We are going to look at exactly how toselect a decking material that is perfectfor your current application. I will work through thedegrees of composite decking and after that offer you various ideas of where to proceed after that.

Let’s start by having anclarification of that which we mean by a ‘no maintenance deck’.Cleaning is not really viewed as maintenance if we look at brick pavers, for example. This is the same for decks if you’d like it clean you can get out there along with your broom and sweep leaves ordirt off – only when you want to. A zero upkeep deck is one where staining orsealing or stripping the actual sealer or sanding back or reapplying thesealer on a regular timetable is not needed.  Almost all normal timbers require this process to have the most life out of them. Quite a few natural timbers need it more regularly than others. Even up to every 4 months in some cases andconditions.

If many of us are not attracted or committed to this process then we are able to move to the modern materials called composite decking, plastic decking, WPC (wood plastic decking) or PVC decking. 

We identify the new composite decking in three grades. Level 1 budget friendly to Level 3 high-end. Let us go through the levels:

Level 1 – ordinarily a mixture of polyethylene plastic material, just like the kind we use for plastic milkcontainers, as well as soft wood fibres or even rice husks, depending on the producer. These are typically good products in the way that theyachieve the ‘no maintenance’ level in decking. Many of them have a ten year manufacturer’s guaranteewhich warranties the goods won’t warp,distort or even rot, pest proof, zero painting, sealing or sanding.

Level 2 – normally a mixture of polypropylene plastic material, similar to our personal computer cases, and reclaimed or recycledhardwood fibres. They aremuch better composite decking materials with as many as 25 yearguarantees. Much more fade and scatch immunecompared to level 1. Take into account alldecking materials scuff and proper care has to be taken. For example placing soft patches beneath your outdoor furnishings and lifting not dragging. 

Level 2.5 – capped composites. The core of these contain the lower level materials just to save money and then cover them in a high levelmaterials for durability and performance. This is a great level to find suitable materials.

Level 3 – 100% Pvc decking. Despite the fact that we stilllabel these products composite they contain no timber.Wood is the weak point and these decking materials that don’t contain any are the most effective of the best, top of the line. Highly scratch and fade resistant. And oneproduct by TimberTech: XLM has passed the bushfire test in Australia. With thisrange, the Desert Bronze color in my opinion is the most realistic composite decking on the market.

Therefore as you can see there’s no maintenance decking products out there that are good, better, great and thebest. I think you’ll discover that specific one whichsuits you the best.

Want to find out more about Decking?  Take a peek at the Decking Perth web site.  The article author in addition hasauthored a current articleregarding sales coaching