timber decking Timber decking; real or composite?

[jamesho 0]

HI guys,i have timber decking installed at my rooftop garden for 4 years plus and there seems to have serious rot, wear and tear. is there any way i can prevent this from happening? i know it is natural for wood to decay but how can i prolong my timber deck lifespan? Or i have to use composite(fake) wood? PLEASE ADVISE THANKS!!

[kennylow76 1]

hi there, i suggest you to use composite wood. I know that real timber wood has good reputation but that is in the past, in the past real timber is so durable because of there are from old giant trees, but now trees don’t grow that big as it takes 60-100 years. This naturally decline the strength, inner stress, compression and tension in real wood.

Yes, natural wood grain gives the wood a beautiful look but natural wood cannot last long. Of course, composite wood can “fake” the grain and improve its aesthetics but right now people use composite wood mainly for these several reason; Can last up to 30 years (from google) ; no crack line, Eco-friendly (don’t have to cut down a lots of trees; will not cause global warming), Termite free, Design; lots of colour to choose from and no varnish.

Composite wood is getting more and more popular so I advise you to get composite wood. There is a lot of composite wood out there, the best kind of composite is co-extruded deck (at least to me, from my experience with timber decking) you can also check it up yourself.

Co-extruded decking has been use in USA for over a decade. Thus, it is very reputable. You can try thenewwood.com, It is an Australia company but have distributor in Singapore but it is very hard to find the distributor. I have found 1 distributor in SG in the past but somehow lost the information, the SG distributor did not utilise SEO yet but at least you can use the website I give as reference/guideline to purchase composite decking. That’s all, hope it help 

[JamieSee 0]

You can try Fukai environmental pte ltd, my hse uses co-extrude composite timber deck from Fukai. It has been 5 years and it is still in good condition.

[JamieSee 0]

Just now, JamieSee said:

You can try Fukai environmental pte ltd, my hse uses co-extrude composite timber deck from Fukai. It has been 5 years and it is still in good condition.

and i think they distribute thenewwood

[AdamRichell 0]

I use composite decking boards and I have no problem with it, however, I installed the decking 5 years ago. Before buying composite sheets I also used timber decking and I had the same problem as you had, it began to rot and I couldn't do anything with that. Due to a friend of mine, who recommended me the composite sheets I changed the decking. You should try it. The boards that I use are from dino decking, you can read on their site more information about composite decking boards.