Beginner’s Guide To Choosing The Right Decking Materials

There is never a bad time to begin planning for a deck installation at your home. Even if you entertain the idea in the middle of winter in Boston, you are putting yourself ahead of the game once the temperatures begin to climb. Choosing the right decking materials is no longer as easy as it once was when it was wood or no deck at all. The experienced and trusted team at Capital Construction is here to provide you with a comprehensive guide to choosing the right decking materials for your project.

Keep Your Cool With Aluminum Deck Materials

It is more likely than not that you have never seen an aluminum deck. However, it is one of the few decking materials that makes a lot of sense. Aluminum will not rust, crack, splinter, warp, or rot. It is also slip, mold, and weather-resistant. The aluminum will be coated in powder, which will not peel or blister and most likely last forever. Bugs that attack wood will not like a deck built from aluminum, and it can be recycled if the next homeowner does not want a deck.

Quite possibly the biggest advantage of an aluminum deck is that it will not look like a set of bleachers in your backyard. Why? Aluminum decks come in a variety of wood-grain colors and finishes. On top of it all, aluminum for a deck will be two to three times stronger than wood while also being three to four times lighter compared to plastic lumber, composite, and wood.

Cedar is a Rot-Resistant Option For Your Deck

When looking to have a deck built for your Boston home, Capital Construction recommends looking into cedar wood. Cedar is a rot-resistant option that will also be resistant to bugs that like to chew on wood. Make sure you use heartwood and not sapwood when choosing cedar for your deck. Heartwood is found deeper in the tree, making it more resistant to decay than sapwood.

A cedar deck will require maintenance to keep it healthy. Regularly maintaining the wood by refinishing it every year will ensure that it has a long life at your home, providing you with a strong return on investment. Let the team at Capital Construction work to build you the deck of your dreams for your Boston home.

The Affordable Option: Pressure-Treated Wood

One of the most affordable decking options for homes in the Boston area is that of pressure-treated wood. As you might have noticed, pressure-treated wood has a green tint, which makes it very easy to stain just about any color you choose. Pressure-treated wood is durable, affordable, and widely available.

The downside to pressure-treated wood is that it can be susceptible to the following:

• Shrinking
• Swelling
• Splitting
• Warping
• Cupping
• Cracking

One or more deck boards will likely need to be replaced just a year or two after installation due to severe warping when using pressure-treated wood. A deck made of pressure-treated wood will require a lot of maintenance to extend its life and keep the look you desire. It will need to be power washed annually and coated with exterior-grade stain every two or three years.

PVC Materials For a Boston Deck

Another solid option for building a deck is to use PVC materials. The highest quality of PVC has none of the drawbacks of going with wood for your deck, which means you do not have to stain or treat it every couple of years to extend its life.

PVC is available in all of the following finishes:

• Gray
• Brown
• Tan
• White
• Wood-grain

PVC is also light and easy to carry if you are looking to conduct the installation yourself. PVC has come a long way in the last 20 years and has become a popular decking option for thousands of homeowners in the Boston area.

Choose a Tropical Hardwood to Resist Damage From Bugs

Capital Construction also has experience building decks using tropical hardwood. One of the biggest advantages of tropical hardwood is that it is hard enough to resist decay and damage from termites. The hardwood options available for your deck in Boston include the following:

• Garapa
• Massaranduba
• Cumaru
• Red tauari
• Tigerwood
• Ipe

If you are looking for longevity from your deck, hardwood will last much longer than softwood and will look better as it ages because of its density.

Composite Decking

One of the fastest-growing decking materials in the industry over the last 10 years has been composite decking. Composite materials are made of recycled plastic and wood dust. The boards are dense, which helps to make them nearly maintenance-free. You won’t have to stain, sand, or treat each year in order to prolong a composite deck’s lifespan.

Even though composite decking is made from wood dust, you can walk on it barefoot without the worry of getting a splinter. The materials will not warp, rot, cup, or splinter at any point during their lifetime, which is a major reason for its explosion in popularity in the last 10 years in the Boston area.

Uncapped Composite Decking

Composite decking is available uncapped, which means it does not have a protective layer of plastic on the top of the boards. If you have an uncapped composite deck, it will be prone to mold, sun damage, water damage, and even fade as it gets older.

Capped Composite Decking

The best option available for your composite deck is capped composite decking. This type of decking has a plastic layer on the top of the boards that prevents water, moisture, and sunlight from damaging the materials.

Call Capital Construction For Your Boston Deck Project Today

Are you ready to have a deck built at your Boston home? Whether you need to update your backyard, want to add curb appeal, or simply need a great place to host parties; Capital Construction will make your deck project an easy one. Call us today at 617.618.6494, or submit our contact form to schedule an appointment for an estimate.