Decking arguments are usually about boards, which is odd, because boards are the part you can change. The frame underneath decides whether the deck is still level and solid in ten years, and the board material mostly decides how your weekends are spent in the meantime.
M&R Property & Paving Services builds decking in Egham alongside paving, so the advice here is not loyal to either material, only to what each is actually like to own.
Timber: warmth, cost and a maintenance contract
Softwood timber decking wins on day-one cost and on feel: it is warm underfoot, takes stain or oil in any direction you want the look to go, and small repairs are cheap because any board can be swapped for pennies relative to composite.
The price is the routine. An annual clean and a re-oil or re-stain every year or two is what keeps timber sound and slip-safe; skip a couple of seasons and the surface greys, boards cup, and algae makes the shady end treacherous. Timber suits owners who do not mind the ritual, and punishes those who thought it was optional.
- Cheapest to build, warmest underfoot.
- Annual cleaning and periodic oiling are not optional.
- Individual boards replace cheaply when damaged.
Composite: the upkeep trade
Composite boards trade a higher upfront cost for a surface that wants washing rather than treating. Colours hold, splinters are gone, and the deck looks the same in year six as year one with nothing more than a brush and occasional soapy rinse. Textured finishes handle wet weather well.
The honest caveats: dark composites get noticeably hot in full summer sun, deep scratches cannot be sanded out the way timber can, and quality varies widely between ranges, so the sample in your hand matters more than the brochure promise. The frame beneath it is still timber or steel, which is the next point.
- Minimal upkeep: wash, do not treat.
- Dark boards run hot in direct sun.
- Range quality varies; judge the actual sample.
The frame is the actual deck
Every decking failure that matters happens below the boards: undersized joists, spans stretched too far, no ventilation so the structure sits wet, and posts bearing on soil instead of proper pads. Composite boards on a weak frame is expensive carpet on a rotten floor.
M&R Property & Paving Services builds deck frames to the same logic as paving bases: proper bearers on solid ground, joist spacing suited to the chosen board, airflow underneath, and membrane below to stop the weeds farming their way up. That structure is invisible on the photos and it is where the lifespan lives.
- Joist spacing must match the board, especially composite.
- Ventilation underneath keeps any frame dry and sound.
- Posts and bearers on pads, never straight onto soil.
Where decking beats paving
Decking earns its place where the ground argues with a patio: sloping plots, raised thresholds where a level walkout matters, roots and services you would rather bridge than excavate, and gardens where a warm surface and a defined platform suit how the space is used.
On flat, well-drained ground the choice is more about feel and budget rhythm: paving costs more attention up front and less through life; decking, particularly timber, reverses that. Mixing both, a deck at the house stepping to paving in the garden, is often the answer that uses each where it is strongest.
Related pages
Questions customers ask
Does composite decking really need no maintenance?
It needs washing to stay smart and slip-safe, and leaves cleared like any surface. What it removes is the sanding, oiling and staining cycle that timber demands.
How long does a properly built deck frame last?
Built dry, ventilated and off the soil, a treated timber frame serves for many years and outlives multiple surface refreshes. Built wet and buried, no board choice will save it.
Is decking slippery in winter?
Any surface with algae is. Textured composite and regularly cleaned timber both behave well; neglected smooth timber in shade is the combination that causes the falls.
Pick composite if you want your weekends back, timber if you want warmth and a lower entry price, and spend properly on the frame either way, because that is the part doing the work.
M&R Property & Paving Services can look at a garden in Egham and say honestly whether decking, paving or a mix suits the levels and the budget. The contact page starts it.
