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01 / 09PVC deck boards with no wood content at all, the coolest surface in their class underfoot and the answer for shaded damp decks.
PVC decking is the one deck surface with zero wood content. Composite boards are part wood flour, and wood flour is organic material that can absorb moisture and, in a permanently damp shaded spot, grow mould on the surface. PVC deck boards have nothing in them for water, fungus or insects to work on at all.
If your deck sits low to the ground, under trees, or on the north side of the house where it never fully dries out, this is the pvc decking material that answers the problem. The same is true of a deck over a pool surround or beside a hot tub, where the underside of the board sees splash it never gets to shed. Every other surface we install is managing moisture. PVC ignores it.
It is also the coolest surface in its class underfoot. Dark composite boards in direct August sun get genuinely too hot to stand on barefoot. PVC has a lower density and is available in lighter colours, and the two together take the worst of that away. Around a pool, where people walk barefoot from water to deck and back, that is the difference between a deck that gets used in the afternoon and one that does not.
The board is lighter and more flexible than composite, which is the one place PVC asks something of the structure. Joist spacing is specified tighter, and we set it from the manufacturer's span table rather than eyeballing it against a habit carried over from wood. On a diagonal board layout the spacing tightens again. Entry and mid tiers are available, and the difference is the surface texture and the warranty rather than the core material.
Framing is pressure-treated and taped at the joist tops. Boards go down on a hidden fastener system, so the face is unbroken and the boards can expand and contract along their length without buckling. PVC moves more with temperature than composite does, so end gaps are set to the installation-day temperature rather than a fixed number, which is a detail that separates a flat deck from one that bows in July. Footings sit below the 1.2 m frost line, and where the deck surface is more than 600 mm above grade the build includes a guard and usually a municipal permit.
PVC is the most expensive surface we install per square foot. Composite costs less and gives up a little in moisture and heat performance. Cedar costs much less and is the better looking board if you will maintain it. Choose PVC decking when the location is damp, shaded, barefoot, or all three. On a dry, sunny, well-ventilated deck the case for it over mid-tier composite is thinner and we will tell you so.
| Composition | No wood content at all, so nothing for water, fungus or insects to work on |
|---|---|
| Best location | Low, shaded or permanently damp decks, pool surrounds and hot tub decks |
| Temperature | The coolest surface in its class underfoot, helped by lower density and lighter colours |
| Joist spacing | Specified tighter than composite, and tighter again on a diagonal layout |
| End gaps | Set to the installation-day temperature rather than a fixed number |
| Tiers | Entry and mid, differing in surface texture and warranty rather than core material |
We are an installation contractor, not a manufacturer or a materials retailer. We build decks and fences on your property across the Greater Toronto Area: layout, footings below the frost line, framing, boards, railings, stairs and gates, finished and inspected. Composite boards are a surface option we install, alongside pressure-treated lumber and western red cedar, and the boards themselves are made by manufacturers we do not represent and whose brands we do not resell. If you already have material on site we can build with it; if you do not, we specify and source what suits the deck and include it in the written fixed price. What you are buying from us is the build and the crew that stands behind it, not a product off a shelf.
