Hi,

 

I have somebody laying a deck on our roof terrace and I am looking for recommendations on composite decking. I had a look at some samples, one of which is Terrafuzion but I do not believe them to be of great quality albeit they are cheap. The finish on even the samples appears to be flaking off!
 

I would like something mid to high end. It isn’t used frequently but I do want it to last.

 

Thanks in advance.

We used Ultra Decking - the premium boards, zero issues, good prices and delivery to anywhere. Ours have been down for about 3 years.

 

As with all composite boards support is important.

 

The photos you attached look a rubbish quality board.

Don't believe the maintenance free claim on these. A neighbor has some, yes it doesnt rot and get as dirty as wood. But it does move more and need adjusting every summer after it swells up. All the nice lined up gaps are all over the place. 

14 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

Don't believe the maintenance free claim on these. A neighbor has some, yes it doesnt rot and get as dirty as wood. But it does move more and need adjusting every summer after it swells up. All the nice lined up gaps are all over the place. 

All true, we also have to wash a few times a year.

I picked up a load of Millboard composite decking for free off Facebook Marketplace. About 20m². 

 

It had apparently been in place for around 15 years by the main back door and was being removed to be replaced with paving. 

 

It quite grotty with ingrained dirt and a few green bits. It cleaned up quite well with some bleach, hot water and a stiff broom.

 

I haven't noticed any wear on it. In fact we were a few boards short when refitting it, so bought two brand new boards, and after about 6 months they blend in very well with the old stuff. 

 

 

On that basis, I would recommend Millboard if you want long lasting composite decking. But... Having seen the price of it when buying the two new extra boards I would probably just pave the area properly if I actually had to pay for it.

We used the Cladco composite deck boards. They do 2.4 or 4m lengths, four colours, one side wood effect, one side grooved. We laid it groove up, easy to DIY fit. We had it in the last house and were impressed how easy it is. Just need to brush and wash it down now and again. We’re really pleased with it. 

Is this stuff just plastic?

9 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Is this stuff just plastic?

Mine is plastic and bamboo composite.

I think the Millboard that I used is a mix of resin and fibreglass strands, with some kind of chemically bonded surface finish.

 

I've seen cheap, more plastic like decking sag, warp and discolour in the heat. I can't imagine the Millboard would do this.

I would second the recommendation for Millboard, although it is pricey. I have had some down for over 10 years and while the colour has faded slightly in some high traffic areas, it still looks good overall.

 

I recently had to pick up and reinstall the boards, as part of the timber sub-frame supporting it started to fail. I was worried about removing and reinstalling the fixings, but it was fine.

28 minutes ago, Mrog said:

I would second the recommendation for Millboard, although it is pricey. I have had some down for over 10 years and while the colour has faded slightly in some high traffic areas, it still looks good overall.

 

I recently had to pick up and reinstall the boards, as part of the timber sub-frame supporting it started to fail. I was worried about removing and reinstalling the fixings, but it was fine.

 

I got some samples from Millboard - it's much thicker than normal wooden decking but the samples looked really good - we put wooden decking down in 2007 and it's reaching end of life (it's treated every year in spring and autumn) as there are sections where the edges have rotted and I had to replace the odd section - the structure under it is solid and well ventilated so next years project is replacement.

 

I need to understand how the fixings work because I don't want to re-do the structure to suit fixed fixings