Deck flooring for your home. How to choose the right deck flooring

What is a deck flooring? 

Many a times home owners would want to have a beautiful floor in their garden, near the swimming pool or in their terrace/balcony. Since most of these areas are exposed to the vagaries of nature, the floor used here must be capable of withstanding the heat, rain, snow. Not only does one need a floor that withstands these conditions but one also wants a floor that is an insulator and does allow the owner of the house to walk bare feet on such floors. Of course the best part about these floors are that they lend an excellent aesthetic appearance to your space.

What are the different types of decking floors available in the market?


Normally decking floors are available in real wood or in wood plastic composite. Real wood decks are made from solid timber of certain species that can sustain extreme weather conditions. Normally the wood species that are very predominantly used are Ipe( also sometimes known as Brazillian walnut though they have no resemblance to Walnut), Teak and Merbau.  Wood plastic composite called WPC decking is the second option of using on decks. this is not real wood but an extruded product made from wood fiber and plasticizers. These are available in colors that resemble wood or sometimes in various colors to suit your design needs.

Is real deck flooring really the right choice for you for your home?

Real wood decks definitely a product that enhances the aesthetics of your deck immediately. Being a natural product this is obviously every home owner's first choice. However as you know, real wood tends to lose its moisture and oil content when exposed to weather. Though all wooden decks have deck oil applied on them the wood deck floor tends to lose its oil and moisture content and start to turn grey at some point of time. Hence, real wood deck floors will need continuous maintenance. This will involve some brushing, cleaning and oiling. Normally a DIY possibility. However many home owner's dislike this part of the real wood deck. So despite real wood giving you the best aesthetic appearance do take into consideration its maintenance costs and time before taking your call!

Is WPC deck the right choice for your home?


If you are not a real wood fan and do not want to get into the hassle of maintenance then WPC or wood plastic composite decking is your option and best choice. WPC decks are easy to clean and maintain. Of course it does come with certain draw backs of not replicating real wood. But sometimes this is not a problem for many home owners as the WPC deck by itself is a great solution for your swimming pools, terraces, balconies or any garden spaces. Definitely cheaper than real wood it is a choice of many home owners today.

I hope this has given you some insight into the basic difference between WPC and real wooden deck floorings. If you need to know more please visit www.floordepot.in or call us and we will be happy to give you more information.

In my future blogs I will talk more about the advantages and disadvantages of each of the products! So do look out for our blogs!

I hope this has cleared some of the doubts that often come to a customer's mind and makes it easier for you to choose the right deck flooring for your home!


Wood on the blog is written by Priyesh Mody who has 25 years of experience in this industry