Composite Decking
- Thread starter T4tomo
- Start date
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OP
OP
T4tomo
Legendary Member
like normal decking, screwed to a subframe. I say screwed, my chaps used some fancy bolt headed long screws that look really neat from the top, and were easy to drive in with a power tool, but they are just fancy screws.
Arjimlad
Tights of Cydonia
- Location
- South Glos
I fitted composite decking in Summer 2023 and it has been good.
It is never slippery, unlike wood. It can scratch/mark. I jetwashed it this spring to clean off the green slime which had built up over the winter and it came up like new. I used Neotimber to supply the kit.
I also got some balustrading, but the drawback was that they could not do me a kit to put in a 45 degree angle, so I had to install more posts than I wanted. I'd try to use another supplier next time.
The boards are not screwed directly onto the joists, there are fixings/clips which fit in between the boards and clip into hidden grooves on the board edges. That way, we can lift up one or two. And the fixings provide the right spacing between the boards.
I enjoyed installing it with a chopsaw and impact driver. I used treated wooden joists (every 30 cm). I didn't make as neat a job of the skirting around the edges as I would have liked though.
It is never slippery, unlike wood. It can scratch/mark. I jetwashed it this spring to clean off the green slime which had built up over the winter and it came up like new. I used Neotimber to supply the kit.
I also got some balustrading, but the drawback was that they could not do me a kit to put in a 45 degree angle, so I had to install more posts than I wanted. I'd try to use another supplier next time.
The boards are not screwed directly onto the joists, there are fixings/clips which fit in between the boards and clip into hidden grooves on the board edges. That way, we can lift up one or two. And the fixings provide the right spacing between the boards.
I enjoyed installing it with a chopsaw and impact driver. I used treated wooden joists (every 30 cm). I didn't make as neat a job of the skirting around the edges as I would have liked though.
Bonefish Blues
Banging donk
- Location
- 52 Festive Road
Coincidentally, there's work in progress at Bonefish Towers.
Looks huge, but isn't really - it's taken from a low angle.
Looks huge, but isn't really - it's taken from a low angle.
Last edited:
rockyroller
Guru
- Location
- 20 miles northwest of Boston, MA
very nice work. btw you can still buy smooth sided composite deck boards. they don't all use hidden fasteners. personally, I prefer wood. no it won't last forever, but neither will I
side note I helped a girlfriend's Dad re-build a wooden deck at their cape house pre 1984 & it's still there over 40 years. 2x4s on edge toe nailed in by hand. another thing in it's favor, it is covered. not enclosed just has a little roof over it. it still gets wet of course
side note I helped a girlfriend's Dad re-build a wooden deck at their cape house pre 1984 & it's still there over 40 years. 2x4s on edge toe nailed in by hand. another thing in it's favor, it is covered. not enclosed just has a little roof over it. it still gets wet of course
rockyroller
Guru
- Location
- 20 miles northwest of Boston, MA
composites, won't warp, twist or crack, & a bug won't eat it, but you can break them & they can accumulate biological growth depending on sun protection
wood is less expensive, a little cooler to walk on, doesn't flex when hot, requires maintenance & not a forever product. but don't we have enough forever garbage on our planet?
wood is less expensive, a little cooler to walk on, doesn't flex when hot, requires maintenance & not a forever product. but don't we have enough forever garbage on our planet?
OP
OP
T4tomo
Legendary Member
Yes they are usually double sided, smooth on one side and ridged on the other
rockyroller
Guru
- Location
- 20 miles northwest of Boston, MA
I meant the edges. some have grooves on the edges for the hidden fasteners, some are sooth on the edges so you have to use screws thru the top
Bonefish Blues
Banging donk
- Location
- 52 Festive Road
Last time we were screwed*, now we're hidden, and it looks all the better for it (well that, and it being laid properly by Obsessive Alan and his man Jack) The clips automatically take care of the spacing of the boards. This is one of the cheaper Trex composites btw.
*Both physically & metaphorically. The old stuff was in a heck of a state underneath when it came up, and looked like the ocean on top as a result. This is being laid on 4x4 joists (two sets of 4x2 mated) as you can just about see in the pic.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
That depends - our friends composite warped - may have been cheap, but it was years ago when it was a new thing.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Our transplanted caravan decking
rockyroller
Guru
- Location
- 20 miles northwest of Boston, MA
Oh interesting ok. Could it have been from the heat & support spacing?