Composite decking can be a lot more expensive than wood, but it has advantages beyond its durability. For instance, some materials are flexible enough to be heated and shaped, allowing you to create, say, rounded corners, railings, or a border for a kidney-shaped pool. That would be expensive to duplicate in solid wood decking.
Aesthetics are a factor, too, especially if you like a uniform look. The wood-like grain lacks irregularities like knots that can show up in the real thing.
And you have a choice of patterns, according to Li Wang, the engineer who tests decking for Consumer Reports. “Manufacturers usually use a few different molds to make their composites, so there’s some pattern variety,” she says.
A number of manufacturers say their products are made primarily of recycled materials, such as plastic grocery bags. Note, though, that after a typical life span of 25 years, the boards are still likely to end up in a landfill.
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