Exterior Plywood Deck
|Exterior Plywood Deck – Part of the means of developing 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 that may help you pick the best one on your deck. The main difference between wood and composite decking will be the level of maintenance required. Wood decking requires more upkeep than composite, but looks nicer. The companies who manufacture composite decking are performing their utmost to generate their product look like real wood, but thus far haven’t achieved it. I personally don’t think they’ll ever be capable of match the beauty of real wood. Because of the additional time had to maintain wood decking, you first need to question yourself if you’ve got the additional time required to keep a wood deck sealed looking good. If you DO have some time and so are ready to stand on your deck, great! Go with wood.
If, however, you do not possess additional time or don’t want to agree to sealing a wood deck a few times per year, composite might be the best choice. Even though wood decks require more upkeep, there exists a sort of wood that can be used for decking which requires very little or no upkeep. That wood is cedar. I’ve actually laid wood decking and done absolutely NOTHING to it coupled with it last for years without having problems. Cedar is naturally resistant against rain, snow, and sunlight. It doesn’t warp or twist, and also have very little tendency to evaluate or cup.
The only drawback with cedar decking left unsealed is always that is will turn gray after a while. If you are instead of this look, you’ll be able to decide to seal it a few times per year. It may still “gray”, nonetheless it will need longer to do this. Actually ALL wood decks will turn gray after a while, if you do not apply sealer every couple of months, which is a great deal of work. Composite decking, however, is virtually maintenance free. Once it’s laid down, it certainly can’t change much even through extreme weather. Some composite deck colors will fade over a long period, though the fading is uniform, so that you won’t really notice it happening.
There are several disadvantages to using composite. First, composite decking is more expensive than wood. This may be a problem if you’ve got budget constraints. If you factor in the cost savings of not buying sealer for many years, it could balance out the cost increase somewhat. Another problem with using composite decking will be the potential 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 released some defective material. This led to many decks going bad which designed a class action lawsuit. Even with compensation provided to consumers, many were stuck with high replacement costs. This doesn’t mean every composite deck technique is likely to have problems, it’s only 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 needs maintenance, or perhaps a composite deck which requires no upkeep, but is more expensive and contains the possible to visit awry.