Garden Decking - Advice Please

Garden Decking - Advice Please

Author
Discussion

Uncle John

Original Poster:

4,270 posts

190 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
Looking at getting the rear garden decked.

Have had the men around & the quote has arrived.

I’ve no experience of decking & was looking at composite for ease of maintenance. It’s come in 25% more expensive than soft wood.

Is it really, worth the extra? Is it minimal on maintenance? Assume soft wood needs re-staining every season & gets slippery.

Note that the garden doesn’t get much sun this time of year so things do go green quite quickly.

Ricky146a

307 posts

75 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
I would say yes it is worth the extra. It depends how much you value your time in cleaning, scraping, sanding and restaining.
Composite is made from a cocktail of wood and recycled plastics which gives a generally more stable product.
If you go composite, make sure you choose the correct colour - not as easy to change later.

Get a couple of other quotes though - do not rely on just one.

Andehh

7,107 posts

205 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
Decking is tricky! With softwood it is cheap, but requires some real attention to maintain it, you can't fit & forget.

Pressure washer damages wood, paint it once and be forever trapped repainting it, slippy in winter... Grey within few years etc...

If you can get composite, definitely do! If not, get a patio wink

sandman77

2,366 posts

137 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
Decking will look good for 2 years. Require annual maintenance for the next 5 years then need replacing in another 2 years. A patio will look great with minimum maintenance for 20 years.

blade7

11,311 posts

215 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
[quote=Uncle John

]Looking at getting the rear garden decked.


[/quote]

Do you like Rats?

Wacky Racer

38,099 posts

246 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
Composite is the way to go.

No upkeep....you'll be glad in the long run.

V8RX7

26,765 posts

262 months

Monday 15th January 2018
quotequote all
Uncle John said:
Looking at getting the rear garden decked.

the garden doesn’t get much sun this time of year so things do go green quite quickly.
Then I wouldn't consider softwood decking.

It'll be too slippery.


anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Our previous house had softwood decking which had been fitted by the previous owner. It had to be maintained each year or looked terrible and in the winter it was bloody lethal to walk across.

Mexman

2,442 posts

83 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Forget decking, worst regret of my rear garden build.
Horrible stuff, slippy as fook whenever it's wet, I have nearly broken an arm or leg many a time, looks terrible now it's been down 2 years, mine will be ripped up in the spring and stored for fire wood.

Whitean3

2,182 posts

197 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
No splinters either! Handy if you have children...

bogie

16,342 posts

271 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Just getting rid of ours, came with the house 10 years ago. Looked nice for 2 years then it had yearly maintenance which was a weekend or two of time lost, now its rotted through underneath.

More hard paving on the way - I just jet wash that once a year and its like new again......

Chris Type R

8,018 posts

248 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
In order of preference: paving, composite decking, hardwood decking, softwood. I suspect that your quotation will be for softwood bearers and composite deck boards.

I put down some grey composite boards last year (DIY & paving would have been too expensive) - something which was unexpected was that they get quite hot underfoot on a sunny day.

My composite stuff has green traces, but is not slippery. It'll take a quick blast from the power washer to be summer-ready.

Jonboy_t

5,038 posts

182 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
If you're going for composite, make sure you go for a good brand, NOT a cheap Chinese one. There was a recent case where a very well known DIY retailer had a shipment of 'Friday afternoon' type stuff, slipped through quality control somehow and it turned out they'd topped up the composite mix with rice husk from the factory next door as the normal ingredients were getting pricey! One season of hot and cold and the husk rotted and the whole shebang would fall to bits!

Uncle John

Original Poster:

4,270 posts

190 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Thanks all for your replies.

Cost of paving would be prohibitive so it looks like composite is the winner, just to make sure it's from a reputable brand.




RHVW

139 posts

76 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
IPE hardwood? expensive, but looks great

Muncher

12,219 posts

248 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Uncle John said:
Thanks all for your replies.

Cost of paving would be prohibitive so it looks like composite is the winner, just to make sure it's from a reputable brand.
I would go for paving every day of the week over decking, unless the area is truly raised with usable space underneath.

liner33

10,642 posts

201 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
My softwood decking has been down since 2003, starting to look a little tatty now though and needs repainting when the weather improves (Wish I had never painted it in the first place)



Last painted in 2015


V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Only 25% more for composite? Last time I looked it was twice the price of wood.

So the warnings^ re quality are particularly poignant.

Chris Type R

8,018 posts

248 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
V8mate said:
Only 25% more for composite? Last time I looked it was twice the price of wood.

So the warnings^ re quality are particularly poignant.
I suspect it's 25% on top of the total bill, which will almost certainly include a large portion of labour/profit - i.e. the material cost might be 75% higher.

It's probably composite deck boards only, and not the bearers.

It might also be the boards which are not solid i.e. hollow inside.

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Tuesday 16th January 2018
quotequote all
Chris Type R said:
V8mate said:
Only 25% more for composite? Last time I looked it was twice the price of wood.

So the warnings^ re quality are particularly poignant.
I suspect it's 25% on top of the total bill, which will almost certainly include a large portion of labour/profit - i.e. the material cost might be 75% higher.

It's probably composite deck boards only, and not the bearers.

It might also be the boards which are not solid i.e. hollow inside.
yes All fair comment.