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we can speak to you about your project and what decking materials will be best for you

Are you thinking of getting that old deck ready for the spring and summer of 2019? Want to make sure you have ample space to entertain friends and family? Just want to upgrade your deck and add that appeal to your home that will make entertaining family and friends an easy task?

When you think about constructing a new deck, the big question is if you want to go with the standard pressure-treated decking materials, or do you want to go with the new and improved composite decking materials? There are several factors that come along with choosing which material would be best for what you want.

  • Pressure-Treated Decking- Pressure-treated decking materials are the most popular and have been for years. PT decking is affordable and available in vast amounts. This pressure-treated decking is mostly cut from southern yellow pine and then chemically treated to withstand decay, bugs that are attracted to the wood, and fungi.  Treated with less toxic chemicals since 2003, PT decking is still chemically treated but with chemicals such as alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ), copper azole, or carbon-based nonmetallic preservatives.  There are several disadvantages to using PT decking, such as swelling, cracking, splitting, warping, and it being dimensionally unstable.
  • Tropical Hardwoods- Tropical hardwoods are very different from PT decking due to the tropical hardwoods being heavy, naturally resistant to rot and insects, very dense, and hard.  Pricing for this type of decking ranges due to there being so many different species available.  This type of decking is the most expensive within all of the natural wood materials.  This decking will be the closet to maintenance-free out of the wood choices due to all of the natural preservatives in the woods.
  • Composite Decking- Composite decking has become the most popular decking material to buy when resurfacing a deck.  This material is considered a hybrid due to it being composed of wood fibers and recycled plastic.  With those products being used to make the material, it is heavy, weather resistant, and won’t warp, rot, or split.  This material is basically maintenance-free and only needs a scrubbing with warm soapy water to remove most dirt and grime. This material comes in a limited number of color selections and will fade over time due to exposure in direct sunlight.

If you are in the market for a deck makeover, give us a call at KC’s Improvement & Construction Co., Inc., so we can speak to you about your project and what decking materials will be best for you.