Ask a McCoy’s Pro – Pros and Cons of Composite & PVC decking

Go to www.mccoys.com to get your building supply questions answered by a McCoy’s Building Supply pro. Today’s question is from Kenny at kennymasters.com. Kenny asks, “Is man made decking all the same? Is there one stronger than the other? What is the price difference?” McCoy’s lumber expert, Tom Hasting responds: Kenny, I’m glad you asked these questions about man made decking. When we say man made decking, we really want to talk about composite decking or PVC decking. What we get with composite decking or PVC decking is short term aesthetic gains at a high cost, but a long term savings when you consider the cost of maintenance…yearly maintenance. Composite decking is 50 percent plastic and 50 percent wood. It’s very important when we consider the plastic that if it’s recycled plastic it has to be cleaned properly. If it’s not cleaned properly then there will be color migration with time; that can be a real problem. With the wood, it’s important that it be hard wood flour instead of soft wood flour, because soft woods gain moisture and you’ll get a deep mold problem. We would say that you should also use maple because you have a lack of tannins that you might have with oak. And the tannins can migrate some color as well. This is why we prefer TimberTech, because on the composite side you have non-recycled plastic, ie virgin plastic, so you get rid of the color problem there. And you use maple, hardwood wood flour, and that prevents the tannin problem. All together we …

A-1 Exterior Remodeling Inc – Hillsboro, OR

A-1 Exterior Remodeling Inc 503-693-1948 www.yellowbook.com

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