Decking ~ All You Need to Know

Decking comprises of 3 common categories namely Wood Decking, Composite Decking as well as Eco Friendly Wood Decking.

All of them are suitable for outdoor decking such as swimming pool, ship decks, garden patio decking, balcony decks etc. Decking today is no longer only for the riches, everyone can enjoy the exquisiteness of having their own private decking at the comfort of their homes.

Let us look deeper in these 3 categories:

Wooden Decking

Traditionally, this is the only form of decking materials available in the market. Wood species that are suitable for outdoor decks must be of high level of density as well as janka hardness. This is because the higher these levels, the better weather resistant the wood. Common wooden decking materials in Asia are chengal, balau, iron wood and merbau. Because of the increase in demand for outdoor decking due to improved living lifestyles, some of these wood species like matured chengal is shortage in supply. In order to cut costs in production, some manufacturers do not provide full kiln drying process for the wood timber, lower the wood resistance to outdoor weather. Hence, to choose a good outdoor wood decking material, you need to choose the right supplier, who make sure that the natural deck materials you received have went through the Kiln Drying Process.

Composite Decking

Composite decking came in as an alternative to natural wood decks. A composite decking material is usually an alloy of plastic and wood. It came in different pricing depends on the type of wood species in the composite. Because it is not completely wood, it have a better resistance to water and termites. However, low quality composite decks may have discoloration due to excessive sunlight exposure or fine cracks due to its unstable density of the alloy.

Eco Friendly Decking

Recently introduced into the decking market, Palm wood decking. Palm wood or coconut wood is usually considered as a softwood, which means it is by right, not hard enough to be recommended to be installed outdoors. However, due to improved technology advances, when it is kiln dry treated, the density of a palm wood becomes very high which makes it one of them most stable timber decking material in the world. On the other hand, palm wood is a renewable natural resource, that makes it very eco-friendly and it helps the environment to save more trees. Being a very stable wood, palm wood decks became very popular among families in tropical Singapore due to its exotic and luxurious wood texture and being non-slip resistant that are safe for children.

In today's society, as many people are getting more and more affluent and environmentally conscious, by equipping with straightforward of the common decking materials, many home owners will definitely make the right choices in selection of their decks.