Plastic Wood Products – Two Rules for Replacing Wood With Plastic

 

New plastic wood products continue to be successfully developed and we are seeing more and more “plastics-replacing-wood” as building materials. Scrap wood fibers such as sawdust and tree branches and plant fibers such as bran, rice and peanut husks, plant stalks “white pollution” scrap plastics and other special additives are all used in the production of plastic wood.


When we speak to homeowners on how to improve the appearance of their homes with the use of plastic wood products, we start off with these two laws that they should never, ever forget.

 

Eco-Friendly Builder’s Plastic Wood Products Guide for New and Experienced Do-it-Yourselfers

 

Plastic Wood Products Law No. 1: Buy plastic wood with seventy percent cellulose content.

 

Although fifty percent is more common, with up to seventy percent cellulose content plastic lumber behaves like plywood and can be shaped using traditional woodworking tools. It is at the same time moisture-resistant and resistant to decay, though it’s not as inflexible as wood and your decks may buckle somewhat in very hot weather. The material is also responsive to staining from various agents by virtue of its porosity.

 

Plastic Wood Products Law No. 2: Buy products that use recycled plastic

 

Plastic is durable and degrades very slowly, taking hundreds and perhaps thousands of years to break down and decompose. However, the material can be melted and reused, which has the double effect of saving trees from being felled, and saving the environment from pollution as a result of plastic litter. Plastic wood is very common nowadays because of its comparatively low cost, simplicity of manufacture, adaptability, and invulnerability to water.

 

Since the wood with which they’re combined has “limited thermal stability,” the thermoplastics used in wood-plastic composites are selected for their comparatively low melting point. This means your decking must stand up to the type of heat you might come across in direct sunshine in a Southern climate.