Composite Deck boards

There are over 60 brands of composite boards available in Sydney making it extremely difficult to choose. We have constructed 1000's of square metres of decking with all sorts of materials and have used this experience to create a guide to assist in choosing. There are many things to consider when choosing the board, and they are different for different locations, uses and people.

To complicate things even more, there are increasing choices in types of composite. There are the original uncapped WPC boards (Wood Plastic Composite) and capped composites, all made from different percentages of plastic and wood in the core and with different plastic capping. Then there are PVC, Mineral Composite, Polyurethane and other boards with different cap materials to also consider.

Some considerations are common to all decks, they include:

• Height above the ground - some boards cannot be used close to the ground

• Use of the deck - high traffic, low traffic, furniture, poolside,

• Location - E.G. is it beside a pool needing higher slip resistance, and a cooler board because of bare feet

• Slip resistance - how slippery are the boards - P1 = lowest slip resistance, P5 = excellent slip resistance

• Temperature - Some boards are hotter than others, will people have bare feet in the deck location

• Colour - This affects temperature. A darker colour is generally hotter than a light colour

• Expansion and Contraction - Extremely varied depending on quality of the board. Leads to large gaps between boards

• Design of the deck

• Full length boards - check available lengths to determine wastage

• Butt joints throughout deck - Check expansion and contraction

• Breaker board between joints - Helps control expansion and contraction but can increase wastage

• Shape of the deck - Some board types can be curved and bent

• Stain and Fade resistance - Most boards carry a minimum year warranty, but some warranties are useless

• Maintenance - what are the maintenance requirements (check warranty)

• How easy to clean

• Warranty - Not all warranties are equal. Check if the manufacturer really supports their product

Photos of some of our work. - Hover over photo for information.