Wood Plastic Composite For Homeowners Who Want the Look of Timber

 

Frequently used for things such as decking outdoors, wood plastic composite is one of the fastest growing components of the recycling movement. One associate professor of Wood Science and Engineering explained the phenomenon thus: “Composite products made from wood and plastic are highly desirable for their low maintenance and ability to resist rot.” Below are some quick, but effective exercises – specifically designed for the busy homeowner – to keep you sane as you look for wood plastic composite products for your project.

 

Quick Exercise 1: Find Out What the Wood Plastic Composite Contains

 

Some composites offer additional strength, lower costs and a broad variety of finishes, but the elevated cellulose filler content of some products may cause uncertainty as to whether they’re plywood or recycled plastic bottles. Most of the existing applications are in the USA where major progress is being made and finished products such as decking, cladding and window frames are already available.

 

Quick Exercise 2: Confirm What You Can Use Wood Plastic Composite For

 

The most prevalent use for composite is in outdoor deck floors, but it is also used for fences, landscaping timbers, siding, park benches, molding and trim, window and doorframes, and indoor furniture. Wood plastic composite is still an extremely new product compared with the long history of natural lumber as a building material but can be substituted in most non-structural instances.

 

Quick Exercise 3: Choose a Good Supplier

 

Trex leads the crowd of companies that now produce composites, which are chiefly sold in the construction market. US Plastic Lumber (SmartDeck), TimberTech owned by Crane, AERT (ChoiceDeck), which is distributed by Weyerhaeuser, and Louisiana-Pacific (WeatherBest) are all large US manufacturers of composite decking containing the polymer polyethylene. There’s also CertainTeed (Boardwalk), who uses PVC, and CorrectDeck, who uses polypropylene.