What Materials Are Used In New Deck Construction?
These days, finding what style, color or type of material you want for your new deck can lead you down the rabbit hole or trying to decide what shade (out of what feels like 75 shades) of grey you want your deck boards to be.
Pressure Treated Lumber:
Pressure Treated Lumber is wood that has been treated with preservatives to make it more durable and extend its lifespan. Pressure treated lumber will resist the elements better than untreated lumber. Pressure treated lumber is used outdoors because it can resist insects, rot, mold and water damage for a longer period of time than untreated lumber.
Wood is placed into a pressurized chamber to remove the air from the wood. A solution of water and chemicals are then forced into the wood’s cell structure, and it is left to cure for roughly 60 days depending on the weather.
If you are looking at getting a pressure treated wood deck, keep in mind that the quality of material is limited to what the supplier stocks. In most cases, our supplier typically stock #1 or premium grade pressure treated lumber. However, Wood comes from nature and nature is not perfect. The wood may have more knots or other defects that are unavoidable. We do our best to pick through and install the best pieces, but just be aware that this is an issue with wood. Composite decking on other hand is man made, and each board is typically in premium condition.
Composite Decking:
Composite decking is made from a combination of wood, plastic and other additives. The wood components include recycled materials such as wood chips and sawdust. The plastic comes from recycled polypropylene which is used for bottles, jars and other packaging materials as well as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is commonly used in the building world.
Composite decking material is considered to be more environmentally friendly than traditional wood because of its recycled materials. For example, TimberTech composite materials use 85% recycled material and Trex® uses 95% recycled materials.
The combination of wood and plastic materials makes the composite board stronger and more durable against the elements than wood. It also does not expand and contract like wood decking does.
There is a large variety of colors to choose from when it comes to composite decking material. Trex alone has roughly 20 different shades of reds, browns and greys.