Composite Decking.

[Nobby Diesel]

Looking for recommendations please.
I need about 70 sq. m but cannot afford the £60 or £70 a m price.
Does anyone have any recommendations for something that looks good, installs well and is sensibly priced.
Light grey/neutral colour, if it makes any difference.
Thanks.

[T5GRF]

I have just been through this. Funnily enough I had 70sq meters of patio to sort out too. The price of composite is just insane for what is effectively a product made from recycled wood and plastics... You will find it really hard to find anything that is reasonable and looks like wood for less than £50 a sq meter. In the end I used nice granite slabs for most of our landscaping which cost a fraction of the price of composite and bought 15 sq met re of Millboard composite decking to give some contrast to the granite slabs.

[Salesy]

I have worked on a few jobs where this was installed.

In my opinion it is too slippery when wet and resembles an ice rink. I know wood can get slippery when it has a slight layer of muck on it but nowhere near that of the composite stuff.

[daytona365]

Why do people still buy this covering up st ? What's wrong with a natural stone patio, or concrete slabs if stone's too expensive ?

[Nobby Diesel]

daytona365 said:

Why do people still buy this covering up st ? What's wrong with a natural stone patio, or concrete slabs if stone's too expensive ?

Thanks - that's really helpful!
It's a case of me wanting decking, as I like the look of it. Absolutely nothing wrong with natural stone or slabs. I happen to want decking.
Thanks for the other replies - much appreciated.

[Nobby Diesel]

T5GRF said:

I have just been through this. Funnily enough I had 70sq meters of patio to sort out too. The price of composite is just insane for what is effectively a product made from recycled wood and plastics... You will find it really hard to find anything that is reasonable and looks like wood for less than £50 a sq meter. In the end I used nice granite slabs for most of our landscaping which cost a fraction of the price of composite and bought 15 sq met re of Millboard composite decking to give some contrast to the granite slabs.

I have a sample pack from Millboard - lovely looking product. Must nip to to buy a lottery ticket though!
I like the idea of the contrast though. Thanks.

[V8RX7]

My carpenter has used this stuff and says it's OK.

http://www.rockwell-meriden.co.uk/shop/products.as...

They also sell on Ebay - may be cheaper.

[GT03ROB]

Nobby Diesel said:

T5GRF said:

I have just been through this. Funnily enough I had 70sq meters of patio to sort out too. The price of composite is just insane for what is effectively a product made from recycled wood and plastics... You will find it really hard to find anything that is reasonable and looks like wood for less than £50 a sq meter. In the end I used nice granite slabs for most of our landscaping which cost a fraction of the price of composite and bought 15 sq met re of Millboard composite decking to give some contrast to the granite slabs.

I have a sample pack from Millboard - lovely looking product. Must nip to to buy a lottery ticket though!
I like the idea of the contrast though. Thanks.

Just looked at their website...looks great...what sort of cost per sq m?

[dafydd2008]

Just using the below for a project and seems to be ok from what I have seen delivered and only £25m2 +Vat
http://www.laver.co.uk/content/Everlast

Failing that Havwoods have got some ok stuff for around £45m2+Vat

[T5GRF]

GT03ROB said:

Just looked at their website...looks great...what sort of cost per sq m?

From memory it was £66 a sq m. It does look lovely down. When everything is finished with our project I will post a couple of pictures up.

[GT03ROB]

T5GRF said:

GT03ROB said:

Just looked at their website...looks great...what sort of cost per sq m?

From memory it was £66 a sq m. It does look lovely down. When everything is finished with our project I will post a couple of pictures up.

Well we went for the Millboard enhanced grain coppered oak in the end. I'll post piccies to when it all gets finished..

[s express]

There's a lot of very poor quality composite decking coming in from the Far East and some of the European producers. Basic rule of thumb is don't touch the hollow stuff - here's some good reasons: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/solid-vs-hollow-the-b...
and: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/hollow-solid-composit...
And that's just for starters.
The company I set up in 2002 (www.ecodek.co.uk) has been manufacturing composite decking since 2004 & we are the only UK manufacturer of wood/polymer composite decking. We manufacture & supply over 20km of the stuff every week and the factory runs 24 hours a day. The product is not slippery when wet and passes all HSE slip test guidelines. We supplied a massive job on the side of the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 games and we supply all the major construction projects in London with material for balconies.
I really don't mind if you do not choose Ecodek - but please please do your homework before picking a product - we have a large lab and analyse the competition, I could show you results that make your hair curl - some of the imported product is utter utter rubbish. Happy to advise personally on which composites are good and which are bad - advice is free even if there's no order at the end of it for Ecodek!
You can email me direct, just use my name followed by @ and then ecodek.co.uk

