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Choosing the best outdoor flooring options for your space?
Summer is around the corner and invites us to dine with family or friends in the garden. Enhance the outdoor space of your home by installing a new deck for socialising and other pleasurable summer events.
However, for everyone's comfort, decking material must be chosen carefully and attentively to add style to your home. So if the idea of installing a deck is taking shape in your mind, but you’re not sure which material to choose, grab a notebook and pen and jot down the advice we have for you.
Tips on choosing the right decking material for your outdoor space
Given the size of the project and the amount involved, it's important that you choose the best decking materials.
Check out all your options for outdoor decking materials to find the right one to suit your home and the type of use.
Choose the material that works best for you
There are many outdoor decking options. The three most popular flooring options are:
Ceramic decking
Of the three options, this type of decking material requires the least maintenance and is the most durable, as it is made from highly resistant materials.
What's more, it offers maximum comfort and safety, as it has an anti-slip treatment to help prevent dangerous slipping.
What's more, due to the materials used during their manufacturing process, ceramics offer you a huge range of aesthetic options, as they can imitate wood, marble, etc.
Wooden deck
As the name suggests, this type of deck is made of wood and is widely used to keep outdoor space looking as natural as possible.
Be careful, though, because ageing wood floors shed splinters which are potentially dangerous.
Composite deck
As a mix of PVC (or polypropylene) and natural wood fibres, composite decks combine a more rural feel with new technologies.
Unlike wood decking, the composite material doesn't splinter. As for thermal comfort, it tends to overheat in the sun.
Pay attention to maintenance costs
Maintenance is extremely important when choosing the decking material, as over time it shows signs of wear and tear from the elements.
As mentioned above, ceramic decking is higher value for money, as it's made from resistant materials and does not splinter. It’s best maintained by periodic cleaning.
On the other hand, real wood deck requires regular maintenance to extend its life, including rotten board replacement and antifungal treatments.
Composite decks are somewhere in between, since the boards do not decompose easily due to their manufacturing process.
Weigh in the durability of the materials
Another factor to take into account is the durability of decking.
Due to the materials used, ceramic decking floors last the longest. In fact, we could even say they are intergenerational, as they are made to last for dozens of years in good condition.
Which is not the case of real wood decking or composite decking that last for 10 to 40 years, depending on the exposure to the elements.
Don’t forget total installation time
The saying goes "more haste less speed", but the truth is that we all want our deck to be installed as quickly as possible.
Installing a ceramic deck can take longer than laying wood flooring, as the installation process of the latter amounts essentially to fitting individual wooden boards onto a pre-structure. But the ceramic deck lasts longer.
