Composite decking

leonie11, Jan 25, 3:15pm
hi there just wanting to know if anyone has used composite decking timber. ? it looks good, dont have to stain and looks so clean. Its expensive 5m lengths aroung $80. Tia
martin11, Jan 25, 3:45pm
Have heard that some of them fade over time ?
bluecat1529, Jan 25, 8:16pm
We built a big deck using this 12 months ago and it is fantastic looks just as great as when it was done.
pauldw, Jan 25, 11:49pm
Your bolt thread is calling :-)
blueviking, Jan 26, 6:41am
Got a builder mate that will never touch it again.People saw it at the home show and wanted it for their new build. The people selling it wouldn't even quote on the job. Gets dirty easily.10mm gap for end joins looks unsightly.Building stairs with it are hugely time consuming. Be prepared to go through saw blades cutting it.
martin11, Jan 26, 7:38am
Its Plastic and requires a special blade to cut it not just ordinary timber cutting blades .
articferrit, Jan 27, 5:20pm
I recommend you try to stand on some on a hot day, and then reconsider . . . unless you have shade sails or something similar
llessur.46, Jan 27, 6:52pm
Husband who is a builder did one for a friend a couple of years back. No gaps etc, as said above it requires the right tools. Also we were at our friend's last night in the heat and there was no issue standing on it at all.
Looks as amazing as it did when it was first done.
meoldchina, Jan 30, 5:58pm
A hotel in the Marlborough Sounds (I won't name it) had a vast area of decking done with composite planks a few years ago and it looks terrible.
There are nasty (and dangerous) holes where the end of the planks appear to have snapped off and it has faded in the sun.
I also saw another type of composite decking at a house and there were "blotches". When I asked what had caused them, they said it was where they had tried to remove bird poo and greasy food remnants.
I asked my builder for his thoughts on it and he was not keen.
Plus, some may be made from recycled plastic, but they certainly aren't recyclable and would have to go into landfill.
davidt4, Jan 30, 7:25pm
We have installed Outdure decking at our last two houses and it has been great. Our builder was so impressed with it that he used it in his own house. It does get hot in full sun but otherwise has shown no faults over about six years. No fading or shrinking, cleans up well.
leonie11, Mar 11, 8:53am
thankyou peope. still not certain though, there are different grades of this as well which doesnt help. thanks again
clangie, Mar 12, 8:12am
it expands and contracts with heat/cold. we done one-in the morning while cold the joins/mitres lookes good. when it heated up the mitres all expanded and pushed appart. then the stuff that was laid in the arvo that was good.next mornint 5mm gaps where it contracted. looked very average. also was all the same color/grain so in a big area it looked a bit "fake"
oh_hunnihunni, Mar 12, 8:42am
We had one of the units decks replaced by composite planks around three years ago. I suspect it was a cheap option. The planks have faded really badly and unevenly, the edges have bowed, and nails popped. But, the deck itself has not been looked after, no regular sweeping or washing down, so maybe that hasn't helped.

Subsequent replacement work has been with timber on neighbouring decks.

Btw, all except that one have dark grey paint. And it is hell on bare feet in the summer. So my deck has a nice recycled plastic woven mat on top of it which solves the problem.

And looks good, lol.
didee, Aug 11, 2:45pm
We have it and as it was here when we brought,cannot stand on it in the summer without wearing something on your feet it gets really hot and also had to have some of it relayed as it was moving due to heat/cold and each plank looked uneven,WE WOULD NEVER USE COMPOSITE DECKING if we had a choice.If it is not cut in the same batch at the same temp in the factory it will cause problems if you have different batches so I’ve been told by the experts in the field when we inquired as to the movement in our deck