Wooden deck vs Plastic Eco Deck!

Mortymoose

Mortymoose

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HO want's to have a deck in the garden.

She has been looking at the ecowood, plastic deck and fancies it. Without seeing one mind you, only snaps.

I feel that if we do a deck, it should be a genuine wood deck, not for more wood for one of my notorious fires, but because it's the real deal!

Who has a plastic deck?

Why did you go for plastic?

Do you regret not getting a wooden deck?


Enjoy your friday......

/For some odd reason Moose bursts into song, "Deck the halls with Holllllllllly!"
 
We have a wooden deck 6.8m x 3.4m raised about 8-12 feet off the ground (house is on a slope).

All wood.

Now, 7 years later, I need to replace 2 or 3 planks so we are considering the ecowood route as well.

Pros for wood: price and ease of construction

Pros for ecowood: no maintenance.

We will be replacing the 3 planks. I have bought a new belt sander and will be sanding the entire deck and resealing and varnishing it.
 
MickeyD said:
We have a wooden deck 6.8m x 3.4m raised about 8-12 feet off the ground (house is on a slope).

All wood.

Now, 7 years later, I need to replace 2 or 3 planks so we are considering the ecowood route as well.

Pros for wood: price and ease of construction

Pros for ecowood: no maintenance.

We will be replacing the 3 planks. I have bought a new belt sander and will be sanding the entire deck and resealing and varnishing it.
Click to expand...

Thanks MickeyD, have you seen/walked on the plastic deck? How does it look and feel to you?
 
Mortymoose said:
Thanks MickeyD, have you seen/walked on the plastic deck? How does it look and feel to you?
Click to expand...
Yes I have and it's no different. The advantage is that you can use different designs (grooved, etc.) to suit your taste.

They used the flat ecowood for the beachfront walkway in PE:

155310a.jpg


Do you have the pricing yet? I have one or two. PM me your email address and I email them to you.
 
We have a wooden deck. It has been damaged due to rot (moved in a month ago). I like wood more, but it needs to be treated often and not left to the weather's demise like previous tenants did.
 
Tiled deck/patio FTW.
I don't have time or money to sand and treat wood.
 
I built a deck last year from wood after looking at the plastic alternative for me these were the pros/cons:

Wood pro:
cheaper
stays cooler in the sun

Wood cons:
Annual maintenance(varnish etc)
Shorter lifetime (although if well constructed and looked after 15-20 years is easy to achieve)
Termites(make sure its all treated)

Plastic pros:
Long maintenance free life

Plastic cons:
More expensive
Can be more slippery so go with grooved
Hotter in the sun so stay with a lighter colour
 
This might be off topic.
I had a downward slope between my pool and boundary wall. It was quiet a decent sized area that I couldn't use because of the slope.
I got quotes for a wooden deck that would make the surface level with the pool. Quotes ranged from R100 to 150k once off and annual maintenance on the wooden deck.

I then got a quote for a retaining wall with g5 soil and compacting. With engineering fees the price came to R66k once off.

I went with the retaining wall. Im busy landscaping the top with pavers and plants.

IMO wooden decking has a maintenance cost that's makes it unattractive.
 
Do you want a plastic decking or a wood plastic decking, there is a difference. Plastic decking is cheaper but then it looks like plastic, wood plastic decking looks more simIliar to wood. When it come to wood plastic decking they are not all the same, there is a massive difference in quality and look.

We are competitively priced with good quality hard wood decking. Such as balua. Often people forget about maintenance, which adds to the cost every year. Depending on the size of your deck we will arrange to get some samples to you free of charge so that you can see for yourself what our product looks like compared to every one else.

Our company is one of the biggest distributors of composite decking in South Africs, Check us out www.4everdeck.co.za
 
MickeyD said:
We have a wooden deck 6.8m x 3.4m raised about 8-12 feet off the ground (house is on a slope).

All wood.

Now, 7 years later, I need to replace 2 or 3 planks so we are considering the ecowood route as well.

Pros for wood: price and ease of construction

Pros for ecowood: no maintenance.

We will be replacing the 3 planks. I have bought a new belt sander and will be sanding the entire deck and resealing and varnishing it.
Click to expand...

Why do you say wood is easier to construct? In our experience wpc ( wood plastic composite) is much quicker to install with our our own contractors and installers preferring to use the product.
 
Don't underestimate how hot the plastic deck gets, can't go out on it barefoot in the middle of the day unless it's covered. Leave your wheelie bin on your patio for a good indicator. I also feel it shows dirt more. That said if you leave wood untreated for a few years you may as well redo everything. Plastic is great for around pools though, and even dipping down "into" the pool at the edges.
 
MickeyD said:
From a DIY perspective...
Click to expand...

In what way, you use standard wood working tools to cut the boards, and not having to treat and sand is a major Time saver. I have no experience in construction and did my own deck no problem. You don't need to drill into the boards as we have a hidden faster system, I push all the boards together and in a matter of minutes it's done.
 
Mr Feesh said:
In what way, you use standard wood working tools to cut the boards, and not having to treat and sand is a major Time saver. I have no experience in construction and did my own deck no problem. You don't need to drill into the boards as we have a hidden faster system, I push all the boards together and in a matter of minutes it's done.
Click to expand...

Do you stock 6.8m lengths?
 
Mr Feesh said:
In what way, you use standard wood working tools to cut the boards, and not having to treat and sand is a major Time saver. I have no experience in construction and did my own deck no problem. You don't need to drill into the boards as we have a hidden faster system, I push all the boards together and in a matter of minutes it's done.
Click to expand...

Would love to see details as to how you do it. Especially if it's that quick to do...
 
I'm about to install a 16sqm deck with Balau. No maintenance unless you want to darken the wood as it loses colour over time. Didn't really consider alternative decking materials tbh.
 
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