Small Wood Decks
|Small Wood Decks – Part of the procedure for creating a deck is deciding which materials to use for the decking. Basically, you’ve got two choices – wood or composite. In this article, I’ll share the pros and cons of each and every type to help you select the right one on your deck. The main difference between wood and composite decking is the quantity of maintenance required. Wood decking requires more upkeep than composite, but looks nicer. The companies who manufacture composite decking are going to do their finest to generate their product look like real wood, but to date haven’t achieved it. I personally do not think they’ll ever be able to match the good thing about real wood. Because of the additional time required to maintain wood decking, you need to ask yourself if you’ve got the additional time required to keep a wood deck sealed and searching good. If you DO have time and are ready to stand in your deck, great! Go with wood.
If, however, you don’t have additional time or wouldn’t like to spend on sealing a wood deck a couple of times annually, composite could be a good choice. Even though wood decks require more upkeep, there’s a type of wood which can be used for decking which requires almost no or no upkeep. That wood is cedar. I’ve actually laid wood decking and done absolutely NOTHING to it together it last a long time without having problems. Cedar is naturally resistant against rain, snow, and sunlight. It doesn’t warp or twist, and possess almost no tendency to check on or cup.
The only drawback with cedar decking left unsealed is that is will turn gray after a while. If you are against this look, you are able to opt to seal it a couple of times per year. It may still “gray”, however it will require longer to take action. Actually ALL wood decks will turn gray after a while, until you apply sealer every month or two, the industry large amount of work. Composite decking, on the other hand, is virtually maintenance free. Once it’s laid down, it will not change much even through extreme weather. Some composite deck colors will fade over several years, but the fading is uniform, and that means you won’t really notice it happening.
There are several disadvantages to presenting composite. First, composite decking is more expensive than wood. This may be a difficulty if you’ve got financial constraints. If you take into account the price savings of not buying sealer for years, it could balance the price increase somewhat. Another downside of using composite decking is the chance for the product or service failing. Just like any man-made product, composite decking may be faulty. A few years ago, one major composite decking manufacturer create some defective material. This triggered many decks going bad which made a class action lawsuit. Even with compensation presented to consumers, many were saddled with high replacement costs. This doesn’t mean every composite deck strategy is likely to have problems, it is simply a reminder that it COULD happen.
Overall, wood or composite decks are great. You just need to decide between a gray deck, a wood deck that will need maintenance, or even a composite deck which requires no upkeep, but is more expensive and contains the potential to visit awry.