Browse Forums Outdoor Living Re: Composite decking choices 7Jul 21, 2021 10:50 pm From my experience most composite boards are fairly similar internally. They are made with a combination of wood fibres and polymers. Millboard may have some extra additives. The biggest thing to look for is that the board is "capped" or has a secondary coating over the internal composite. The basic Modwood and Ekodeck is simply plastic and woodfibre compressed and then sanded. It is quite soft and scratches easily. Technically you can re-sand it to remove the scratches but thats not why you buy composite decking. Trex, Timbertech, Millboard, NewTechWood as well as Modwood Xtreme guard and Ekodeck designer series are all capped. They have a secondary coating on the composite core that protects it (its much tougher) and is embossed with a grain to give it a more life-like look. They have different fixing methods but all offer concealed fixing. Just make sure your installer doesn't exceed the joist spacing. Interestingly trex joist spacing is 400mm while the others push out to 450. Obviously the wide the joist spacing the more deflection and possibility of twisting there will be. Personally as long as you go with a fully capped board, you have a good installer that gets the subfloor (more important than the deckboard) right, then really finding a board that gives the look and feel that you want is more important than specific brands. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Composite decking choices 8Jul 22, 2021 4:51 pm chippy From my experience most composite boards are fairly similar internally. They are made with a combination of wood fibres and polymers. Millboard may have some extra additives. The biggest thing to look for is that the board is "capped" or has a secondary coating over the internal composite. The basic Modwood and Ekodeck is simply plastic and woodfibre compressed and then sanded. It is quite soft and scratches easily. Technically you can re-sand it to remove the scratches but thats not why you buy composite decking. Trex, Timbertech, Millboard, NewTechWood as well as Modwood Xtreme guard and Ekodeck designer series are all capped. They have a secondary coating on the composite core that protects it (its much tougher) and is embossed with a grain to give it a more life-like look. They have different fixing methods but all offer concealed fixing. Just make sure your installer doesn't exceed the joist spacing. Interestingly trex joist spacing is 400mm while the others push out to 450. Obviously the wide the joist spacing the more deflection and possibility of twisting there will be. Personally as long as you go with a fully capped board, you have a good installer that gets the subfloor (more important than the deckboard) right, then really finding a board that gives the look and feel that you want is more important than specific brands. Thanks Chippy. I read somewhere that if the boards need to be cut, which they will to fit the space, then the edges which ch are cut need to be ‘sealed’. I assume this is because the ‘capped’ layer you refer to has been cut off? Re: Composite decking choices 9Jul 22, 2021 7:50 pm MCDAT chippy From my experience most composite boards are fairly similar internally. They are made with a combination of wood fibres and polymers. Millboard may have some extra additives. The biggest thing to look for is that the board is "capped" or has a secondary coating over the internal composite. The basic Modwood and Ekodeck is simply plastic and woodfibre compressed and then sanded. It is quite soft and scratches easily. Technically you can re-sand it to remove the scratches but thats not why you buy composite decking. Trex, Timbertech, Millboard, NewTechWood as well as Modwood Xtreme guard and Ekodeck designer series are all capped. They have a secondary coating on the composite core that protects it (its much tougher) and is embossed with a grain to give it a more life-like look. They have different fixing methods but all offer concealed fixing. Just make sure your installer doesn't exceed the joist spacing. Interestingly trex joist spacing is 400mm while the others push out to 450. Obviously the wide the joist spacing the more deflection and possibility of twisting there will be. Personally as long as you go with a fully capped board, you have a good installer that gets the subfloor (more important than the deckboard) right, then really finding a board that gives the look and feel that you want is more important than specific brands. Thanks Chippy. I read somewhere that if the boards need to be cut, which they will to fit the space, then the edges which ch are cut need to be ‘sealed’. I assume this is because the ‘capped’ layer you refer to has been cut off? I have never heard of that and have never done it. Trex certainly don't mention it in their installation guide. The internal composite decking is the same as the basic Modwood. I can't think why or with what you would even seal it with. Millboard is a slightly different product and I know they have a touch up paint you can use on cut ends but that is for looks and not because of maintenance requirements. Natural timber can benefit from oil being applied to cut ends but not composite. Where and for what product did you read that? Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Composite decking choices 10Jul 22, 2021 7:59 pm chippy MCDAT chippy From my experience most composite boards are fairly similar internally. They are made with a combination of wood fibres and polymers. Millboard may have some extra additives. The biggest thing to look for is that the board is "capped" or has a secondary coating over the internal composite. The basic Modwood and Ekodeck is simply plastic and woodfibre compressed and then sanded. It is quite soft and scratches easily. Technically you can re-sand it to remove the scratches but thats not why you buy composite decking. Trex, Timbertech, Millboard, NewTechWood as well as Modwood Xtreme guard and Ekodeck designer series are all capped. They have a secondary coating on the composite core that protects it (its much tougher) and is embossed with a grain to give it a more life-like look. They have different fixing methods but all offer concealed fixing. Just make sure your installer doesn't exceed the joist spacing. Interestingly trex joist spacing