Unveiling the Ingredients Behind Composite Decking
Composite decking is very popular nowadays, for a handful or reasons. Today, and this coming week, we’ll look at a handful of pros and cons for why composite decking may be a decent alternative to traditional wood decking materials. In most cases, when we talk about decks being built with composite materials, we’re really referring to a deck that’s still framed in a similar way to traditional methodologies. Decks like this have a different material used for the walking surface, but the majority of the other parts of the deck including the post and the wood joist frame are actually very similar.
Generally, the overall rough framing that comprises the structure is made from 2x and 4x dimensional lumber. By comparison though, decking is typically made from 1 inch or 5/4 lumber. Synthetic decking or composite decking generally is a real one inch thick which is similar to the nominal dimension of lumber of 5/4. Decking board’s can generally be thinner than framing lumbers for a few reasons.
One of the main reasons is that as deck boards just need to get fastened to be selected, tgey are not ever joining to other materials to provide Structural framing support. They barely even provide racking resistance . Cross bracing is one typcsl way to provide racking restabce, fir example, byt cross blocking is normally created by using 2x materials, not 1x mayerials.
The picture below shows a single piece of board with laid out decking assemblies in the background. The single board’s surface shows the texture you would actually see when you’re looking down at the surface of the wood deck. You can see pronounced grain that almost looks like real wood, but it is manufactured with that wood like texture.
The pictures above and below show different types of composite decking setup in a mock-up. From a distance, these materials might look a little bit realistic, but they’re almost entirely fake. But basically made from a combination of wood byproducts such as sawdust and extruded or formed plastic. Some of these plastic materials with polyethylene or polyvinyl carbonate. These material generally have a degree of resistance to ultraviolet accelerated deterioration, but like many types of wood, they are at least somewhat susceptible.
Would can be seriously damaged over time by exposure ultraviolet rays and one of the big differences between synthetic or composite decking like this and natural wood is that many types of natural wood require a high degree of upkeep and maintenance and recoating with sealers and stains. By comparison, this type of composite decking is almost maintenance free.
The next picture below shows that same composite deck board, in almost the same position, except the end of the individual board is turned upwards so you can see the cut edge. Here, when you look really close, you can tell that it’s clearly not actual wood.
The grooves on the under side of the deck boards is one of the other big differences between natural material and an extensively manufacturing material like composite decking. Real natural wood deck boards would not have extreme channels or grooves cut out like this. They aren’t actually cut from the decking though, like a similar type relief, instead they are formed into the deck board in the manufacturing process.
Although these grooves make the deck boards look cheap and fake, you don’t really see them once the boards are installed and the grooves or reliefs can actually help in a few different ways. The grooves mean that there’s less overall volume of the materials and therefore lower weight which helps reduce transportation costs. Transportation of building construction materials generally requires lots of fuel.
These materials and most construction materials are heavy and therefore the large trucks that transport these materials we need to consume a lot of fuel. Consuming fuel is bad for the environment and when these materials can be made at a slightly reduced weight, it helps save costs which in some cases the greedy corporations will even pass on to the end users, sometimes.
Grooved channels also help with dimensional stability. Materials, even composite deck materials, contain some natural materials which are susceptible to warping and twisting when exposed to moisture. Although there are natural materials within this sandwich of the composite materials, but generally pretty well protected from exposure and the deleterious effects of rainwater. Nonetheless though, the grooves still help stabilize the material because it reduces the materials tendency to warp or twist in any way. Completely solid materials have a higher tendency to warp and twist.
In a coming week, in a future blog article, we will look at a second part of the same article which will explore more of the details and characteristics of composite decking.
Use a contractor who understands and cares about doing things right. Always, feel free to reach out to us here at Dupont Decks and Patios. We are happy to help with almost all steps of the deck building and design process. Let us know about your ideas and talk to us if you have questions about possibilities . You can call us at (202) 774-9128. You can find us online at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com and you can email us there as well at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com/contact-us