Thanks
Alex

[Zoon]

s express said:

There's a lot of very poor quality composite decking coming in from the Far East and some of the European producers. Basic rule of thumb is don't touch the hollow stuff - here's some good reasons: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/solid-vs-hollow-the-b...
and: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/hollow-solid-composit...
And that's just for starters.
The company I set up in 2002 (www.ecodek.co.uk) has been manufacturing composite decking since 2004 & we are the only UK manufacturer of wood/polymer composite decking. We manufacture & supply over 20km of the stuff every week and the factory runs 24 hours a day. The product is not slippery when wet and passes all HSE slip test guidelines. We supplied a massive job on the side of the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 games and we supply all the major construction projects in London with material for balconies.
I really don't mind if you do not choose Ecodek - but please please do your homework before picking a product - we have a large lab and analyse the competition, I could show you results that make your hair curl - some of the imported product is utter utter rubbish. Happy to advise personally on which composites are good and which are bad - advice is free even if there's no order at the end of it for Ecodek!
You can email me direct, just use my name followed by @ and then ecodek.co.uk

Thanks
Alex

Did you get bought out by Specialist Building Products?

[s express]

Hi Zoon - yes, just a couple of months back.
How did you know?

[monthefish]

GT03ROB said:

T5GRF said:

GT03ROB said:

Just looked at their website...looks great...what sort of cost per sq m?

From memory it was £66 a sq m. It does look lovely down. When everything is finished with our project I will post a couple of pictures up.

Well we went for the Millboard enhanced grain coppered oak in the end. I'll post piccies to when it all gets finished..

Any pics? How's it looking now?

I'm currently looking into getting around 21m2 of decking and am almost certainly going the composite route.

I had planned to go with TimberTech EasyClean legacy but I got a quote from them of £5,500!!

I was then considering Trex Contours 'Torino Brown' which comes in at around £1,300, but then I started reading about the class action lawsuits against Trex - interesting reading https://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/trex_co...
https://www.trex.com/trex-owners/customer-support/...

Then there's millboard.co.uk, ecodek.co.uk, fiberondecking.co.uk, TekTimber (hollow - which is apprently a trait to avoid)
and about a hundred others.

Anyone had some composite down for some time and would still rate it after a few years?

[GT03ROB]

monthefish said:

GT03ROB said:

T5GRF said:

GT03ROB said:

Just looked at their website...looks great...what sort of cost per sq m?

From memory it was £66 a sq m. It does look lovely down. When everything is finished with our project I will post a couple of pictures up.

Well we went for the Millboard enhanced grain coppered oak in the end. I'll post piccies to when it all gets finished..

Any pics? How's it looking now?

I'm currently looking into getting around 21m2 of decking and am almost certainly going the composite route.


Anyone had some composite down for some time and would still rate it after a few years?

As I'm out in the land of Borat at the moment I don't have any pictures to hand.

But it's been down for 2 1/2 years now, seen 2 winters & looks as good as new. No growth of anything or apparent discolouration, it looks fresh.

[monthefish]

GT03ROB said:

As I'm out in the land of Borat at the moment I don't have any pictures to hand.

But it's been down for 2 1/2 years now, seen 2 winters & looks as good as new. No growth of anything or apparent discolouration, it looks fresh.

Thanks.

[ssray]

Just had some from clad Co laid this week, if I get a chance pics tomorrow

[ghost83]

s express said:

There's a lot of very poor quality composite decking coming in from the Far East and some of the European producers. Basic rule of thumb is don't touch the hollow stuff - here's some good reasons: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/solid-vs-hollow-the-b...
and: http://www.ecodek.co.uk/blog/hollow-solid-composit...
And that's just for starters.
The company I set up in 2002 (www.ecodek.co.uk) has been manufacturing composite decking since 2004 & we are the only UK manufacturer of wood/polymer composite decking. We manufacture & supply over 20km of the stuff every week and the factory runs 24 hours a day. The product is not slippery when wet and passes all HSE slip test guidelines. We supplied a massive job on the side of the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 games and we supply all the major construction projects in London with material for balconies.
I really don't mind if you do not choose Ecodek - but please please do your homework before picking a product - we have a large lab and analyse the competition, I could show you results that make your hair curl - some of the imported product is utter utter rubbish. Happy to advise personally on which composites are good and which are bad - advice is free even if there's no order at the end of it for Ecodek!
You can email me direct, just use my name followed by @ and then ecodek.co.uk

Thanks
Alex

Since you're a fellow pher any discounts??