Hot surface: Probably the top complaint about composite decking is that it tends to get very hot in direct sunlight. we found it on the internet, used it and it worked great. They call it Armor Allow Technology.. whatever that means. Because of the polyethylene, the board will get significantly hotter but will also hold that warmth for a longer period of time. Indeed, the warmest deck boards are also the lightest. We often get asked what is the coolest decking in our low-maintenance options. AZEK decking is engineered to last longer than any other composite decking, with a natural hardwood look and feel. – Decks By E3.  Ironically, these are old technology composites, with core material that is a combination of wood fibers and plastic.  Why is this old technology cooler?  Well, wood holds and conducts less heat than plastic.  The newer, all-PVC boards perform better — resist food stains, mildew, and scratches better — but they are hotter.  My temperature readings show this, and the published values of thermal conductivity endorse it. Trex decking does not typically get hotter than pressure-treated wood, although on a hot day with a blazing sun, nearly any surface will get uncomfortably hot. You’re probably less interested in cooking eggs on your deck than you are walking barefoot on it.  Your concern is reasonable – especially if the bare feet on your new deck will look like these:                               Or these: To find out, I put a wide selection of synthetic decking [1] on 2xs in the hot August sun and measured the surface temperatures.  I admit, I am limited by geography.  The Boston suburbs this August barely reached the low 80s on sunny days.  OK, temperatures did get to 88ºF on a few cloudy days, but overcast is no test of hot decking.  You need the relentless sun to raise the temperatures to their realistic maximum.  In all, I measured 63 synthetic deck samples from six manufacturers, in 17 product groups.  For comparison, I included several wood species, concrete, brick, and asphalt.Â. Azek, because it is fully PVC, expands and contracts more than Trex, making it more prone to cracking, especially in areas where there is a dramatic swing from cold to extremely hot … Given particular environmental conditions of moisture and temperature, mold and mildew can appear on any outdoor surface. The material is also better which makes it skid resistant. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by Powered by WordPress.com. A special thanks to little Konstantino, who helped to test a synthetic deck (TimberTech Tigerwood).  And, no, we did not burn him.  We photographed him on a cloudy day in the low 70s.  So if wood and metal are hot, the heat will flow more easily from the metal to your hand.” [4]Â,  That makes sense.  If you’ll agree that plastic conducts heat better than wood, we can move on to my chart of deck temperatures.Â, I’ve already mentioned some limitations – temperatures were taken on 80º days in August in Lexington, MA, just outside of Boston.  Don’t read too much into a difference of few degrees between two deck boards.  (My infrared thermometer’s error margin is about 2º. As I noted above, these surface temperatures are not the full story.  Thermal conductivity plays a role in how hot your deck feels. While there is a difference in the top out temperature with your darker color PVC products relative to the lighter colors, the difference is not as noticeable as it is with the composites. [2] I can’t explain what’s happening here.  I measured Brazilia in the sun to be 76º above ambient air, which agrees with Zuri’s published “heat buildup” factor of 78º. (enlarged so we all can read it).  My lawyer made me say this.  These temperatures are not guaranteed, and merely reflect individual test results on 3 different days in August of 2017 in Lexington, MA.  The temperatures of your deck under your bare feet may vary.  Indeed, decking manufacturers will probably claim better results for their decking.  Except DuraLife.Â,  Final Thoughts. Additionally, the darker the decking color, the hotter it will … Most modern composite decking brands offer non skid decking which really does work. And there's less of a difference with a polyvinyl again because it's not being truly absorbed. Unlike Trex, Azek does not specifically warn its customers about using a fire pit on a composite deck. The light weight all-PVC boards from Zuri, Azek, and Fiberon are the hottest. BR: So if you were comparing the four of these decking products next to each other under a heat lamp or in the middle of summer under the sun you may feel that the Azek is the hotter of the three but as soon as a shadow comes over it will immediately … A word of caution here.  If you want to know which decking will feel coolest to your bare feet, my measurements are not the complete answer.  Ultimately, how hot decking feels is a function of both its surface temperature and its thermal conductivity.  My measurements do not address “thermal conductivity”. We have four different decking products that we tested. Well, you finally mentioned manufacturers.  Thank you, I was starting to think you were afraid of them.  I am trying to learn which company makes the coolest decking.  Do you have more?  But acrylic is clear and has a thermal conductivity value nearly identical to PVC. A special thanks to little Konstantino, who helped to test a synthetic deck (TimberTech Tigerwood).  And, no, we did not burn him.  We photographed him on a cloudy day in the low 70s.Â, A. Azek: ESR-1667: http://www.icc-es.org/Reports/pdf_files/ESR-1667.pdf, B. DuraLife: https://duralifedecking.com/news/article/2017/7/25/whats-inside-composite-decking-matters/, C. Zuri: http://www.designbuildersmd.com/blog/how-is-zuri-premium-decking-manufactured, D. Thermal Conductivity: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html, E. To better understand thermal conductivity, attend Kahn Academy for about 10 minutes: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/thermodynamics/specific-heat-and-heat-transfer/a/what-is-thermal-conductivity, F.  