When it comes to choosing the right material for outdoor decking, homeowners and builders are often faced with a crucial decision: traditional bamboo decking boards or the modern alternative of Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) decking boards.
Both materials bring their own unique set of advantages and considerations to the table, making the choice far from straightforward.
Bamboo, lauded for its rapid growth and eco-friendliness, offers a natural aesthetic that appeals to those seeking a more organic look for their outdoor spaces.
On the other hand, WPC decking, a blend of recycled wood fibers and plastic, boasts enhanced durability, low maintenance requirements, and resistance to insects and moisture, making it an increasingly popular option for long-lasting outdoor installations.
This comparison delves into the key factors that differentiate these two decking materials, helping you navigate through the pros and cons to find the perfect fit for your project’s needs and your personal preferences.
Table of Contents
What is WPC wood plastic decking boards
WPC is a kind of high-tech green environmental protection new decorative material mainly made of wood (wood cellulose, plant cellulose) as the base material and thermoplastic polymer material (plastic) and processing additives.
mixed evenly and then heated extrusion molding by mold equipment, both wood and plastic properties and characteristics, is a new composite material that can replace wood and plastic.
WPC wood plastic decking boards material characteristics
- Waterproof, moisture-proof. It fundamentally solves the problem that wood products are easy to rot and expand and deform after absorbing moisture in a humid and watery environment
To be used in environments where traditional wood products cannot be used. - Insect-proof and termite-proof, effectively eliminate insect harassment and extend service life.
- Colorful, many colors to choose from. It has a natural wood feel and wood texture, and can be customized according to your own personality
The color you want. - Strong plasticity, can be very simple to achieve personalized modeling, fully reflect the personality style.
- High environmental protection, no pollution, pollution-free, recyclable. The product does not contain benzene substances, formaldehyde content is 0.2, lower than EO level standard, for the European environmental protection standard, can be recycled greatly save the use of wood, suitable for the national policy of sustainable development, the benefit of society.
- High fire resistance. Can be effective flame retardant, fire rating reached B1 level, self-extinguishing in case of fire, does not produce any toxic gas.
- Good machinability, customizable, planing, sawing, drilling, surface can be painted.
- Simple installation, convenient construction, do not need complicated construction technology, save installation time and cost.
- No cracking, no expansion, no deformation, no maintenance and maintenance, easy to clean, save later repair and maintenance costs.
- Sound absorption effect is good, good energy saving, so that indoor energy saving up to more than 30%.
What are Bamboo decking boards
Bamboo decking boards is a composite product of bamboo and wood, which is used for the floor decoration of residential buildings, office buildings and other places.
The panel and bottom plate of the bamboo floor are made of good bamboo, and the core layer is mostly fir, camphor wood and other wood.
Its production depends on sophisticated machinery and equipment and advanced science and technology and standardized production process, through a series of anti-corrosion, anti-corrosion, moisture-proof, high pressure, high temperature and gluing.
Grinding and other nearly 40 complicated processes, in order to become a new type of composite floor.
The advantages of Bamboo decking boards mainly include
The appearance is natural and fresh, the texture is fine and smooth, moisture-proof and moisture-proof, and the toughness is strong and elastic.
At the same time, its surface hardness can be compared with the common wood in the wooden floor such as cherry wood, beech wood and so on.
On the other hand, because the floor core material is made of wood as raw materials, it has excellent stability, strong and durable, good foot feeling, coordinated style, good sound insulation performance, and warm in winter and cool in summer, especially suitable for home environment and indoor decoration such as sports and entertainment places.
From a health point of view, bamboo and wood composite flooring is especially suitable for aging populations in cities and infants, and it also has a protective buffer effect on people who like sports.
- High strength structural materials: Bamboo decking boards have high strength and are suitable for structural materials, while the utilization rate of raw materials is high and the product cost is low.
- Environmental protection: Bamboo grows fast and is rich in resources, and the floor made of bamboo is environmentally friendly.
- Strong stability: Due to the high-density structure of bamboo, bamboo flooring is not only durable, but also has good stability.
- Warm in winter and cool in summer: Bamboo has a low thermal conductivity, and the floor made of it has the advantage of warm in winter and cool in summer.
- Beautiful: Bamboo and wood floor color natural beautiful and generous, elastic, moisture-proof, hardness, and will not mold, with bamboo arc surface for appearance, with a unique charm.
- Easy maintenance: maintenance is simple, you can use a wet cloth to wring and wipe, easy to dust.
The main disadvantages of Bamboo decking boards include
- Easy deformation: Under the influence of long-term sun exposure and humidity, bamboo and wood floors are prone to delamination, so they are easy to deform.
- Susceptible to insects: Especially in the southern region, bamboo and wood floors are easy to grow silverfish, which affects the service life of the floor.
- Not waterproof: bamboo wood floor is not waterproof, not timely treatment after water will occur expansion and deformation, a long time will mold.
- High installation requirements: due to the special material of bamboo and wood floor, the installation needs to be carried out by professionals.
- Contaminants: Bamboo and wood fiberboard may need to use foam during installation, which may lead to contaminants such as formaldehyde.
- Easy surface condensation: The surface of bamboo and wood fiberboard is prone to condensation, because its surface has a layer of non-absorbent film.
To sum up, Bamboo decking boards, as an environmentally friendly, beautiful and functional building material, is suitable for the pursuit of natural style and environmental protection concept of home decoration.
However, users need to pay attention to its potential shortcomings, such as easy deformation, insects, not waterproof, and take appropriate maintenance measures to extend its service life.
From the above point of view, Bamboo decking boards and WPC wood plastic decking boards two decks have their own advantages, readers can choose the above two decks according to their actual needs.
