What is Composite Decking made of? 

While timber porches and decks have always looked beautiful, over time builders, architects and homeowners have become increasingly frustrated with the amount of maintenance required to keep them looking pristine. Timber decking requires regular sanding, staining and treating to keep it strong, solid and attractive while also protecting it as much as possible from the elements. Without this maintenance, timber quickly deteriorates and can warp, rot, split and crack, making the deck surface unpleasant – and in some cases dangerous – to use.

Plastic decking boards solved many of these problems and were a much more practical choice but had one main drawback – they looked like plastic, which was no match aesthetically for beautiful natural timber.

And so composite decking was born. Combining the benefits of both wood and plastic, the attractive, durable and low-maintenance material is perfect for creating beautiful, long-lasting deck boards. So how is it made?

Timber & Plastic

Our composite decking is made by mixing wood and plastic along with colour additives and bonding agents. Designed to offer better longevity than timber while looking more natural than plastic, the wood and plastic combine to make a stronger, denser, heavier, lower-maintenance material than wood, while emulating it’s naturally pleasing finish.

Dino Decking composite deck boards contain a mix of 55% recycled wood and 40% recycled HDPE plastic along with 5% additives which include colour, bonding agent etc.

Wood fibres come from recycled Poplar chippings, and are sourced from a range of timber businesses such as furniture makers, floorboard factories and sawmills. A variety of particle sizes are available – composite decking can be made from fine wood powder particles up to larger sawdust and wood chips.

We use HDPE plastic in our composite deck boards. This can often come from recycled packaging – used and discarded milk containers, food cartons and detergent bottles are melted down and mixed with the wood particles to create a strong composite.

Some decking boards, known as ‘capped’ decking, have an extra protective layer wrapped around the outside. This additional layer is a polymer sleeve which creates a thin waterproof shell around each deck board to increase stain resistance, durability and longevity. Dino Decking’s capped composite decking features a Dino Shield™ polymer sleeve, which is the thickest protective layer in the U