Is Wood Decking Good for Your Balcony?

One question often asked by a customer, is should I install composite decking in my home instead of wood balcony? Is wood decking good for the balcony? Well, the answer is a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’.

Let’s look at the No first.

Why wood decking not good for balcony?

Firstly, maintenance can be one huge issue when it comes to wood decking. If you are the home owner who feels that it is troublesome to re-varnish, re-coat or re-paint your wood decking once every six months, then wood decking is not for you. Without good maintenance of the wood decking, you risk of having your balcony deck damage due to weather or wear and tear.

Secondly, splinter can be one issue especially for homes with kids or pets, when it comes to wood decking on the balcony. Hence, the only way to prevent the splinter problem is to avoid wood totally.

Next, the choice of wood decking materials can vary and often is complicated among the decking contractors. For example, a good quality chengal wood decking is usually produced from matured chengal timber. While a bad quality chengal wood decking is from young chengal trees. Even within the same matured wood species, there are different grades. Hence, it is up to the trustworthiness of your decking contractor to give you the best quality wood decking material, unless you are the expert in wood.

Now, let’s look at the Yes!

Wood decking for your balcony exudes many benefits. One benefit is that it is a good insulator of heat compared to traditional plastic decking. Constant heating from the sun will not cause one to ‘dance’ around the wooden deck, but he or she will ‘dance’ around on low quality plastic decking. When the weather outside is very rainy and cold, you will not feel cold feet as well when you step on wood decking.

Secondly, wood decking gives your balcony a natural unique look. This is because each plant of wooden deck board is different from each other. Therefore, your balcony decking will not look uniformly similar when you installed wood decking instead of composite decking.

Lastly, if you know how to maintain your wood decking, your wood decking will last very long. Hence, if you are the type of person who is not lazy in maintaining your decking on a regular basis, then consider wood decking.

At the end of the day, want to go with Wood or No Wood? It will be up to you!