The 3 Types of Outdoor Decking in Singapore

The building speed of new housing estates has been on the rise when more and more home owners, whether living in private or public residential estates, are enjoying the comfort of have a unique balcony or planter area of their own. Having a decking material over the existing balcony and planter area has become part and parcel of today's new homes. 

Here are the 3 types of outdoor decking.  

#1 Natural Wood Decking

Since our kampong days, natural wood decking has been considered one of the most common trends for the attap houses. Chengal timber is commonly used to construct traditional kelongs at sea. Other common tropical hardwoods use for decking in Singapore are Balau and Teak. While today, iron wood decking is also getting popular as well. Iron wood is not really a kind of wood species but a series of wood species with hard surfaces.

However natural wood decking have certain disadvantages such as higher probability of splinter, a need for regular maintenance (at least once to twice a year); and limited resources. Today, matured Chengal (80 years old) and some species of Iron wood are considered as low in resources. Some contractors may suggest the use of young chengal or iron wood which may not be a good idea as the water content inside the wood may be on the high side. Balau and pine trees are often too soft for heavy traffic platforms. While another common issue with Iron wood decking is the difficulty of coating the wood.

Despite all of this, so long there is proper maintaining, home owners will still get to enjoy the beauty of natural wood products on their unique alfresco areas.

#2 Eco Wood Decking

Eco wood decking is the same as natural wood decking. One of the differences is that eco wood decking products are often produced from sustainable resources with plenty in volume. Some common Eco wood decking are bamboo, rubber trees as well as pine wood that are processed and manufactured into finished products. One of the good things about eco wood decking is that home owners will get to enjoy the benefits of natural wood without compromising on the environment. 

However, there are also some factors home owners need to know about eco wood decking. Just like natural wood, regular maintenance such as staining may be needed to ensure better protection of the entire decking.  Bamboo and pine wood are consider soft wood materials in which the home owners have to know that indentation and scratches are common and they may not be part of the warranty by the manufacturer. For the new layered structured eco wood decking products, it will be important to know what are the adhesive (whether they are safe or not) that were used to make the layer-structured decking products. 

By understanding the pros and cons of eco wood decking, home owners can therefore appreciate the value eco wood decking more.

#3 Wood Composite Decking

Wood composite decking is becoming more and more commonplace in modern day decking industry. As it doesn't require natural resources, more and more manufacturers around the world beginning to mass produce wood composite decking. Because of such mass production, there are too many wood plastic composite decking products with different kind of specifications. 

Hence it is important for home owners to find the right quality of wood composite decking products. Most importantly, we have to look into the heat and UV resistance of the materials. One of the way is to look for eco wood composite decking products. Eco wood composite decking is made up of majority wood flour contents which gives some of its characteristic like real wood. What it means to the home owners is that, eco wood composite decking will be relatively better than the conventional ones in terms of better heat and UV resistance as it has the properties of real wood.

Environmentally conscious home owners may also look into eco wood composite decking due to its 100 per cent recyclable material as compared to conventional composite decking which mostly are not able to be recycled. Furthermore, in general, good quality wood composite decking or eco wood composite decks are splinter free and requires little or zero maintenance. Hence, it makes it a more cost efficient material for the home owners.

All in all, outdoor decking products have become an integral part of the new age home owner today. When one is caught in a dilemma as to what type of decking product suits them the best, it is always best to understand the pros and cons of each type of decking option available and then make the best possible option for their balcony, patios, backyard or planters!