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What plastic decking options are out there?

The popularity of plastic decking is on the rise. People are choosing to avoid real timber decking and are instead opting for the man made alternative. Why? You might ask. Not only is plastic decking often the environmentally friendly choice (many ranges are made from recycled materials), but man made decking is significantly easier to maintain. Gone are the days where you need to sand and varnish boards regularly to ensure they look good – plastic decking just requires the occasional sweep or clean.

If you are one of the many people looking to install a plastic deck but first want to understand exactly what is available, we’ve pulled together some key things.

What plastic decking finishes are available?

Firstly, let’s look at what types of finishes are available. With regular timber decking, you basically have two choices – smooth or grooved. With composite decking, you have a bit more choice.

Sanded decking boards

Sanded plastic decking boards are supposed to look like their smooth real timber counterparts. They have a slightly textured surface to add grip, but otherwise are devoid of any detail such as grooving or grain. As with the decking range offered at AllMats,; sanded boards very often are double sided and therefore the choice of installing the boards sanded side up, is entirely up to you.

Grooved decking boards

Grooved is probably one of the most popular finishes for man made decking. This is highly likely because it is also an extremely common finish for real timber decking. The grooved effect is usually the reverse design of sanded or grained boards, and is designed to aid non-slip properties. The grooves allow water to drain away from the main surface of the board, thus allowing for better grip underfoot.

Grained decking boards

Grained decking boards are one of the newest styles on the market. They are designed to have a grained appearance, like varnished or stained real wood. The great thing about the grained design is that you can get the stained look without the need to messy stains that often have the be reapplied every few years.

Does plastic decking come in more than just shades of brown?

Yes, plastic decking comes in a whole host of shades. At AllMats we offer three shades; brown, charcoal and grey. Charcoal and grey are extremely popular shades, especially for modern, minimalist garden designs. All shades of decking in our range is available in sanded, grooved or grained.

What trims are available for plastic decking?

The trims available for plastic decking can be divided into two groups – coordinated trims, and ancillaries. Let’s take a look…

Coordinated trims

Coordinated decking trims will be visible when your decking installation is complete, that is by it is important that these trims match your main decking boards. Fascia planks are thinner than main deck boards and cannot take much load, they are however ideals for use on the upstands of steps, for example. Meanwhile, cover angles are great for hiding edge seams where raw edges might appear unsightly.

Ancillary trims

Ancillary trims are all those trims that are still fundamental to an installation, but are not visible when the job is complete. They include composite decking joists which are a timber alternative to creating a base frame, as well as everything down to the clips for holding the decking boards in place on that frame.

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