Wood Vs Composite Decking

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?

Imagine having brunch out in the open and or an evening gathering of close friends. Composite is one of the popular choices when you want to install a deck in your home. Homeowners get various advantages from composite decking such as durability and inexpensive maintenance. One question that comes up when installing a composite deck is whether to leave spacing between boards.

Why Choose Composite Over Traditional Timber?

Do Composite Fencing Panels Need Space?

Cladco composite decking boards are a mix of 40% recycled polyethylene and 60% recycled hardwood fibres, this means they are still a part natural product. Because of the natural fibres these boards will expand and contract naturally with varying weather conditions. Its therefore vital that when installing Cladco composite decking boards you allow the natural movement of the boards to take place to allow the expansion and contraction.

Aside from the amount of exposure under direct sunlight and the material of the decking boards, the colour of your composite decking also matters. The general rule is the darker the surface colour of your composite decking, the more heat it absorbs and the hotter it becomes. Composite decking boards with a lighter colour finish tend to retain less heat compared to darker coloured materials. Therefore, if you want composite decking that does not get too hot, choose light-coloured composite decking boards with a hollow core. Cladco Composite Decking Boards are a mix of 40% recycled polyethylene and 60% recycled hardwood fibres.

Manufacturers provide end gap charts for composite decking products. The gaping measurements recommended should be applied to the end of two decking boards. You can choose specific tools to measure the gaps to guarantee proper installation. If you would prefer decking boards that require less maintenance, are sturdier, and are less slippery than timber, composite decking boards are the right choice for you. Some composite decking boards can be reshaped under certain conditions, yes! If your design ambition features boards that need to curve, you will be able to do so with the use of a strong enough heater to make the material pliable. It was brought into the market in order to be a direct competitor with traditional timber decking, and understanding which areas of timber were flawed for customers.

Why Choose Composite Decking?

• 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.
• 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.

Composite decking boards get hotter under the sun based on the amount of heat or solar energy they absorb and not reflect. The heat retained by your composite decking partly depends on the material it is made of. As with the other Composite prime products these boards use a hidden-clip system for a sleek installation and a hollow construction, meaning it’s lightweight with greater heat absorption. If the deck is installed in the cold, hot weather will make the boards expand and go longer. Any gaps close and if they close too much the boards lift, warp and twist. If board are installed when warm, gaps increase in the cold making the deck look badly fitted. By having a board hollow, the amount of material that can expand is decreased.

Try Our Colour Selector

The test reports in some of the hottest countries in the world support and confirms the difference isn’t huge between wood and composite wood. Our expert advice would be to use a light colour decking board with a hollow core profile. This will help dissipate the heat and provide as close to the same heat as wood.

Is Composite Decking Hot To Walk On?

Specialist UV stabilisers, colors, technologies and finishes allow for boards to last decades. The specialist built in cap that is co-extruded in manufacture at the same time as the boards adds to the durability. The boards are generally extruded with a groove in the side of the board to allow for the use of hidden fasteners, ensuring that you have the minimal amount of top fixers on show in your decking. Eva-last® has developed a range of complete and durable specialised fixings that work together with Eva-last® composite products to ensure the stability and longevity of a complete deck. Cost is often the driving force behind our choices – not just in cash but also in time.