The Rising Trends of Singapore's Outdoor Decking Market

It has been quite awhile when we start seeing home owners getting their balconies and planters all decked up! This is because in new private housings as well as public housing estates today, we are seeing that balconies and planters areas are becoming increasingly commonplace. Hence therefore, it gives rise to the demand for common outdoor decking materials such as Eco wood, natural wood and WPC.

Despite limited living spaces in today's new housing, a balcony helps to beautify spaces of the home by giving it an alfresco kind of lifestyle at home. As the balcony and planter areas become increasingly important, home owners may need to select the right quality of decking materials for their homes. 

There may need to focus on 3 certain areas such as:

Experience and Skills of the Decking Contractor

This is so much important as the experience and skills of the decking contractor and its workers helps to ensure that the decking are correctly installed. Decking which are not installed properly will tend to burge or warp due to expansion and contractor due to the surrounding heat. Hence, do some research to find an experienced contractor to do the job.

The Safety aspects of the Decking material 

Whether they are high in slip resistance, thermal resistance as well as whether it has good resistance to fire. Since the deck is exposed fully to the outdoors, especially after a heavy rain, decking materials with low slip resistance will tend to be a potential hazard. When under consistent exposure to strong heat and sunlight, decking products with good thermal resistance, will not be too hot for the feets.

This is especially important when you select wood composite decking material because composite decking will tend to have less thermal resistance when compared to natural wood decking. Due to mass production of many composite decking brands, it will not be easy for the home owners to decide on a good quality one. So, always ask the flooring contractor for the safety specs with regards to thermal resistance when in doubt.

Quality of the Material

As the decking will constantly be exposed to sun and rain, it is always good to select a good quality decking material. However, not only that,  you also need to maintain the decking regularly. For composite decks, wash the decks to prevent mould from growing in the gaps. For natural wood deckings, try to apply oil-based or water-based coating once every 6 months to 12 months, to enhace its beauty as well as making it lasting. Good quality wood material usually needs maintenance once every 1 to 2 years.

Home owners need to look beyond advertising messages that appear to be too good to be true. One common ad messages is a worry free, ZERO maintenance decking. Even for a WPC deck, zero maintenance is not possible at all. Hence home owners may need to ask the right questions pertaining to the use of the decking, the product warranty as well as look into the credibility of the decking contractor, whether or not, are they overpromising to you certain things when they are trying to sell to you their deck?

At the end of the day, quality is wide word that is hard to measure and see with the naked eye. Home owners need to judge the quality of the decking materials they are about to buy, based on their knowledge of decking as well as their own independent opinions. 

With the rising trend in the local decking market, and through detailed education, more home owners will hence have a better idea in getting the right type of decking for their homes.