The Cons& Pros of Different Types of Composite Decking

Over the past 30 years, WPC industry continues to move forward, thanks in part to the increased demand for outdoor living space, the need for sustainable decking materials will continue to grow. WPC materials can withstand harsh climate condition, low maintenance, and look great without harming the environment are likely to become essential for the decks of the future. There’re various WPC composite product on the market with the technology developing. From the aspect of covering layer coverage, we can see that PE plastic wood is divided into four types:

1. 360 degree all-round coating layer  

2. The slot position of the decking is cut, and the coating layer is not completely coated

3. The coating layer can only cover the upper half of the decking

4. The uncapped composite decking/ 1st generation decking

The first three kinds of wpc have outer layer, which belongs to co-extrusion wpc also named 2nd generation. The fourth one is the most classic composite decking, we call it first generation. From the application of these four kinds of wpc, we can see the future development direction of  composite decking.

The uncapped, first generation composite decking:

The first generation of plastic wood, the surface layer containing wood powder is directly exposed to the harsh environmental in different climates. Comparing with co-extrusion products, it is vulnerable to the erosion of strong UV, mold, stain. In the past few years of actual installation, we have seen similar problems. If you’re more in the mood for something traditional, then first generation will be an economic option. But if your budget is well and want to choose a decking with long service life, co-extrusion decking will be your best choice and you get the extra benefits of a co-extrusion decking.

The decking with incompleted coating layer:

The co-extrusion decking without complete coating, only parts of the plastic wood are covered by a coating layer, solves some of the problems mentioned above. However, due to the incompleted coating, there’s no coating layer on the bottom, the decking will easy to absorb water which will lead the expansion and bending deformation problems, and the serious even the slot position is pulled to crack. 

360 degree fully capped co-extrusion decking:

The 360 degree complete coating layer could provide full protection for the core, which can resist the effects of harsh environment, moisture, strong UV ,mold and prevent decking from cracking and deformation. We all know that the composition of the core material is wood powder, PE plastics and additives, and the coating layer is made of advanced HPE and special additives, which makes the decking has a very low water absorption rate to effectively prevent water from entering the core. Everyone who had use the fully capped co-extrusion decking will be surprised by its excellent performance, such as rot resistance, no cracking, no fading. Besides, high density polyethylene coating is more resistant to stain and scratch and no need to brush, paint or sealing, basically no maintenance, save your money and time.

Wallong dedicate to provide the fully capped co-extrusion decking to our customers, and we believe that co-extrusion products will be widely use and recognize by all of consumers in the near future. Talk to our sales for more details: inquiry@wallongwpc.com