Decks.

Pine

Treated pine is an affordable, fast growing, sustainable and plentiful timber that makes an excellent choice for decking.

Pine is a softwood, so the raw timber is not as durable as hardwood and in order to make pine suitable for outdoor use it requires chemical treatment.

Because pine is soft, the decking boards are milled (cut) to a thicker profile than hardwood decking boards. This ensures they don’t bend, buckle or warp.

Pine can be stained, oiled and painted as desired. Over time, it seasons (ages) to a natural silver colour.

Hardwood

Hardwood decks are a sleek looking high end option for deck finishing.

Hardwoods are denser and harder than softwoods and the decking planks are typically thinner in profile.

Kwila, the most popular hardwood available in New Zealand is grown in South East Asia. It is gold to red-brown in colour.

Purple Heart, grown in South America, is purple-brown in colour.

Vitex, from Solomon Islands, is light sandy gold in colour.

Garapa, from South America, is gold in colour.

Another option, although technically not a hardwood, is Macrocarpa.

All timbers eventually silver off (turn a light shade of grey) over time, with exposure to the environment. With appropriate maintenance and treatments, a degree of colour can usually be restored to silvered hardwoods.

Composite

Composite decks use plastic-wood decking planks instead of natural timber. The boards are typically comprised of plastic, wood fibre, glue and colour pigment. They’re splinter-free and resistant to scratches, fading and mould.

Unlike timber framed decks, the beams and components are manufactured from lightweight structural aluminium. The fastening types are also different to traditional timber fastenings.

Composite deck and framing systems can be installed over waterproof membranes (i.e. above garages and apartment buildings) as they don’t require ground penetration for post holes.

Consented decks

Some decks will require permission from the local Council before construction can commence.

In this case, a different process needs to be followed, usually involving input from an engineer or architect and a series of inspections and Council sign off.

A competent landscaper can manage this process for you.