Bill Nye, the Science Guy, addresses sidewalk cooking here:  https://www.livescience.com/37860-hot-enough-to-fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk-this-weekend.html. So another area I want to talk about is color. It’s not a true PVC deck board however it is Vinyl. So even after sundown, your composite deck will hold that warmth for a couple of hours. Posted by bostondecksandporches | Aug 30, 2017 | Decking, Plastic decking, PVC decking, Synthetic Decking, Technical, Wood decking | 0. Does composite decking get too hot? Azek Decking. BR: So if you were comparing the four of these decking products next to each other under a heat lamp or in the middle of summer under the sun you may feel that the Azek is the hotter of the three but as soon as a shadow comes over it will immediately cool while the others could take minutes or hours to cool. To find out, I put a wide selection of synthetic decking, on 2xs in the hot August sun and measured the surface temperatures.  I admit, I am limited by geography.  The Boston suburbs this August barely reached the low 80s on sunny days.  OK, temperatures did get. Cool.  The coolest deck boards are from DuraLife and TimberTech — the Landscape and. Yup.  I summarized the test results in the table further on.  But first permit me a few observations. Wood composite decking products, as with most outdoor building products, can retain heat—especially after a long day in direct sunlight. Will AZEK Deck get mold on it? That’s why we developed a heat resistant composite decking solution. Trex decking does not typically get hotter than pressure-treated wood, although on a hot day with a blazing sun, nearly any surface will get uncomfortably hot. Although AZEK Deck products are cooler to the touch than many other deck board products in similar colors, all decking products will get hot in the sun. Composite decking is an excellent building material because it lasts longer than wood and looks great without staining, painting or sanding. You may be able to save time and money by using AZEK Deck to simply resurface your existing deck structure instead of starting over from scratch. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The "Coolest" Decking Product: Temperature Test.  Metal conducts heat more easily than wood. You will be running for your flip flops on either one. )  Instead, consider the larger variations — 10º and more – among different manufacturers’ series.Â.  Wow, let’s not set this little guy down on Brazilia: Its core material is PVC, like Azek and like Fiberon’s Paramount.Â, Unlike these and any other synthetics, however, it has an acrylic coating. Unlike these and any other synthetics, however, it has an acrylic coating. So the denser the wood is, like Ipe, the longer it is going to take to heat up but the higher the temperature will reach. Amongst those mentioned, TimberTech and Azek. Today’s PVC decking brands like Azek, which is owned … Although composite and pvc decking does get hotter than treated decking at the temperature tested, a lighter color of the man-made decking comes close to the same temperature as a darker color on the treated stained wood for the 86 degree day tested. Are you feeling pressured to treat your pressure treated deck? It's approximately 50% wood to plastic ratio. Planning to renovate your pre-1978 house? There are a lot of other factors that go into purchasing a deck and choosing what products to use but this is strictly about temperature and heat absorption. We chose TimberTech but all of these composites tend to function in the same way. I use “synthetic decking” to include several artificial deck types: composite decking (the older technology which mixes wood fibers and plastic), PVC decking, and “capped composites” (which have a thick plastic coating bonded to and covering a less expensive core material). BR: So now let's talk about the composite. Options for restoring your PT deck. This is by no means a criticism of Azek composite decking. One thing we found was the Trex deck in sunlight gets very hot, so you can't walk barefoot on it. Founder and Owner of Archadeck of Suburban Boston. This week Ben Roberts was joined by Michael Rowland, a product expert at Gaiennie Lumber, and we talked about heat; specifically, heat as it pertains to your deck. We install a lot of composite decking as well as hardwood, cedar, and to a lesser degree, PVC. we applied it in may 2010 and it still looks good. If you want the coolest decking product you probably want to go with a light color Azek. It will heat up quicker but it will also cool down quicker, so it's not going to reach as high of a temperature as a denser species like Ipe. BR: So there you have it. The surface gets extremely hot in direct sunlight and susceptible to mold and mildew in shade. That said, plastic decking does have its disadvantages. Trex decking does not typically get hotter than pressure-treated wood, although on a hot day with a blazing sun, nearly any surface will get uncomfortably hot.  The warmest boards I tested also use the most conductive materials (PVC and polyethylene), so the all-plastic deck boards will probably feel even hotter to your skin than their higher temperatures suggest.Â. So, does composite decking get hot in direct sunlight? There is no reason to purchase decking that is going to be scorching hot … Both AZEK and Trex decking gets hot … hotter than wood. Duralife has a hard plastic cap, and it’s slightly cooler than TimberTech’s all composite boards, which have no plastic cap.  I suspect Duralike’s advantage is in the materials:  it uses polypropylene plastic for its cap and in its core.  The other manufacturers use polyethylene or PVC, both of which conduct more heat than polypropylene. Learn how your comment data is processed. There's none that are going to escape the heat but in terms of which is going to stay hotter longer, and which ones gonna get hotter faster, that's what we're looking at with these. Hardwoods series from DuraLife and the Reliaboard from TimberTech. It’s just a much better product in every way than it used to be. In fact, the only regular maintenance that needs to be done is to gently clean it when necessary. BR: Michael, tell us a little about yourself and your background. BR: It's important to note that if its 100 degrees and you're in Texas like we are there all going to be hot. Even in the most extreme cases, it is tolerable.  