is 400mm while the others push out to 450. Obviously the wide the joist spacing the more deflection and possibility of twisting there will be. Personally as long as you go with a fully capped board, you have a good installer that gets the subfloor (more important than the deckboard) right, then really finding a board that gives the look and feel that you want is more important than specific brands. Thanks Chippy. I read somewhere that if the boards need to be cut, which they will to fit the space, then the edges which ch are cut need to be ‘sealed’. I assume this is because the ‘capped’ layer you refer to has been cut off? I have never heard of that and have never done it. Trex certainly don't mention it in their installation guide. The internal composite decking is the same as the basic Modwood. I can't think why or with what you would even seal it with. Millboard is a slightly different product and I know they have a touch up paint you can use on cut ends but that is for looks and not because of maintenance requirements. Natural timber can benefit from oil being applied to cut ends but not composite. Where and for what product did you read that? NewTechwood. It’s actually from a document on an Australian site called Demak.com.au, comparing the various composites. It says of NewTechwood, because it’s made of HDPE (whatever that is) swelling can occur on cut ends and so they need to be ‘capped off’. Sorry the word is capped off not sealed. Not sure what capped off means. Re: Composite decking choices 11Jul 22, 2021 9:41 pm Yes, NewTechWood does recommend sealing. I just looked up their installation guide. It says particularly when around water like swimming pools, spa's or lakes. The HDPE (think milk bottle) wont swell up so it must be the timber pulp that causes the problem. I've never used NewTechWood myself and have never sealed any composite deck. It would be interesting to know if and how much it swells. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Composite decking choices 12Jul 24, 2021 5:47 pm We had ekodeck installed in 2018 October and it’s still looking great. Granted ours sit mostly under a roof but the ramp that’s totally exposed still looks great. We were thinking to get Trex initially but the price difference was a lot and our budget couldn’t handle it. Photos in 2018 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Photos that I took just now after the rain Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The ramp that is totally exposed to the weather Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Composite decking choices 13Jul 24, 2021 8:41 pm twylamc We had ekodeck installed in 2018 October and it’s still looking great. Granted ours sit mostly under a roof but the ramp that’s totally exposed still looks great. We were thinking to get Trex initially but the price difference was a lot and our budget couldn’t handle it. Photos in 2018 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Photos that I took just now after the rain Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The ramp that is totally exposed to the weather Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thanks Twylamc. Looks great. Is that the new Designer Series? Do you find the boards swell and expand with the heat and cold? Composite decking choices 14Jul 25, 2021 2:29 am MCDAT twylamc We had ekodeck installed in 2018 October and it’s still looking great. Granted ours sit mostly under a roof but the ramp that’s totally exposed still looks great. We were thinking to get Trex initially but the price difference was a lot and our budget couldn’t handle it. Photos in 2018 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Photos that I took just now after the rain Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The ramp that is totally exposed to the weather Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thanks Twylamc. Looks great. Is that the new Designer Series? Do you find the boards swell and expand with the heat and cold? ko Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Composite decking choices 16Jul 25, 2021 5:08 pm I take it back, my partner says lengthwise it does expand in the heat. The gap pictured would be smaller in the summer. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Composite decking choices 17Jul 25, 2021 7:09 pm All composite decking expands with heat. It's one of the main reasons they fix using brackets that allow this movement. It's also why they specify leaving 5mm between end joins so each board can expand without buckling. It doesn't matter what brand this will happen. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Composite decking choices 18Jul 26, 2021 3:06 pm Personally, we would have gone for Trex but we have a big decking area and it would have cost us almost double. Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Composite decking choices 20Oct 13, 2021 4:32 am Splashers Personally I have trex about 70sq/m of decking in various locations, shaded, full sun and around my fish pond and for 5 years i have had no issues on any part it is still flat as and no colour change or weathering as of yet. Simple clean with mild soapy water and a good brush with broom and rinse n its brand new again. I have done many installs and only like using Trex or Millboard but it is hard to justify the money for Millboard. New Tech is an upgrade from Ekodeck but its very similar as its made kinda the same product but a much better version than Ekodeck. Best advice is to either buy a length of each around 1 mtr if possible and just lay it in the area you are looking at and see how it bends in the sun without fixings, try cutting it and see the edges after cutting if they can be sanded or the plastic burrs up, Ekodeck burrs up and edge cuts are ugly. Hi This questionis not related to the topic but about the price you getcharged. Since you install composite deck, I would like to seek your advice. If the deck you built is 30 sqm, will you charge for 30 sqm or 33 sqm? My deck builder charged me & I am told it is for the matetial that was cut & threw away. His rate is $300 so 33 x $300 = $9900 $900 extra I paid is not only for material but include installation price too for 3 sqm he threw away. Is it normal? Can he really charge for that 3 sqm? Hi, as per the subject. 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