

Loanranger

A friend fell on decking and broke his arm. I would not have it anywhere.

Nick_C

Wooden decking is high maintenance. I "paint" mine twice a year

I think composite decking is more slippery than wood

Moss5

https://www.millboard.co.uk/locator/
I have replaced my wooden decking 3-times, each time believing I would die before this needed doing again.
This time I went totally plastic. The supporting joists are also plastic.
It was expensive and has only been fitted for two weeks.
Looks good now and is inherently non-slip, but I may need to apply salt in the winter.

theonlywayisup

Perhaps we are in the minority. We have hardwood decking (iroko) and it is absolutely beautiful. We don't treat/paint it, it's aged beautifully over 12-14 years and isn't slippy (on a north facing facade) of approximately 12m x 6m.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Wood if you’re prepared to maintain it regularly. Composite if you’re not. I would always favour real wood personally.

Wood decking can be preserved and kept looking nice if you treat it properly. There’s a massive range of decking treatments and oils that will keep it looking good. You can also get anti slip coatings.

If you can afford it a nice hardwood or a more durable softwood like red cedar would probably look nicer and outlast cheaper pressure treated softwood decking as sold in all the sheds.

Davesnave

All wood decking isn't equal, regardless of type. There's at least one firm out there selling softwood decking with a 25 year guarantee. Having used their products for around 35 years, I know it will last a very long time, just as their fences and posts do.

However, their stuff will cost more and still need treating if you don't want it to slowly age to a greyish colour.

getmore4less

We took over a place with gravel board as the deck, did 10 year got lifted when the screws started failing and the boards were lifting .

saved the boards for projects they are not rotten some warped split and have holes in.

I suspect composite will need the same amount of cleaning(jetwash/scrubbing) but less(no) treatments than wood unless you have top quality wood.

most stone needs a good wash to keep it looking good.

lg13mza

We've had softwood decking down for 15 years. It gets a jetwash every year and re-oil every 2 years. I bought and laid it myself, it wasn't anything fancy or particularly expensive, just pressure treated. I had to take a couple of boards up 2 years ago to repair a bearer that had rotten due to contact with the floor, which was more due to bad workmanship! But once repaired the deck boards went back down and were fine. As people have said above with a little love wood is fine. But it is slippy in winter!