The warmest boards I tested also use the most conductive materials (PVC and polyethylene), so the all-plastic deck boards will probably feel even hotter to your skin than their higher temperatures suggest.Â, Which decking should you choose?  All-PVC decking resists stains, mildew, and scratches, but it is hotter than cap stock with its composite core.  It can also be more expensive.  If your family will be barefoot much of the summer in warmer, sunny climates – Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc. How is that composite going to compare to the wood fibers? If you live in a region that gets a lot of rain, or you’re planning on building a hot tub into your deck, then Trex boards with a wood embossed surface is a much better choice than Azek boards. The expansion and contraction encountered may result in slight gaps, which might be noticed at the ends of boards or in splice joints. Unlike wood boards, AZEK decking does not need to be sealed or stained. Lighter colored boards tend to be slightly cooler than darker composite boards. Hot enough to fry an egg?  Possibly, but…. MR: As far as the synthetic deckings are concerned the color has more of an effect on composites. A lot of people wonder if darker colors are actually going to get hotter than lighter colors? Yes. (My girls might think a lower temp as they are tenderfeet.) SYNTHETIC DECKS: No Maintenance, Low Maintenance, Mo’ Maintenance – What care will your synthetic deck need? So when it's absorbing the heat the darker colors will absorb more heat than the lighter colors. – consider a wood deck or a patio.  Don’t burn your feet on PVC.Â. AZEK Deck/Rim Joist Covers will have expansion and contraction with changes in temperature, unlike wood whose size will fluctuate with moisture changes. MR: I'm a product manager for Gaiennie Lumber Company so there's a portfolio of products I manage the relationship with our manufacturers on. It is low-maintenance, very durable and doesn’t get too hot in the West Coast sunshine. BR: So how does that differ from PVC products like Azek? Although AZEK Deck products are cooler to the touch than many other deck board products in similar colors, all decking products will get hot in the sun. We at Archadeck of Suburban Boston offer professional design and build services for clients west and north of Boston.  Over the past 27 years we have designed and built over 1,000 projects.  We have enhanced the depth of our expertise by limiting our work to decks, porches, sunrooms, and patios.  To view some of these projects, visit our website.  To learn how we treat our clients, check us on Angie’s List or read a recent article about us in Remodeling Magazine.  For a free design consultation and a relaxed and rewarding design and construction experience, contact us via e-mail, subboston@archadeck.net or by phone, 781-273-3500. We have Ipe, Cedar, TimberTech, and Azek and all four were affected by heat in different ways. Polyvinyl looks like a bunch of microscopic ping pong balls so the air in there will help cool the boards while at the same time the polyvinyl prevents heat from being absorbed into the core. They claimed that AZEK charged a premium for its advertised qualities which were supposedly better than competitors and paid between $4,200 and $18,500 for installation of their product. AZEK will be slightly cooler, but head outside to enjoy your deck barefoot on a full-sun, 90-degree day, your feet will not know the difference between the 2 brands. There’s a reason why Redwood is California’s predominant decking material. Azek decks tend to get quite slick in rainy weather and around hot tubs. Decking seems to be uncomfortable for me when it gets upwards of 150 degrees. Hot.  The warmest boards are Azek Vintage and Zuri.  Azek’s Dark Hickory (which is pretty dark) reaches nearly 144º, and Zuri’s Brazilia is the winner at just over 156º. I measured surface temperatures with a Fluke 62 Max infrared thermometer.  Fluke claims it is accurate to 1.5%, which amounts to about 2º F. Real Heat.  A few years ago, a colleague measured some deck temperatures in central Texas, in the mid-day sun of early August, when it was 100º in the shade.  His results were consistent with mine, only hotter because the air was 20º hotter. we will be buying more when the deck needs it. Ok, this is boring.  I am reading this blog for the good stuff.  Surprise me. So the surface temperature of the board may be higher but it will cool down a lot quicker and take a while to heat back up. While early composite decks were very sensitive to temperature and did get notoriously hot, any new composite decking will be much more resistant to heat. A number of homeowners filed lawsuits against CPG International LLC and AZEK Building Products Inc., makers of AZEK decking. Only wholesale big box store product that is even somewhat decent and at least better than any of the others, is Timbertech Azek. When you look at something like cedar it's going to have an open cell structure which is going to allow heat to get in there quicker. Do your research to anyone who’s reading and I hope this helps. Azek Deck We used deckmax on an azek deck. Cap stock has a composite core — wood mixed with plastic. Capped polymer decking designed for unrivaled high-performance and beauty. Many homeowners complain that composite decking gets too hot, especially in direct sun. Cap stock decking is cooler than all-PVC deck boards. Is there a decking product that can beat the summer heat and not burn your feet? Lighter colored boards tend to be slightly cooler than darker composite boards. However, Azek gets a bit warmer, and that is because PVC does not disperse heat the way the natural substances present in Trex do so it can get a little less comfortable to walk on the Azek deck on sunny days with your bare feet. 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