Wooden Decking: What is it?
The term “deck” refers to the top floor of a ship, traditionally constructed with wooden planks laid parallel and fixed to a wooden framework. This creates an elevated, stable flooring that allows water to drain beneath, a crucial feature to prevent water accumulation and reduce the risk of slipping.
This flooring solution was also adopted in architecture, especially for outdoor flooring in gardens, pool surrounds, terraces, balconies, patios, and outdoor seating areas. It is primarily used for aesthetic, comfort, and safety reasons, as this type of flooring is not only beautiful but also highly slip-resistant, even when wet.
Wooden decks vary greatly, ranging from treated pine to teak, each with distinct characteristics, durability, and prices.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wooden Decking?
Wooden decks are highly valued for their unparalleled natural beauty, but like any material, they have their advantages and disadvantages. In this context, we will explore the main benefits and drawbacks of wooden decking to help you make an informed decision.
Choosing wooden decking for your outdoor space involves considering several factors such as durability and resistance, maintenance, aesthetics, comfort and safety, installation, and price. High-quality exotic wood decks, like Ipê and Teak, offer distinct features compared to treated wood decks like pine, falling into entirely different categories for almost all compared factors.
- Natural Beauty: Wooden decks offer unparalleled natural beauty. Regardless of the type of wood chosen—be it pine, garapa, cumaru, ipê, or teak—each piece has unique natural patterns that add charm and elegance to any outdoor space.
- Comfort and Safety: Wooden decks are highly slip-resistant due to the intrinsic properties of the wood itself and the fact that they allow water to drain beneath, eliminating the possibility of large puddles. Compared to other materials, wood has the advantage of heating up less when exposed to high levels of radiation.
- Durability and Resistance: Woods like Ipê or Teak are extremely mechanically resistant and can offer long life spans with proper treatment and maintenance, ideally annually or biannually.
- Maintenance: This is one of the main drawbacks of wooden decking. To maintain its appearance and resistance to the climate, it requires annual or biannual maintenance, which may include sanding, painting, varnishing, or sealing, representing ongoing costs and work over time. Typically, the fastening systems used for wooden decks do not allow access to the area beneath the deck, making it very difficult or even impossible to treat the substructure wood or clean accumulated debris.
- Cost: High-quality wooden decks like Ipê and Teak tend to be expensive. Treated pine is more affordable but can still be more costly compared to other alternative materials, especially considering ongoing maintenance costs over time.
- Safety: Some woods may present knots and tend to develop cracks or splinters over time, which can pose a safety risk, especially for children and pets.
- Durability and Resistance: Although some woods are extremely resistant, wooden decks can develop cracks, warping, rot, and insect damage, such as termites, if not properly maintained (ideally annually or biannually) and depending on the environmental conditions they are exposed to.
- Aesthetics: Despite their valued aesthetics, the appearance of wooden decks can change over time due to aging, prolonged sun exposure (which can cause color loss), and wear.
- Installation: Wooden decks adapt well to any type of installation, but the fastening systems typically used are more time-consuming to install compared to other alternatives.
Are There Good Alternatives to Wooden Decking?
Yes, there are alternatives to wooden decking, such as composite decking.
Composite decking combines wood fibers (usually recycled and from fast-growing species) with polymers to offer an appearance similar to natural wood but with greater durability and less maintenance.
High-quality composite decking provides the advantages of wooden decking without many of its disadvantages.
Learn more about composite decking.
Choose the solution and colour that best fits your project!
Are There Good Alternatives to Wooden Decking?
There are various types of wooden decking available on the market, each with its own characteristics and properties. Some of the most common are:
Treated Pine
Treated pine decking is valued for its cost-effectiveness, as it is generally low-cost and, if properly maintained, can last a long time.
This type of wood undergoes a chemical impregnation process under pressure, injecting chemicals that hinder the development of fungi and insect attacks, reducing the potential for rot and climate-induced deterioration.
Being a softwood, it is susceptible to physical damage such as scratches and dents, tending to develop cracks and splinters, posing a safety risk, especially for children and pets. Additionally, to preserve its appearance and integrity, pine requires regular maintenance, such as painting or varnishing, increasing costs and labor over time. Due to the chemical treatments applied, this type of wood raises environmental and health concerns. Its propensity to change color and suffer moisture damage, particularly in humid climates or areas frequently exposed to water, makes it less suitable for high-traffic locations or severe climatic conditions.
Garapa
Garapa decking is an intermediate-quality option, offering greater durability and resistance than treated pine but without the prestige and performance of other exotic woods like Ipê or Teak. It is appreciated for its beautiful golden hue, which darkens over time. Due to its density and natural properties, it provides considerable stability and durability, with excellent resistance to rot and insects without needing chemical treatments.
Though less expensive than exotic woods like Ipê, garapa still represents a significant investment compared to woods like treated pine. It requires regular maintenance to preserve its natural golden color, which tends to fade if not properly treated. Additionally, its installation can be challenging due to its hardness and weight, and the wood may expand or contract with climate action, leading to cracks and warping, requiring careful installation to mitigate these effects.
Cumaru
Cumaru decking is a high-quality option but still below the most premium options like Ipê or Teak. Originating from South American forests, with shades ranging from golden-yellow to reddish-brown, it is a dense and durable wood, naturally resistant to fungi, insects, and even rot.
However, it presents some disadvantages like its high cost, which is a significant barrier, along with installation difficulty due to its weight, density, and hardness, complicating cutting and surface finishing, which often does not become smooth after sanding or planing. The oily nature of the wood also interferes with adhesion using glue, nails, or screws, causing drill slips or ineffective penetration. Although resistant to pests and rot, cumaru requires regular maintenance to preserve its vibrant color, as without proper care, it tends to turn grey over time. The natural color variation, from light brown to dark red, can be considered a disadvantage. Additionally, cumaru harvesting can have significant environmental impacts, especially if not from sustainable sources, contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss.
Ipê
Ipê, originating from South American tropical forests, is one of the most prestigious woods for decking. Highly valued for its durability, resistance, and natural beauty, it has a rich (dark brown) color and elegant texture. This wood offers exceptional resistance to deterioration, insects, and moisture due to the natural oils it contains.
Despite being one of the preferred woods for decking, its high cost is a significant concern, along with installation difficulty due to its density and weight. Furthermore, regular maintenance is needed to preserve its original color, involving treatments with specific oils or sealants. Environmentally, Ipê extraction can contribute to the destruction of tropical forests, although certifications like FSC promote sustainable practices. Finally, although this effect is less pronounced than in other woods, Ipê is also subject to dimensional variations, or expansion and contraction with climate changes, which can result in cracking and warping over time.
Teak
Teak decking is considered the most premium among woods for decking, notably for its robustness and incomparable natural beauty. Originating from Southeast Asia, this wood stands out for its rich natural oiliness and high density, giving it excellent resistance to rot, pests, and the harshest climatic conditions. Teak is known for its golden-brown hue, which darkens over time, and its durability. These characteristics make teak the most premium option and consequently the most expensive.
Unsustainable teak harvesting in countries like Myanmar and Thailand has raised serious deforestation concerns, although certified sustainable sources tend to be less accessible and even more expensive. Despite its natural resistance to rot and pests, teak requires regular maintenance to preserve its golden color. Without regular treatment with oils or sealants, teak can turn a silvery-gray. Teak is relatively heavy, complicating installation, especially in hard-to-reach areas, and the wood can exhibit significant color variations, from light to dark shades, which can be seen as a disadvantage.
With the growing market of alternative decking materials offering lower costs and maintenance, teak faces increasing competition that might be more advantageous for many consumers.
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