So you’re building a deck and you want to know what kind of decking to use – real wood or composite decking. My choice would be A: composite and B: Deckorators. Because I build decks for a living, I am familiar with a lot of products, deck boards notwithstanding. I have formed some strong opinions based on experience and I’d like to share them with you. I like different products for different reasons, so when it comes to strength and structural integrity, my choice is Deckorators.
Go Composite because Your Deck Is an Investment
Owning my own company for over 13 years, I’ve built a lot of decks. One thing I always stress is to build it to last. Decks aren’t cheap to build. If you plan to live in your home for the next 20 years, you want to build a deck that will last that long too. I know there are real wood lovers out there, but I’m here to tell you that real wood just won’t last as long as the manufactured wood. When composite wood first came out, I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan myself. It didn’t look enough like real wood and had some serious issues as well, including the price tag. But composites have come a long way and honestly, today, I wouldn’t use anything else on my own deck.
Real Wood Decking Vs. Composite Decking
The advantages to real wood include the natural look, lower upfront costs and the ability to change the color by restaining it. But today, with the prices of wood skyrocketing, real wood doesn’t really offer that much more. Composite wood offers some serious advantages over real wood. It’s low maintenance (no cleaning or staining). It’s moisture, rot, and termite resistant, durable and long-lasting. Finally, composite offers UV resistance so it will not fade over time like natural wood. And now, with its versatile color and grain options, there’s really no reason not to go with composite. Some composites are rated to last up to 50 years!
Deckorators Is the Best Composite Decking for Strength
Deckorators is my choice for strength and structural integrity. Why? What makes their boards different? At Deckorators, they stretch their boards during the extrusion process adding minerals to it which makes the board extremely rigid. Mineral-based composite (MBC) decking provides the industry’s best strength-to-weight ratio. I always put my floor joists on 12″ centers, but if I had to do a re-floor and my existing floor joist was 16″ centers, I would choose Deckorators because it has the most structural integrity out of any capped composite that I know of. As an added bonus, they have a very nice random texture. It looks great on modern or contemporary homes.
Composite Decking Is Worth the Extra Money
When composite wood first came on the market, it was priced quite a bit higher than real wood. But today, with the price of real wood skyrocketing, the difference between the two is not nearly as much. Considering how much longer a composite deck will last compared to a wood deck, plus the lack of maintenance required with a composite deck, it’s an investment worth making, in my opinion. Do your homework and talk to a professional before purchasing any decking. We’d be glad to help you compare and decide which decking is right for you.
Our Decks Are Designed to Last
I think our design talent sets us apart from a lot of other deck builders in Kansas City. We really listen to what you want. Our designers can take an ordinary deck and tweak just one or two features and create something more functional, unique, or beautiful. Big or small, we make the most of your space. Our customers are constantly surprised and amazed. We engineer with a higher level of integrity versus trying to be the lowest bidder meeting minimum tolerance and requirements. We don’t cut corners…anywhere. You can rest assured that when we build it, we build it right. We may not be the cheapest deck builder in the market, but we build our reputation with each project, so we make sure it will stand the test of time.
Kansas City’s Custom Deck Builders
At Creative Concepts and Design, if you can imagine it, we can help you design it and build it. Considering how long these composite structures will be around, it’s worth spending a little extra time in the design stage to make your finished deck an addition that will add aesthetic value to your home for years to come. We’d love to hear your deck ideas – the more creative, the better! We’ve been building custom decks in Kansas City and we have plenty of satisfied customers you can talk to.
